An association representing the shipping industry wanted to influence a forthcoming EU legislative proposal (inclusion of maritime in the EU’s Emissions Trading System). A working group had explored issues and drafted an options paper without finding alignment on various positions.

To help overcome internal divisions, we organised one-to-one dialogue with individual members and drafted a background paper with pros and cons of different options to feed into a facilitated all-day workshop attended by all members of the client association and the secretariat. Off the back of the workshop, we drafted outcomes and proposed a position paper for subsequent adoption by the board of the association.

As external facilitators with excellent knowledge of the legislation and EU processes, we were able to help the client forge consensus within the association and elaborate a position paper. The position paper enabled the next phase of engagement with European shipping industry & EU institutions.

Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS) is an essential technology for the decarbonisation of hard-to-abate industries. However, due to reputational issues and political opposition, the technology has long been an afterthought of EU climate policy. The sector therefore needed a dedicated organisation to push CCS up the EU political agenda. To achieve this, we created the CCS Europe campaign.

We rallied civil society organisations, CCS value chain and the hard-to-abate industry as founding members of CCS Europe. Subsequently, we facilitated the negotiation and drafting of a founding statement to define the organisation's mission. Furthermore, we managed to secure seed funding from a charitable foundation promoting the green transition, which ensured our first year of activities. We actively recruited new members to the coalition and operated as the secretariat of CCS Europe, implementing activities with the members' approval and support. These include coordinated communications activities (such as the launch of a manifesto/action plan), meeting programmes with key CCS policymakers and the organisation of EU-level events. In addition, we organised CCS Europe Roadshows in Poland and Spain, to gather local stakeholders and empower them to push for a favourable national legal framework for CCS deployment.

CCS Europe has become a key voice of the CCS community in Brussels, focusing on its value for the decarbonisation of hard-to-abate industries in Brussels, achieving significant success in communication and legislative influence. This includes regular mentions in top publications, private meetings with key representatives of the European Commmission, and participation in the European Commission’s Clean Transition Dialogues.

A leading energy technology company came to us to help them raise visibility in Brussels. Historically focused on oil and gas, the company is now committed to the energy transition by developing hydrogen turbines, compressors, geothermal energy solutions, and CCS technologies. The challenge is to raise awareness among policymakers about this new direction and to enhance the company's understanding of EU legislation and funding opportunities to support its innovations.

We developed a C-Suite level engagement programme with senior EU officials, guided by strategic workshops led by our Senior Advisors. This was complemented by increasing awareness of the company's leadership in Corporate Reporting and Renewable Technologies through roundtable discussions with policymakers and journalists. Additionally, we created engagement materials showcasing the company's portfolio in geothermal and CCUS technologies.

The client was able to create connections with high-level officials across the institutions and Member States. This has successfully profiled them as a leader in its field and highlighted their commitments to the clean transition. The client used our analysis to identify relevant investment opportunities and has been setting foot in two new Member States during the time of our collaboration.