The theme of this year’s European Statistical Forum, which was attended by the President of NSI, Assoc. Prof. Atanas Atanasov, PhD is “Closing the data gaps on climate change”. The event took place in Brussels, Belgium on 16-17 January 2025 and was hosted by Eurostat and Directorate-General Statistics of the European Central Bank. In the opening session, the Commissioner for Economy and Productivity; Implementation and Simplification, Valdis Dombrovskis, whose area of responsibility also includes Eurostat, addressed the participants.
During the conference, various topics related to the ongoing efforts and the need to improve climate change statistics were discussed. Among the subjects covered were existing measures to mitigate carbon emissions, energy footprints and the related risks. Over the course of two days, producers of official statistics and representatives from the industry, academia and users engaged in discussions on pressing issues related to sustainable development, public expenditures and climate financing, as well as new methodologies and indicators for assessing risks.
The European Statistical Forum is a conference to exchange views and experiences on topics of strategic importance in view of enhancing cooperation and coordination between the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and the European Statistical System (ESS). It is co-chaired by the Director-General of Eurostat and the Director-General of the Directorate-General Statistics of the European Central Bank and is attended by the Presidents or Directors-General of the National Statistical Institutes of the ESS and Directors of the Statistical Departments of the National Central Banks of the ESCB. To facilitate the close cooperation between the two systems on priorities in statistical areas, the signed in 2013 Memorandum of Understanding between Eurostat and the European Central Bank was updated in 2024.
