"We are collectivising what would be our competitive edges and working together to find solutions that would not be given in a business-as-usual environment," said McGlade.
She argued that the potential for growth in developing countries hinges on the climate negotiations. But she warned that there is still a risk of a divide even if rich nations manage to agree on a generous "fast-start" financing package to help developing countries in the years leading up to the adoption of a new agreement.
"We should not say that a low-carbon technology is harmful for developing countries," she said, urging developed nations to help them take up the best available technologies to avoid past mistakes in plotting pathways to growth.
McGlade stressed the importance of securing a global agreement and targets to avoid "free-riding" at the climate's expense. She expressed confidence that European governments and industry are "very aware" of the sums they are looking at spending today to bring about the structural investments necessary to stay competitive post-2020.
"Some countries are really starting to mobilise both private and public financing," the EEA director said, singling out the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, Scandinavia and the UK in this regard. "They are looking at unprecedented public spending on things like infrastructure and smart grids."
According to McGlade, information and communication technology (ICT) will remain the main area where resources can be saved through greater efficiency. But Europe has its work cut out to ensure that sufficient investment pours into developing smart grids, she cautioned.
"The challenge for Europe is not simply to come up with an efficient technology, but rather with a network of technology, to connect all the technologies together so that they work," McGlade said.
"Where we need investment is, of course, in improving efficiency and making sure that we move towards renewables, but also connecting these technologies up so that we make sure that we do not have daily crashes of the network," she said.
Moreover, McGlade advocated "serious regulation" on the banking sector to unleash private investment in the drive towards a low-carbon economy.
"A banking sector which is transparent and stable can smoothly create a partnership between the public and private sectors so as to create public goods in a much more effective way," she explained.
Asked about appropriate policies to halt deforestation, McGlade said the whole way of thinking about ecosystems had reached a crucial turning point.
"You have to recognise that we are for the first time witnessing the potential of a resource not just in economic terms, but rather for the services that it might provide. This is new territory for Europe and the rest of the world," she said.
The methodologies for accounting deforestation have been dividing countries even within Europe, but the EEA chief pointed out that valuing ecosystem services is bound to encounter hiccups at first "because there are different ways of doing this and different interests behind this".
McGlade was speaking to Daniela Vincenti-Mitchener.
