ECP High Level Colloquium

"Climate Change: Key actions for the crucial years ahead"

22 and 23 March 2007

Brussels, Representation of Baden-Württemberg

Objective

The objective of this first high-level colloquium by the European Climate Platform (ECP) was to bring substance to and stimulate a high-level dialogue, in order to move thinking on international climate change collaboration forward. In particular, the Colloquium provided officials and negotiators with an informal forum for discussing issues central to the negotiations in a structured way. It assembled climate negotiators of the EU and of other key countries, together with a limited number of researchers, experts and stakeholders to discuss some of the principal issues of the negotiations on an international climate change agreement. The intention was to obtain a strong involvement by the EU member states in the Colloquium, with, notably, a key role for the EU Presidency. There were about 60 to 80 participants, of which about 50% were climate negotiators, 30% senior researchers and 20% representatives of key stakeholders, i.e. NGOs and industry.

Format

The Colloquium consisted of five sessions. The three sessions dealing with targets and tools, technology and adaptation were introduced by a short Briefing Paper, whose themes were discussed with key stakeholders. All sessions were kicked-off by a number of short presentations by key stakeholders. An introductory off-the-record session set the scene, while a concluding session drew lessons to advance the negotiations. The Colloquium provided ample time for discussion.

The colloquium was supported by:       

- The Representation of Baden-Württemberg (Germany) to the EU

- Caisse de Dépôts, France

- The UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)

- The German Ministry of Environment (BMU)

- RWE AG

Following the ECP High-Level Colloquium, an additional in-depth presentation on the afternoon of Day 2 was provided by the BASIC Project team on the Sao Paulo Proposal for an Agreement on Future International Climate Policy. The Proposals have been prepared as part of the BASIC Project funded by the European Commission, which brings together a network of research and policy institutions in Brazil, India, China and South Africa to discuss issues relating to the implementation and evolution of the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol: www.basic-project.net

About the European Climate Platform (ECP):

Established in 2005, the ECP is a joint initiative by Mistra's Climate Policy Research Programme, Clipore, and CEPS. It has set as its objective to facilitate policy/research interaction on key topics in the area of international climate change policy, mainly but not exclusively in Europe. The ECP is governed by a Steering Group, drawn from government and academia: http://www.ceps.eu/content/european-climate-platform 

Documents:

PROGRAMME

Background Papers:

Topic 1: Targets and Tools - "Targets and Tools for the Transition Period: What steps next?" by Noriko Fujiwara and Christian Egenhofer

Topic 2: Adaptation - "Adaptation as a Strategic Issue in the Climate Negotiations" by Sivan Kartha, Preety Bhandari, Louise van Schaik, Deborah Cornland and Bo Kjellén - See also ECP Report No.3 "Adaptation as a Strategic Issue in the Climate Negotiations"

Topic 3: Technology - "The Critical Role of Technology for International Climate Change Policy" by Carolyn Fischer and Christian Egenhofer

BASIC Background Paper: "History and status of the international climate change negotiations on a future climate change agreement" by Niklas Höhne, Gylvan Meira Filho, Jacques Marcovitch, Farhana Yamin, Sara Moltmann. Prepared for the BASIC workshop FUTURE INTERNATIONAL CLIMATE POLICY, Sao Paulo, 7-9 August 2006 

"Japan Scenarios towards Low-Carbon Society (LCS) by 2050" ("2050 Japan Low-Carbon Society" project team: National Institute for Environmental Studies - NIES, Kyoto University, Ritsumeikan University, Tokyo Institute of Technology, and Mizuho Information and Research Institute

Presentations

Presentation of Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, Chief Advisor to the German Government G8 Presidency on International Climate Protection Issues & Director of the Potsdam Institute

Presentation of William Kojo Agyemang Bonsu, National Climate Change Coordinator Energy Resources and Climate Change Unit, Environmental Protection Agency of Ghana

Speaking Points of Frode Neergaard, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark

Presentation of Amit Garg, Senior Economist at UNEP RISOE Centre of Energy, Denmark

Presentation of Vladimir Maksimov, Deputy Head of Unit, Ministry of Economics of the Russian Federation

BASIC Presentation: The Sao Paulo Proposal for an Agreement on Future International Climate Policy

BASIC Presentation: Overview of International Negotiations

Earth Simulation by Shuzo Nishioka, Executive Director of the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES) of Japan