International Seminar on 'A Pivotal Turn in Global Climate Governance?'
Much has changed since the onset of the global climate regime in the early 1990s. The globalization of the Western economic model and the rise of emerging economies are transforming the very structure of global governance. Due to decades of energy-intensive economic growth and exponential rise in greenhouse gas emissions, major developing countries such as China can no longer be on the sidelines. But even smaller emerging economies such as Vietnam are expected to participate fully in a future agreement. The 2011 Durban Platform, launched to negotiate a global deal by 2015, will need to confront the differentiation of commitments to ensure wider participation. This international seminar addresses how the European Union attempts to build multilateral support for future global climate action and how it develops practical bilateral cooperation with emerging economies such as China and Vietnam. These experiences also provide valuable lessons for international negotiations under the UNFCCC umbrella. As climatologists are calling for a peak in global emissions before 2020, a ‘pivotal turn’ in global climate governance is urgently required if the world is serious about reaching the 2°C target agreed upon in Copenhagen.
Seminar presentations are based on excerpts from the book ’The Governance of Climate Relations between Europe and Asia: Evidence from China and Vietnam as Key Emerging Economies’ (edited by H. Bruyninckx, Y. Qi, Q.T. Nguyen, D. Belis, 2013).
Presentations:
Towards an ambitious 2015 agreement the role of Asia and Europe – Jürgen Lefevere, Adviser, DG CLIMA, European Commission
An assessment of EU’s low-carbon cooperation strategy with China – Xin, Wang, IDDRI, Tsinghua University
The Position of Vietnam in International Climate Change Politics – Nguyen Quang Thuan, Vice President, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences
The governance of climate change in the pivotal decade, Evidence from China and Vietnam as key emerging economies – David Belis, Consultant for Climate Change and Environmental Policy,Taishindo Services & PhD Research Fellow, LINES Leuven International and European Studies, University of Leuven
