EU Informal Workshop on Climate Change

The workshop is to be held from 18 to 20 January 2009 at the Pyramida Hotel, Bělohorská 24, Prague 6.

Martin Bursík, the Minister for the Environment and the Chairman of the EU Environment Council will deliver an opening address. The Czech Republic will then present to representatives of the EU 27 the key pillars of the Czech Presidency with respect to climate change.

The Czech Presidency has set its core priorities as regards climate change to include negotiations on the future international agreement on adopting commitments for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions beyond 2012 and, concurrently to that, on identifying and implementing adaptation measures for climate change, particularly in the developing countries of the world.

Experts from the EU Member States will also summarise results from the Poznan Conference held in December 2008 and will focus on more detailed negotiation of five thematic areas:

1. Financial aspects relating to the implementation of both reduction and adaptation measures. In this field, in particular possible resources for financing the measures to tackle adverse impacts of climate change will be subject to negotiations, as well as possibilities of EU Member States concerning the provision of funding, including putting in place institutional arrangements for financial issues.

2. Legal form of future agreement on climate change

3. Issue of measurable and verifiable criteria for activities in support of climate protection – both advanced and developing countries should seek to intensify their activities geared towards reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in order to allow their monitoring, verification and measuring of their effect.

4. EU's international negotiation strategy during 2009

5. Issue of minimisation of adverse impacts of climate change – economic, social and ecological ones – on developing countries.

At the end of the workshop a representative of the European Commission will present the Communication on the direction of negotiations prior to the Copenhagen Conference which is to be held in December 2009.