The External Dimension of Sustainable Development International Conference on the External Aspects of the EU Sustainable Development Strategy

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Period	28/01/2009
Event location	Palais d’Egmont, Place du Petit Sablon -1000 Brussels
Host	EGMONT and the Institute for European Environmental Policy
Contact person	conferences@egmontinstitute.be +32 2 223 41 16

In June 2006 the European Council approved a renewed EU Sustainable Development Strategy (SDS), extending and consolidating the strategy it had first adopted at its Gothenburg meeting in June 2001. One of the objectives of the SDS is to “actively promote sustainable development worldwide and ensure that the European Union’s internal and external policies are consistent with global sustainable development and its international commitments”. To this end, the SDS reiterated specific policy commitments to address global poverty and sustainable development challenges which the EU made at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg (2002) and announced various policy measures in areas such as energy and climate change, the management of natural resources, and sustainable production and consumption. While climate change is currently at the top of the political agenda, other external aspects of the SDS are not receiving the same level of policy attention.

In December 2009, the European Council will be reviewing progress in the implementation of the SDS and will agree on a ‘road map’ of priority actions for the following years. In order to contribute to this debate, the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP), in cooperation with EGMONT, the Belgian Royal Institute for International Relations, is organising a conference in Brussels to bring together experts, officials and stakeholders from EU Member States and non-EU countries, in particular developing countries. The conference will discuss a number of EU policies of significant importance to global sustainable development, and assess the extent to which the Union is living up to the commitments made in the SDS. The conference is organised with the support of the Belgian Federal Departments of the Environment and Sustainable Development.

Programme

 

09.00      Welcome and registration

09.30      Opening by Mr Raf Van Hellemont, Director General, EGMONT and Dr Marc Pallemaerts, Senior Fellow, IEEP

09.40      Keynote speech by Mr Paul Magnette, Federal Minister of Climate and Energy of Belgium

10.00      Session 1: The link between climate change, finance for sustainable development and human and environmental security in developing countries and the adequacy of EU assistance to developing countries

               Chair:            Mr Sami Andoura, EGMONT

Speakers:      Dr Marc Pallemaerts, IEEP

                                    Dr Saleemul Huq, International Institute for Environment and                                Development, United Kingdom

                                    Mr Romeo E. Matsas, EGMONT (to be confirmed)

               Debate

11.15      Coffee break

11.45      Session 2: The impact of EU policies for the development and the use of biofuels on sustainable development in developing countries

               Chair:            Mr David Baldock, IEEP

Speakers:      Ms Joana Chiavari / Ms Sirini Withana, IEEP

                                    Dr Helen Watson, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

               Debate

13.00      Lunch

14.00      Session 3: The impact of the Common Fisheries Policy on marine resources and sustainable livelihoods in developing countries

               Chair:            Dr Indrani Lutchman, IEEP

Speakers:      Mr Koen Van den Bossche, IEEP

                                    Dr Ahmed Mahmoud Cherif, PECHECOPS, Mauritania

Debate

15.15      Coffee break

15.45      Session 4: The EU's use of natural resources and its impact on developing countries: the Action Plan on Sustainable Consumption and Production and the proposed regulation of imports of illegally harvested timber

               Chair:            Mr Roland Moreau, Director General, Federal Environment                                     Department

Speakers:      Mr Kristof Geeraerts / Ms Camilla Adelle, IEEP

                                    Mr Chris Beeko, Forestry Commission, Ghana

               Debate

17.00      Concluding Remarks by Mr David Baldock, Director, IEEP and Mr Raf Van Hellemont, Director General, EGMONT

 

– REPLY COUPON –

 

Registration in advance is absolutely necessary, is free of charge, and can be faxed (02-223.41.16), sent (69 rue de Namur, B-1000 Brussels) or e-mailed (conferences@egmontinstitute.be) to EGMONT Institute by Wednesday 21 January 2009.

Name:

Title:

Organisation:

(    ) Will attend the Conference on Wednesday 28 January 2009. 

 

 

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