Round table on perspectives of European climate diplomacy

adelphi jointly with the German Federal Foreign Ministry and the European External Action Service gathered expert from the field of climate policy for an inspiring desbate

How can synergy effects be created between the UNFCCC negotiation process, policy dialogues with partner countries and advocacy activities of NGOs? What could be possible elements of a “toolbox for EU climate diplomacy”? And how can we achieve a more pro-active EU climate diplomacy in the run-up to climate conference in Paris 2015 (COP 21)?

In order to discuss these and other question, adelphi jointly with the German Federal Foreign Ministry and the European External Action Service (EEAS) organised a Roundtable Discussion on the topic „Perspectives for Europe´s Climate Diplomacy – from here to COP 21“ on Tuesday, 15 October 2013 at the premises of the EEAS in Brussels.

The “Council Conclusions on EU Climate Diplomacy”, adopted by EU Foreign Ministers on 24 June 2013, have provided new momentum to strengthen the EU's voice abroad in support of the 2015 UN climate agreement and climate action more broadly. The Roundtable aims to facilitate discussions between foreign policy practitioners from EU member states, EU institutions and selected think tanks on strategies and concrete activities between now and 2015, based on the political commitment by the Council.

Input statements were provided by Stephan Auer, Director "Multilateral Relations and Global Issues" at the EEAS, Sir Graham Watson, Member of the European Parliament and Chairman of the Climate Parliament, and Jan-Axel Voss, Deputy Head of Division "Climate and Environmental Foreign Policy, Sustainable Economy" at the Federal Foreign Office. The discussion mainly revolved around the question as to how climate diplomacy approaches can be customised for individual partners in order to gain momentum for including far-reaching climate protection measures in the envisaged global climate protection agreement in 2015.