On January 23 2008 the European Commission presented a set of proposals in support to reach at least 20% reduction of the GHG emissions till 2020 by
- providing 10% of renewable energy in transport
- determining the share of renewable energy of 20%
- increasing energy efficiency by 20% and
- by defining new EU greenhouse gases emission trading scheme ( EU ETS).
Until now EU ETS has not fulfilled its promises to deliver effective and efficient reduction of the GHG emissions from the largest emitters thus in on the front line of the Slovene EU Presidency the new ETS should be in the focus of both climate protection and competitiveness of EU economy concerns.
Two key questions
Two key questions of the EU Energy and Climate Package at the time of Slovene EU presidency are therefore:
- Whether or not the proposed ETS can deliver within the (not yet) given global framework what it promises?
- Can
the very concept of ''cap and trade'' actually result in a proved
emission reduction in the global economy that is trading without taking
into consideration environmental concerns and in a world without (yet)
politically agreed and confirmed framework conditions for the post
Kyoto GHG emission reductions?
The programme for day one (20 March 2008)
On the day 1 the conference will focus on the
- experience with the present EU ETS and
- detailed presentation of the proposal on the new EU ETS, taking into account the competitiveness of the EU industry, environmental integrity and uncertainties of the post Kyoto process.
Therefore we believe it would be in the first place interesting for:
- the representatives of EU industry
- member states
- regulators/administrators and
- EU NGO networks.
The programme for day two (21 March 2008)
On the day 2 the conference will give attention to the
- origins and foundations of the concept of emission trading
- risks related to external credits to the EU ETS
- relevant experiences form other similar schemes like EU renewable certificates trading and
- to the limits of and alternatives to emission trading within the dominant dynamics of globalization.
For this reasons we believe it will be interesting for a broader spectrum of participants, at very first for
- students
- young researchers and
- academics interested in climate protection and climate policy.
The language of the conference
The language of the conference is English.