Towards COP26: Challenges for Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation in the EU
Organized by the EPLO Institute for Sustainable Development in collaboration with the Hellenic Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Venue: Hellenic Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Athens
Background
The much-anticipated 26th Conference (COP26) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), will be hosted by the UK in Glasgow on 31 October – 12 November 2021. With a total of 196 countries and the European Union dedicated to facilitating negotiations among governments and civil society organizations, the COP26 summit, postponed in 2020 due to the covid-19 pandemic, will now bring parties together to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UNFCCC.
With just as much ambition as COP21, the goals for COP26 include the following:
• having a 2030 goal of reducing emissions to an extent that aligns with achieving net zero emissions by 2050 that calls upon the limited usage of coal and timber and increased investment in renewable energies;
• implementing climate change adaptation;
• encouraging developed countries to contribute $100bn to climate finance each year; and
• ensuring greater collaboration among countries to combat climate change and finalize the Paris Rulebook.
The COP26 is also coupled with the shift of climate change to an immediate crisis that must be mitigated before it is too late to reverse the dire consequences of anthropogenic impacts on the environment. Throughout the past few months, as floods and fires scourged through Europe, climate change has become more prevalent than ever, forcing governmental entities to acknowledge its severity and emergency. Globally, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, July was the hottest month recorded on Earth. Within Greece alone, around 1,300 wildfires had to be extinguished.
The economic burden of mitigating these crises is intense, reaching up to €2.55 billion for the floods and individual state relief packages reaching up to €30 billion. Thus, it is a valid endeavor to explore climate change mitigation and adaptation actions and resilience efforts to avoid future expenses as such within the European context.
Conference Agenda
11:00am EEST Welcome and Opening Remarks
√ H.E. Miltiadis Varvitsiotis, Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs, Greece
√ Prof. Spyros Flogaitis, EPLO Director, f. Minister of the Interior, Greece
11:15-12:00am COP26 and Climate Diplomacy in the EU: Challenges for Climate Change Mitigation
√ H.E. Miltiadis Varvitsiotis, Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs, Greece
√ Mirey Atallah, Deputy Director Ecosystems Division at UN Environment Programme (via connection)
√ Recorded Message from H.E. Tytti Tuppurainen, Minister for European Affairs and Ownership Steering, Finland
√ Recorded Message from H.E. Matthew Lodge, British Ambassador to Greece
Moderated by: Spyros Kouvelis, EPLO Institute for Sustainable Development Director, f. Dep. Minister of Foreign Affairs, Greece
12:00-12:05 Break
12:05-12:30 Biodiversity, Net Zero and the Energy Challenge
Bruno Oberle, Director General, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) (via connection)
√ Aris Vrettos, Director, CISL's Centre for Business Transformation, University of Cambridge (via connection)
√ Arab Hoballah, Executive Director SEED, former Chief SCP, UNEP
√ Sébastien Treyer, Executive Director of IDDRI, Chairman of the Scientific and Technical Committee of the French Global Environment Facility (FFEM), member of the Lead Faculty of the Earth System Governance Network (via connection)
Moderated by: √ Miltiades Lazoglou, Elliniki Etaireia – Society for the Environment and Cultural Heritage
12:30-13:00pm Civil Protection and Natural Disasters
√ Konstantinos Aravossis, Secretary for Environment and Water Resources
√ George Kremlis, Principal Advisor to the Prime Minister for energy, climate, and environment
√ Alexandros Vassilikos, Chairman, Hellenic Chamber of Hotels
√ Prof. Emmanuella Doussis, Department of Political Science and Public Administration, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens/ UNESCO Chair on Climate Diplomacy
Moderated by: √ Christina Deligianni, Public Policy Officer, EPLO Institute for Sustainable Development Director
13:05pm Closing Remarks
√ Spyros Kouvelis, EPLO Institute for Sustainable Development Director, f. Dep. Minister of Foreign Affairs, Greece
