Climate Change Policy: The View From Europe

On January 1, 2005, the European Union launched an ambitious new emissions trading scheme to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Last month, the E.U. heads of state agreed on new emission reduction targets to propose for the period after the Kyoto Protocol’s limits expire in 2012. U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair has identified global warming as a top priority for the G8 leaders when they meet in Gleneagles, Scotland this summer.

At this briefing, the Brookings Institution will welcome three senior political leaders who are shaping the European approach to global warming. Lucien Lux is minister of environment and transport of Luxembourg and president of the E.U. Council of Environment Ministers; Stavros Dimas is the environment commissioner for the European Union; and Lord Whitty of Camberwell is the U.K. minister for farming, food, and sustainable energy. Each will deliver short remarks, followed by commentary and analysis from Brookings experts. The speakers will then take questions from the audience.

The Brookings Institution gratefully acknowledges the close cooperation of the European Commission’s Delegation to the U.S. in Washington, D.C. in preparation for this event. This event is co-sponsored by Brookings’ Environment and Energy Initiative and the Brookings Center on the United States and Europe.