The European Commissioner for Climate Action, Connie Hedegaard, will be attending the 5th special session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment scheduled for 15-18 October 2013 in Gaborone, Botswana.

The Commissioner will have a roundtable breakfast meeting on Friday, 18 October 2013 with Ministers of Environment and heads of delegations who will be attending the conference. The objective of the roundtable meeting is to provide an opportunity for the Commissioner and the African countries to share information on climate change challenges and opportunities and learn how various countries are working to address these important issues.

The Commissioner will also take the opportunity to highlight EU climate change priorities and key programmes in Africa and get a sense of possible areas of future collaboration. It will also be a good opportunity for the Commissioner and the Ministers to meet and build relationships.

Preventing dangerous climate change is a strategic priority for the European Union. Europe is working hard to cut its greenhouse gas emissions substantially while encouraging other nations and regions to do likewise. In parallel, the European Commission and some EU Member States are developing adaptation strategies to help strengthen Europe’s resilience to the inevitable impacts of climate change.

The EU has long been a driving force in international negotiations on climate change and was instrumental in the development of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol.