“This is the starting signal for the hardest stage on the path to the world climate agreement 2015,” Schellnhuber says. “When it comes to the facts of climate change, there has been a lot of confusion in the public debates recently, which interested circles seek to exploit and deepen. Now it is up to science to bring light into this darkness and to draw a realistic picture of the challenges ahead for the public in Europe. On this basis citizens can make informed decisions.”
After the keynotes, Schellnhuber and Hedegaard will discuss the matter with representatives from nongovernmental organisations and companies as well as decision makers, among them the Irish Minister of the Environment, Phil Hogan. Ireland currently holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The conference is part of the consultation process that the European Commission launched on how best to design the 2015 climate agreement.
Link to conference and live webstream: http://ec.europa.eu/clima/events/0073/index_en.htm