STA - Slovenska tiskovna agencija / Slovenian Press Agency

Five representatives from Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Turkey, the UK and Slovenia respectively will meet in Jezersko in the northwest of Slovenia to discuss topics like key challenges of climate talks, technology cooperation and adaption to climate change.

The opening of the climate camp on 21 September will be attended by Slovenian Environment and Spatial Planning Minister Karl Erjavec, while the camp programme also features a discussion with European Commissioner for Science and Research Janez Potocnik, who is an honorary sponsor of the Slovenian part of the British Council's "Challenge Europe" project.

The results and the priorities formed by the participants for the Copenhagen climate change conference will be presented to politicians, experts and the general public in the National Assembly on the final day of the camp at a meeting chaired by Parliamentary Speaker Pavel Gantar.

The objective of the camp is to engage young people to form concrete proposals to be presented by Slovenian representatives at the 15th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of Parties in Copenhagen between 7 and 18 December.

The UNFCCC conference is regarded as very important, as an agreement on a successor to the Kyoto Protocol is expected to be reached there, providing a framework for international action on climate change from 2012 onwards.

"Climate change is perhaps the most urgent global challenge we face today and scientific consensus tells us we only have one generation in which to make a difference," the British Council pointed out in its press release.

Despite numerous solutions, technologies and policies that have already been created, new ideas and approaches are needed to reduce emissions, the press release adds.

The British Council thus launched the European part of its global "Challenge Europe" programme in June 2008, which is aimed at affecting thoroughly and in long-term the climate change discussion and encouraging a transition to a future based on low consumption and low-carbon emissions.

The project tries to unite bold and devoted young people into a network for introducing change. The British Council invited over 200 young people from 15 countries in 2009 to join the project - all of whom are dedicated to the fight against climate change.

In each country, 15- to 20-member teams of "climate advocates" were formed with various sets of knowledge and experience, and the British Council will enable them through its network of expert groups to contact the leading European climate experts and makers of policies, businessmen and entrepreneurs, environmentalists and centres of excellence.

In Slovenia, the project with 15 "climate advocates" is carried out by the British Council in association with the British Embassy and the European Commission.

Furthermore, the British Council also points out the partnership with Slovenian environmental NGO Focus, Association for Sustainable Development, and the cooperation with other institutions and public figures, striving for a more effective discussion on climate change.

The camp is organised by the British Council in Slovenia as part of its project "Challenge Europe", a three-year campaign designed to make a difference in the climate change debate so as to accelerate change to a low-carbon future.

The opening of the climate camp will be attended by Slovenian Environment Ministry State Secretary Zoran Kus and Foreign Ministry State Secretary Dragoljuba Bencina.

Today's programme will also feature a debate with European Science and Research Commissioner Janez Potocnik of Slovenia, the honorary sponsor of the Slovenian part of the "Challenge Europe" project.

The camp will bring together 30 young "climate advocates" from six countries: Slovenia, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Turkey and the UK.

They will discuss the key challenges of climate negotiations, emission-cuts objectives, financing of climate-related measures in developing countries, technology cooperation and adaption to climate change.

The camp aims at engaging young, environmentally-minded people in drawing up concrete proposals to fight the negative effects of climate change.

Their proposals will be presented by Slovenian representatives at the 15th UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of Parties in Copenhagen from 7 to 18 December.

The Copenhagen conference is considered very important, because the international community is expected to reach there an agreement on how to deal with climate change after 2012, when the Kyoto Protocol has expired.

The results of the Jezersko international climate camp will be presented by the "climate advocates" to decision-makers, environmentalists and the general public in the National Assembly in Ljubljana on Thursday, the last day of the camp.

Further information on the camp is available at www.sta.si/britishcouncil.php

"This kind of camp is a welcome campaign to raise awareness and gain a stronger voice for the environment. The young are future experts, they are the ones who will raise awareness for climate change in the future. It is only right that Slovenia can be a part of such an event - meetings on the topic are very welcome," Kus stressed in his address.

Thirty young environmentalists from six countries will draft proposals to overcome the environmental crisis this week in Jezersko (NW). They will present their proposals at the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen in December.

The participants will focus on key challenges of environmental negotiations, promises to decrease emissions, funding of environmental measures in developing countries, technological cooperation and adjusting to climate change.

Kus believes that the countries which will come together in Copenhagen will come to the conclusion that environmental protection is a joint project to save the planet and not some sort of economic interest.

Kus expects that an agreement will be reached in Copenhagen. "Maybe there will be some unfinished details left, which we can determine next year. But I believe that the political will is so strong that the agreement will be adopted," according to Kus.

Kus believes that a complete agreement, alongside political will and goals, must also answer the question of where the funds for the implementation will come from, and determine aid for developing countries.

According to Kus, the EU is willing to contribute to an environmental fund between EUR 2bn and 15bn a year. "We expect that the developed countries will calculate their share before December and present these figures in Copenhagen."

At the camp, representatives of Finland, Denmark, the UK, Turkey, Hungary and Slovenia will present good practices of their countries. They will give their proposals and solutions and will form a concrete proposal for the politicians and other decision-makers in the field of climate change.

The proposal will then be presented by the Slovenian representatives at the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen between 7 and 18 December. This conference is considered very important because participants are expected to reach an agreement on how to deal with climate change after 2012, when the Kyoto Protocol expires.

Natasa Sip of the European Commission Representation to Slovenia stressed at the opening that the young can form a strong group in this camp, armed with concrete knowledge and solutions. "Also after Copenhagen we will need a lot of good suggestions."

"Especially such international networks which generate knowledge, youth energy and enthusiasm can contribute a lot to the best environmental measures of the future," Sip stressed.

Head of the British Council in Slovenia Robert Monro pointed out at the opening that there were still people, including state leaders and politicians, who do not believe that climate change was a fact and that it already affected the daily lives of everybody. Monro stressed the need to build a strong network of young intellectuals who will make their voice be heard.

The participants in the camp stressed in their initial presentations today that they hoped for a very productive week and that they can use the knowledge and experience from this week in their respective countries.

"Challenge Europe" is a three-year campaign designed to make a difference in the climate change debate so as to accelerate change to a low-carbon future.

The results of the climate camp will be presented to decision-makers, environmentalists and the general public in the National Assembly in Ljubljana on Thursday, the last day of the camp. The meeting will be headed by National Assembly Speaker Pavel Gantar.

The Jezersko climate camp is organised by the British Council, the UK Embassy in Slovenia and the European Commission Representation in Slovenia. More information about the camp in available at www.sta.si/britishcouncil.php.

"Developed countries are not yet willing to make a commitment to financially help developing countries cope with environmental issues," stressed Jozsef Feiler of the Hungarian Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Future Generations.

There are several options as how the developed world would help developing countries fund the process of adapting to climate change after the Kyoto Protocol has expired in 2012, said Feiler.

Developed countries would earmark US$ 10m a year or 1% of their GDP to finance various measures. The sums US$ 400m and US$ 300m a year until the year 2020 are also being mentioned.

The Hungarian official is convinced that once these figures are agreed on, a climate agreement, which will be a follow-up to the Kyoto Protocol, will be reached in an entirely different, more relaxed atmosphere.

He believes it is possible to agree upon the figures by December, when the UN-sponsored climate change conference begins in Copenhagen on 7 December.

However, it will be hard to reach agreement with the US, which is willing to take part in the Copenhagen agreement, but is unwilling to contribute any funds, according to Feiler.

He thus warned against the worst-case scenario in Copenhagen: it could easily happen that the deal will be merely a political agreement without any figures. "It is interesting that even pundits believe this is a very likely scenario."

Meanwhile, the Slovenian NGO which helped the British Council organise the international climate camp stressed that the Copenhagen agreement must be "ambitious, fair and legally binding".

Ambitious in that developed countries make a commitment to cut greenhouse emissions by at least 40% and 95% by 2020 and 2050, respectively, Barbara Kvac of Focus told participants of the camp in Jezersko (NW).

A fair agreement, she explained, would guarantee developing countries their right to develop, which developed countries could back with financial assistance.

Kvac is afraid though that due to the lack of political will the Copenhagen conference will fail to produce a binding agreement.

The four-day climate camp began on Monday as part of the preparations for the Copenhagen summit. It is organised as part of the British Council's "Challenge Europe", a three-year campaign designed to make a difference so as to accelerate change to a low-carbon future.

Further information about the camp, which is co-organised by the British Embassy and the Representation of the European Commission, can be found at www.sta.si/britishcouncil.php.

The young from Slovenia, the UK, Finland, Turkey, Denmark and Hungary are discussing ways of addressing the negative effects of climate change and will present their proposals in the Slovenian parliament on Thursday.

Monro is convinced that their ideas can encourage the signatories of the deal which will replace the Kyoto Protocol after 2012 to a more thorough reflection on the problem.

He also believes that the message of the climate camp will not be heard only in Slovenia, because its participants will take it back to their home countries.

The camp also aims at building understanding between developed and developing countries, said Monro, who would like to see more inter-cultural dialogue. "We must better understand each other and at the same time take into consideration the wish for economic development."

Slovenian Environment Ministry State Secretary Zoran Kus, who attended the opening of the camp, welcomed the gathering of young environmentalists, saying that such events were important for raising the public's awareness about climate change.

Meanwhile, Natasa Sip of the European Commission Representation in Slovenia believes the camp could hardly make a difference at the UN-sponsored conference in Copenhagen. However, she admitted that "such networks and meetings can create strong groups of pressure paving the way for positive change".

Sip is convinced that groups of pressure with a lot of good proposals will be needed especially after the December summit, when concrete measures will have to be implemented.

The climate camp is organised within the British Council's "Challenge Europe", a three-year campaign designed to facilitate change to a low-carbon future.

Further information about the camp, which is co-organised by the British Embassy and the Representation of the European Commission, can be found at www.sta.si/britishcouncil.php.

These goals will be forwarded also to the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen by the Slovenian delegation in December. The goals were presented today to politicians and experts in the Slovenian parliament.

The climate camp participants set as priority formation of binding targets ambitious enough to decrease the levels of CO2. They also believe that an index, alternative to the GDP, should be introduced as a measure of progress.

The camp concluded that prices should reflect the true environmental and social cost. Moreover, countries should provide finance for structural change to environmentally friendly transportation, green buildings and food production.

Developed countries should also help boost technological transfer of developing countries and contribute adequate funds to an adaptation fund set up for developing countries. The camp is worried about the growing global population.

The young participants of the camp stressed the importance of a global sectoral approach to emission reduction. In their opinion, countries should reach an agreement to establish mandatory national targets for use of renewables.

The participants also believe that each country should set up a ministry responsible for climate change and the implementation of environmental goals.

National Assembly Speaker Pavel Gantar stressed in his address to the young environmentalists that climate change was a development challenge of transition into low-carbon society.

He stressed that some countries were more and the other less successful in facing challenges like the use of high potentials of solar energy and other renewables and improving their energy efficiency.

Director of the British Council Slovenia Robert Monro stressed that some of the goals were perfect for the Copenhagen conference, while others will have to undergo a global discussion.

Slovenia's leading climate expert Lucka Kajfez Bogataj stressed at the event that the goals should also entail the wish for education of women - this measure alone would contribute a lot to stop the increase in population. She also underlined that people are not aware enough of the need for research and scientific base on which to build goals and measures.

The climate camp, which included 30 young environmentalists, started in Jezersko (NW) on Monday. The event was organised by British Council Slovenia as part of its Challenge Europe project.

The participants of the camp came from Denmark, Finland, Hungary, the UK, Turkey and Slovenia to discuss key challenges of climate change.

The UN Copenhagen climate conference scheduled for between 7 and 18 December is considered important because participants are expected to reach an agreement on how to deal with climate change after 2012, when the Kyoto Protocol expires.

Climate change and global warming are the biggest global challenges that demand determined actions, British Council Slovenia wrote in a press release, adding that in spite of numerous environmental solutions, technologies and policies, new ideas and approaches are needed.

The British Council thus launched in June 2008 Challenge Europe with the goal to influence the climate change discussion and encourage a low-carbon society.

The programme wants to bring together the daring and dedicated young people to introduce changes. This year, British Council invited over 200 young adults from 15 European countries to take part in the project. For more information, please visit www.sta.si/britishcouncil.php.