04/10/2005 – On October
6-7, 2005, the Governments of the Netherlands
and Canada will convene a multi-stakeholder
conference on “Innovation in Combating Climate
Change”. The conference will be held at the
Lester B. Pearson Building in Ottawa.
The timing of the Dutch Canadian Conference
on Climate Change presents a very important
opportunity to transmit concrete implementation
experiences at the United Nations Climate
Change Conference, in Montreal from November
28 – December 9, 2005.
Both the Dutch and Canadian Governments recognize
that great strides have been made to address
climate change to date. However, there is
a need to build and improve on what we have
accomplished nationally and internationally.
The Dutch Canadian Conference on Climate Change
will provide an opportunity for both governments
to engage in an open discussion with NGOs
and private sector representatives on the
shared implementation challenges, as well
as the possible new approaches that could
be developed in the period leading up to and
beyond 2012.
All of the sessions of the Dutch Canadian
Conference on Climate Change will be carried
out in plenary format. Keynote addresses will
be given by high-level government, private
sector and NGO representatives from both the
Netherlands and Canada, including Canadian
Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew,
Dutch State Secretary for the Environment
Pieter van Geel, Manitoba Energy Minister
David Chomiak, former Dutch Environment Minister
Hans Alders, Sheila Watt-Cloutier, President
of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference and Clive
Mather, CEO of Shell Canada. Canadian Environment
Minister Stéphane Dion will give the
dinner address at the conference dinner on
October 6.The Conference Co-Chairs are Canada’s
Climate Change Ambassador Jacques Bilodeau
and Netherlands Ambassador to Canada Como
van Hellenberg Hubar.
The substantive work will be carried out
in the three thematic panel sessions, which
will be moderated by former Environment Minister
David Anderson. The panel sessions will bring
together Dutch and Canadian experts from government,
the private sector and civil society to address
the specific challenges related to national
responses, the development of market-based
mechanisms and the promotion of climate-friendly
technology innovation. Key Canadian panel
speakers include: Elisabeth May (Sierra Club
Canada), Jim Fulton (David Suzuki Foundation),
Daniel Gagnier (Alcan), Alex Manson (Environment
Canada), Sushma Gera (Foreign Affairs Canada),Graham
Campbell (Natural Resources Canada) and Vicky
Sharpe (Sustainable Development Technology
Canada).
For more information on how to participate,
visit the DC4 Conference link on the Royal
Netherlands
