On 28 January 2009, IEEP, in cooperation with EGMONT, the Belgian Royal Institute for International Relations, will be organising a major policy conference in Brussels on the external dimension of the EU Sustainable Development Strategy (SDS).

In December 2009, the European Council will be reviewing progress in the implementation of the EU Sustainable Development Strategy (SDS) and will agree a ‘road map’ of priority actions for the following years. In order to contribute to this debate, on 28 January 2009, IEEP, in cooperation with EGMONT, the Belgian Royal Institute for International Relations, will be organising a major policy conference in Brussels on the external dimension of the EU SDS. The conference will discuss a number of EU policies of significant importance to global sustainable development and will assess the extent to which the Union is living up to the commitments made in the SDS. The conference is organised with the support of the Belgian Federal Departments of the Environment and Sustainable Development.

This conference will bring together experts, officials and stakeholders from EU Member States and non-EU countries, in particular from developing countries. The focus will be on four high-profile issues with a strong external dimension: the impacts of EU policies for the development and use of biofuels on sustainable development in developing countries; the impact of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) on marine resources and sustainable livelihoods in developing countries; the link between climate change funding and human and environmental security in developing countries; and the impact of the EU’s Action Plan on Sustainable Consumption and Production and the proposed Regulation of imports of illegally harvested timber. To prepare for the conference, IEEP and its partners will produce issue papers on each of the above-mentioned themes. A number of high profile non-EU experts from South Africa, Ghana, and Mauritania will contribute to this research and will also participate in the conference.

Get details of registration by downloading the conference programme.