Teresa Ribera speaks at this conference on 12 May 2016 on the theme of climate change and low-carbon transformation strategies.
Overview:
The Berlin T20 (Think Tanks 20) conference is part of the official programme of the three Chinese think tanks mandated by their government to lead the T20 process during the country’s G20 presidency. The event is co-hosted by the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies (SIIS), German Development Institute (DIE) and Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES). The content of the Berlin conference is aligned with the specific focus of SIIS during the T20 process, namely the responsibilities of the G20 for the developing world. However, SIIS has ensured the full participation of the other two mandated Chinese think tanks (IWEP-CASS and RDCY).
The Berlin event centres on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by world leaders at the United Nations in September 2015 and focuses on its relevance to the future of international cooperation, with a particular view on possible contributions of the G20 to global implementation efforts. This means that the challenges of domestic implementation implied by the 2030 Agenda will not be addressed. The conference will rather focus on the possibilities and opportunities of international cooperation with the aim of supporting developing countries in their respective transformational processes. In order to link debates in Berlin with the 2030 Agenda, key dimensions of the relevant document “Transforming Our World”, are explicitly integrated into the programme: People, Planet, and Prosperity as well as Partnership. The fifth dimension, Peace, will not be focused on since it partly goes beyond the present G20 mandate or is already covered by ongoing G20 work streams (e.g. on anti-corruption).
The Berlin conference will address the priorities of the Chinese presidency and explore potential linkages to the upcoming German presidency, with a view towards enhancing continuity over a sequence of presidencies. At the time of the conference in May, the 2018 presidency will have been informally agreed upon. It is, therefore, suggested that planning for future T20 activities on the sidelines of the Berlin event should cover the period including 2018.
