This conference aims at bringing together outstanding French and American scholars engaged in state-of-the-art research on climate-change, along with top businessmen and political leaders actively involved in climate policy, in order to foster an original and useful dialogue between stakeholders to help concretely advance a well-thought through Global Climate Change Policy.

An original joint initiative of the French-American Foundation (France) and the France-Stanford Center for Interdisciplinary Studies (FSCIS)

The France-Stanford Center for Interdisciplinary Studies (FSCIS) was created in 2002 at the initiative of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Stanford University. It was officially inaugurated in November 2003. Its fundamental goal is to foster interdisciplinary collaboration and exchange between Stanford researchers and students and their French counterparts.

The French American – Foundation – France founded in 1976 has developed, over the past three year, an ambitious program in the area of energy/climate change. Twenty conferences have been organized on subjects as diverse as nuclear energy, biofuels, “green” financing, sustainable energy and investment opportunities in the climate sector. Moreover, it has hosted important events for people committed to fighting against Climate Change, such as Governor Whitman, the President of the assembly of California Fabian Nunez, The president of GE France Clara Gaymard, the Chairman of Suez-Compagnie du Vent Jean-Michel Germa, as well as established a study trip about climatic matters in California with top executive level people from French Energy firms and subsidiaries.

Objectives and timing

The main objective of the conference is to examine and bring to light climate policies that can fruitfully promote reductions in greenhouse gas emissions reductions and the development of new technologies by the private sector. As a means to this objective, the conference will:

(1) compare French and American approaches to climate policy and derive lessons from the recent policy experiences in France and the U.S. (as well, as other parties if interesting) and

(2) promote interchanges between academic researchers, businessmen, and politicians – communications aimed at producing new insights for policy.

In order to optimize the impact of our conference, we will set the conference on March 23-24, 2009, capitalizing on the election of a new administration in the U.S., the teachings drawn from the French Presidency of the European Union and the Poznan Conference, and before the Copenhagen meeting.

This Conference in many respects develops a new and innovative approach of a capital problem: for the first time, we will bring together top academics, politics and business leaders discussing openly of issues. We will help create a new dynamic reconciling the general orientation of Climate Change policies at the local, national and international levels with the constrains and opportunities stemming from Finance, technologies and human resources.

Main approach

1. develop an original experience-sharing through an intense and without taboo dialogue between outstanding French and American scholars engaged in state-of-the-art research on climate-change, along with top businessmen and political leaders actively involved in climate policy

2. participate in the elaboration of an optimal Climate Change policy taking into account the interests of all stakeholders, and bringing a better response than today.

3. develop a comparative approach, presenting an objective analysis of initiatives undertaken in Europe, the U.S., but also China, India, and the rest of the Emerging world, leading to improvements, and development of a much-needed trust among international actors.

4. allow the development of concrete coordination at the local, national, regional and global level of Climate Change Policies.

5. finally, make sure this dialogue results in innovative and concrete recommendations on international and Domestic Climate Change policy, which will participate in the international consultation that is already taking place.

Detailed approach

1. Climate change is a global challenge. Therefore, any sustainable answer to that challenge, through the development of a sound Climate Change Policy cannot exist without the participation and commitment of all stakeholders at the world level.

2. The work of the Conference of the Parties to the Climate Change Convention towards a framework for the post-Kyoto protocol, the work of the IPCC, the decisions taken by the European Union, all the reflexions already undertaken at the domestic level by States (among which the French Grenelle de l’Environnement or the California example) are all inducing one certainty: a massive transformation of the economic environment.

3. As a result, it is obvious that the private sector must be intensively engaged as early as possible in the political and economic discussions, in order to get their voice heard to influence positively the development of sound Climate Change policies on all aspects, both at the domestic and international levels.

4. This reality is all the truer as the current economic and financial situation raises many questions relative to cost-intensive initiatives we will be able to put in place to tackle effectively Climate Change: if we may fear capital may lack when capital-intensive investments will be needed to be made, we may on the other hand believe that our business and political response to climate change and global warming is going to open a new era of prosperity for the world, in the event we manage to bring adapted and sound answers to the problem.

5. While this is true, we are also, unfortunately, hearing more and more of our private partners regretting the way things are going: while Europe seems to be a lone rider with the energy package imposing a reduction of 20% of GHG emissions by 2020 (compared to 1990 levels), they fear that this is only going to result in “carbon leakage”, i.e. relocation of activities in countries that will not have put a price on carbon, meaning, at the end, only slower growth for Europe and no results on the Climate Change front.

6. This does not mean at all that firms are against any climate change policy. On the contrary. But they forcefully argue that a global, international agreement is needed, and that global discussions in order to reach this should be developed greatly.