About Bled Strategic Forum

The Bled Strategic Forum was launched by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia in 2006 to expose strategic issues impacting Europe and the transatlantic community. The forum aims to bring together top political leaders, business executives and experts, and generate commitments for the implementation of new strategies designed to allow Europe to better use its strategic weight and space. A further objective is to help stimulate public-private sector cooperation in developing integrated approaches to resolving outstanding strategic issues.

The successful International Conference "Caspian Outlook 2008" in 2006 - the first in a series of international events – and last year's “European Union 2020: Enlarging and Integrating” provided a sound basis for the annual Bled Forum to become one of the most important platforms in the region for addressing the most serious challenges both in the region and worldwide. As last year the Forum will be jointly organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia and the Centre for European Perspective, an organization established by the Slovenian government to deal with issues such as EU enlargement and institutional enhancement.

Bled Strategic Forum 2008
“Climate Change and Energy: Si.nergy for the Future”

31 August – 1 September 2008, Bled, Slovenia

At a time of soaring oil and gas prices, public concern over our dependence on imports of energy resources and the mounting evidence of global warming gives focus to the strategic challenge of interdependence between climate change and energy security.

The high and rising energy consumption continues to increase carbon emissions causing the greenhouse effect, which underpins the inevitable climate change. This dire issue has to be tackled immediately – at the local, regional and global levels. The ‘Bali roadmap' adopted at the UN Climate Change Conference last December in Bali includes the key building blocks of a future global agreement: enhanced mitigation of climate change by limiting or reducing emissions; adaptation to climate change; action on technology development and transfer; and scaling up of finance and investment to support mitigation and adaptation. Nevertheless, this is only the first step towards a new global climate regime.

The leading decision makers from the private, public and academic spheres will at this years Forum discuss topical energy and climate change issues. The agenda will include the opening Leader’s Panel on "Strategic Challenges of Climate Change and Energy Security" and the "Towards a New Post-Kyoto Deal: From Bali to Copenhagen" Panel on joint global response. The "Hydrocarbon Energy Resources Dependency from a Geo-strategic Perspective" Panel will tackle the effects of fossil fuel dependency. A search for alternatives will be discussed at the panel on "Alternative and Renewable Sources – Sustainable Power for the Future?" Impacts of climate change on international security will be debated at the panel on "Climate Change: Threat to International Peace and Security

Can our actions and decisions bring about a synergy of both energy and climate change? Let us use the opportunity given by the third annual Bled Strategic Forum entitled "Energy and Climate Change: Si.nergy for the Future”, and engage in a vivid debate on how to achieve it.

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