European Union (EU) Member State discussions on critical elements of the EU's recently adopted Energy Policy for Europe and Post-2012 Climate Change strategies are ongoing. Thus far, the EU has committed to a number of leading climate initiatives, including:

• Unilaterally reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 and cutting emissions to 30 percent below 1990 level as a part of an international agreement;
• Revising and improving the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS);
• Using renewable energy for 20 percent of its energy by 2020; and
• Improving energy efficiency by 20 percent by 2020.

In response, CCAP created the European Dialogue on the Energy and Climate Challenge.

CCAP and its Paris-based partner, the Institut du Developpement Durable et des Relations Internationales (IDDRI), are convening this dialogue with high-level representatives from key EU Member State ministries, governments, industry, private-sector financial institutions and NGO stakeholders.

The Dialogue is developing a coordinated medium- to long-term EU approach to climate change, energy and finance policy, along with specific implementation strategies for achieving these commitments. Recommendations from the group are fed into the ongoing EU climate and energy policy debates.

• Develop and build support for a robust energy and climate strategy to cut emissions 20-30 percent below 1990 levels;
• Produce working papers that present the discussions of the dialogue on key elements of the EU's strategy;
• Help improve the EU ETS to demonstrate the viability of emissions trading systems and how they can be linked to achieve significant emissions reductions in the long term; and
• Outline EU energy, climate change, finance, technology and development strategies that can further support developing countries and their efforts to address climate change.