COP 28 Side Event | Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform: Bridging discussions in climate and trade forums
While there are commitments, agreements, and discussions within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), G20, UN Sustainable Development Goals, Convention on Biological Diversity, and World Trade Organization (WTO), at a global level there has, so far, been limited progress on fossil fuel subsidy reform and on shifting public financial flows from fossil fuels to clean energy. There are, however, a number of domestic actions that have been taken by individual countries that serve as examples for moving from commitments to implementation.
Led by the Government of Finland on behalf of the Friends of Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform, this event will first focus on domestic actions that countries are taking to act on their global fossil fuel subsidy reform commitments. Following this, the session will look at attempts to tackle fossil fuel subsidy reform across the climate and trade space, highlighting the actions being taken through UNFCCC processes and in the WTO, and focusing on the shared goals for reform from both perspectives that are influencing action at the domestic level. Speakers include Finnish Trade and Development Minister Ville Tavio and high-level speakers from Canada and the Netherlands, as well as experts from industry and think tanks.
Agenda
Opening Remarks
Ville Tavio, Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade, Finland
Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Canada
Sigrid Kaag, Minister of Finance, Netherlands
Panel Discussion
Moderator: Anne Hammill, Associate Vice-President, Resilience, International Institute for Sustainable Development
- Aik Hoe Lim, Director, Trade and Environment Division, World Trade Organization
- Philip Gass, Director, Energy Program, Just Transitions and Canada, International Institute for Sustainable Development
- Vibhuti Garg, Director South Asia, Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis
- Heikki Malinen, President and CEO, Outokumpu