16 April 2015: Latvia hosted informal meetings of the EU’s environment and energy ministers to discuss the Union’s environmental and climate and energy policies. The two meetings, which took place back-to-back, from 14-16 April, in Riga, Latvia, focused on biodiversity, international climate change negotiations, energy efficiency in the heating and cooling sector, and the interaction between biodiversity and renewable energy development.

The meetings, attended by ministers from EU member States, were chaired by Latvian Minister for Environmental Protection and Regional Development Kaspars Gerhards and Minister for Economic Affairs Dana Reizniece-Ozola. In addition, European Commissioner for the Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Karmenu Vella and European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy Union Miguel Arias Cañete attended the meetings.

On biodiversity, environment ministers focused on an assessment of the state of affairs and achieved progress in the context of the EU’s biodiversity strategy and its upcoming mid-term review, and the results of ‘The European Environment: State and Outlook 2015′ (SOER 2015) report, launched in March, which found that the region’s natural capital continues to erode. Participants also addressed integration of biodiversity in key policy areas, including agriculture, forestry and regional planning.

Environment ministers also took stock of progress towards reaching a new, ambitious and legally-binding climate change agreement at the UN Paris Climate Change Conference in December 2015, including through an exchange of views on the EU’s role in advancing the negotiations and possible high-level engagement.

Minister Gerhards noted that, despite progress, “there is still a lot to be done to halt the loss of biodiversity in the EU by 2020,” and called for the new climate change agreement to “justify the expectations of the world community and provide strong message to the private and public sector about further development at global level.”

On energy efficiency, energy ministers focused on the heating and cooling sector and the EU’s strategy in this sector, in particular: developing heating and cooling markets at the local, national and regional levels; facilitating market development; and facilitating access to public and private funding for reduced cost to end-users, and access to sustainable heating and cooling infrastructure. Energy ministers further explored potential for enhanced regional cooperation in the energy sector and exchanged examples of best practice in this area.

Outlining the Latvian Presidency’s view on a common EU strategy for heating and cooling, Minister Reizniece-Ozola said it should enable the use of synergies and ensure “maximum benefit for consumers, the environment and the economy.”

A joint session of the environment and energy ministers also took place on 15 April, during which participants debated accommodating biodiversity conservation with increased use of renewable energy sources, and the principle of technological neutrality in the context of energy and environmental policies.

Latvia holds the Presidency of the Council of the EU from January to June 2015. Based on the discussions, the Presidency will prepare summaries for use in the EU’s future policy work [European Commission Press Release] [EU Council Presidency Press Release on the Meetings] [EU Council Presidency Press Release on Biodiversity and Climate] [EU Council Presidency Press Release on Energy] [EU Council Presidency Event Webpage] [IISD RS Story on SOER 2015]