31 March 2010: Connie Hedegaard, European Commissioner for Climate Action, is holding bilateral talks on climate change with developed and developing countries, to follow up on the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference. Hedegaard visited the US and Mexico in early March 2010, met with the Chinese delegation in late March in Brussels, Belgium, and will visit Maldives and India in early April.
Hedegaard is seeking to gather support in integrating the substance of the Copenhagen Accord into UN negotiating texts. The visits form part of the consultations with key international partners that Commission President Manuel Barroso had asked Commissioner Hedegaard to undertake, to find ways to reinvigorate the international climate change process.
In addition, the European Commission adopted on 31 March 2010 a proposal to enhance the EU’s role in global health, to support developing countries in getting back on track towards achieving health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Among other things, the Commission suggests that the EU combine its leading role in trade and development to create a coherent approach to global health, including issues such as migration, security, food security and climate change. [EU Press Release on Hedegaard’s Consultations] [EU Press Release on Commission Proposals on Global Health]