SARAJEVO – The Secretariat of the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) will host the first Ministerial Conference on Combating Climate Change in Southeast Europe (SEE), in Sarajevo tomorrow.

The event represents an integral part of the framework programme “Roadmap for Environmental Cooperation in South-Eastern Europe” and is jointly organized by the RCC and the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC).

The purpose of the Ministerial Conference is to agree upon modalities of environmental cooperation in SEE, to adopt the SEE Climate Change Framework Action Plan (CCFAP) and related Ministerial Statement, and to determine joint activities towards the UN Climate Change Conference – the 14th session of the Conference of the Parties, which is to be held in Poznań, Poland, in December 2008.

The Conference will be opened by the RCC Secretary General, Hido Biscevic, with introductory remarks delivered by the Bosnia-Herzegovina Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations, Mladen Zirojevic, the Montenegrin Minister of Tourism and Environment, Predrag Nenezic, the REC Executive Director, Marta Szigeti Bonifert, and the European Commission Director of Climate Policy Division, Arthur Runge-Metzger.

The environmental ministers from Albania, Serbia and The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, respectively, Lufter Xhuveli, Oliver Dulic and Nexhati Jakupi, and other high-level officials from SEE and European institutions will also participate in the event.

The Conference will be preceded by a preparatory meeting of SEE, RCC and REC environmental experts, which will take place at RCC premises in Sarajevo today.

The SEE CCFAP refers to Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, and is open for participation to other interested SEE countries.

Journalists are invited to attend the opening of the Ministerial Conference on Friday, 14 November 2008, at 9 a.m., at the Congress Hall of the Holiday Inn hotel, Zmaja od Bosne 4, 71000 Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.