Discussion
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The adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by the United Nations, in 2015, reinforced the commitment of its member states with a broad range of actions and aimed at promoting a balance between social, environmental and economic priorities. In parallel, the 2016 Paris Agreement created a multilateral system for coping with climate change based on nationally determined contributions (NDCs) that will require a complex set of actions, including mitigation, adaptation, technology development and transfer, training and financing. How will members of Mercosur and the European Union face these challenges with a view to providing global food and energy security?
Could the uncertainties caused by Brexit and the departure of Donald Trump from the Paris Agreement help spur talks on a long-stalled free trade accord between the European Union and Mercosur? These blocs launched trade negotiations in 1999. After several pauses and re-launches, in May 2016 the EU and Mercosur exchanged offers and a round of negotiations took place in March 2017, in which both blocs accelerated in search of an agreement before the advance of nationalism. The current negotiations cover a broad range of issues including sustainable development. This free trade agreement will be part of the overall negotiation for a bi-regional Association Agreement which also comprises a political and a cooperation pillar. For the four Mercosur countries negotiating with the EU, the EU is Mercosur's first trading partner – accounting for 21% of the bloc's total trade in 2015, and Mercosur's biggest exports to the EU were agricultural products, such as foodstuffs, beverages and tobacco (24%), vegetable products including soya and coffee (18%) and meats and other animal products (6%). The EU's exports to the region have increased from €21 billion in 2005 to €46 billion in 2015.
This conference is dedicated to investigating the potential for cooperation between Mercosur and the European Union in the context of the implementation of the SDG and NDCs related to climate change (Keynote), energy security (Panel 1) and food security (Panel 2). The first day will be a closed workshop of experts. On the second day there will be a public debate with the political and academic communities regarding Mercosur – European Union Dialogues.
The project is the result of collaboration between the Regional Programme Energy Security and Climate Change in Latin America of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (EKLA-KAS), the Brazilian Center for International Relations (CEBRI) and the Institute for Research in Environment, Energy Security and Sustainable Development (AMENDS).
This project is supported by the UN Environment and the Delegation of the European Union in Brazil.
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