Oslo Policy Forum 2008: “Changing the way we develop: dealing with disasters and climate change”

Foreign Minister Støre will host the conference, which is part of the follow-up to the Bali Action Plan and the preparations for Climate Summit in Copenhagen in 2009. The conference is being arranged in cooperation with the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and ProVention Consortium and will take place at the Soria Moria Conference Hotel and Conference Centre on 28 and 29 February 2008.

The focus will be on the political and economic challenges involved in adaptation to climate change and the need for more proactive efforts in this area. The conference is expected to result in practical recommendations on how adaptation to climate change and prevention of humanitarian crises can be integrated into development cooperation.

Ghana, Malawi, Vietnam and Norway will be represented at political level. Bangladesh, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, India, Italy, Indonesia, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK are among the countries that will be represented at senior-official level. The Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the UNDP directors of development policies and crisis prevention, and the Secretary-General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) will participate, as well as Professor Jeffrey Sachs (Columbia University) and others.

The entire conference will be open to the media. More information on the programme and the participants is available at www.oslopolicyforum.no

Press contact: Cathrine Andersen, mobile phone: +47 911 36 410