On 12 September 2024, UNU will host “The EU as a Partner for the SDGs: Taking a Whole-of-Society Approach to Drive the Climate Transformation Forward”, a BIG IDEAS Dialogue with Jean-Eric Paquet, Ambassador of the European Union (EU) to Japan. This hybrid event (online and in-person) will start at 18:00 on Zoom and in the 1F Annex Space at UNU Headquarters in Tokyo.
Ambassador Jean-Eric Paquet will join UNU Senior Vice-Rector Sawako Shirahase to discuss the EU’s whole-of-society approach to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, focusing on the climate perspective. The discussion will explore specific examples of initiatives aimed at involving citizens in decision-making, empowering people and communities to take action, and connecting efforts at different levels, such as the EU Climate Pact, Youth Dialogues and involving youth in climate negotiations, and citizen panels on climate issues. The event will also cover how the EU has initiated the creation of 100 climate-neutral and smart cities with the objective that these cities act as experimentation and innovation hubs to put all European cities in a position to become climate neutral by 2050.
Registration
To attend this event in person at UNU Headquarters in Tokyo, register here: https://go.unu.edu/gwNDp
To attend this event online via Zoom webinar, register here: https://go.unu.edu/4x0o4
Please note this event will be in English; Japanese interpretation will not be provided. Advance registration by 11 September is required. Online registrants will receive an email on the day of the event with a link to join the Zoom webinar.
About the speaker
Jean-Eric Paquet has been the Ambassador of the European Union to Japan since 2022.
He has held various mandates at the European Commission, where he contributed to shaping EU policy in various fields and achieved major breakthroughs. As the Director-General for Research and Innovation (R&I) from 2018 and 2022, he set up the European Innovation Council and promoted a whole-of-government approach for R&I, notably via the creation of several EU Missions to solve major ecological, societal and economic challenges.
He gained considerable experience at the international level as Director for the Western Balkans in the Directorate-General for European Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations and as EU Ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Mauritania from 2004 to 2007.
From 2015 to 2018, he was Deputy Secretary-General of the European Commission, in charge of Better Regulation and Policy Coordination.
He also led the development of the Trans-European Transport Network Policy and was responsible for Europe’s transport infrastructure policy and investment strategies, the single European rail area, inland waterways and port policy.
In all his endeavours, Amb. Paquet puts co-creation and systemic change at the heart of the decision-making process, and strongly believes that citizens should be more involved in shaping public policy agendas.
