The REC supports efforts to respond to the challenges of climate change, including both mitigation and adaptation. Topic area activities are aimed at decreasing climate-related risks to ecosystems and economies; increasing the efficient use of energy and the proportion of green energy; and paving the way towards a low-carbon society. The REC aims to increase the awareness of sub-national and local governments, to mobilise them in the context of international efforts, to identify their needs and channel them before national and international government bodies, and to facilitate the exchange of information and best practices.
Activities implemented by the Climate Change Topic Area are aimed at facilitating the implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol in CEE and Turkey, and at contributing to the shaping of the post-2012 climate policy regime by:
The main areas of activity are:
Projects implemented by the topic area:
The climate change team comprises experts from diverse backgrounds, including the natural sciences, economics, environmental policy, and engineering. Each team member has a specific area of expertise and works in close cooperation with colleagues from other topic areas as well as with a regional network of experts.
The unique combination of skills and expertise within the REC’s climate change team enables a multi-disciplinary approach to the process of assistance in climate-related decision making throughout CEE and Turkey. Since 1999, the team has provided assistance in the implementation of the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol to various stakeholders in the climate change process in Central Europe, SEE and, starting from 2005, Turkey.
The climate change team is headed by Zsuzsanna Ivanyi, an internationally experienced senior expert on climate change. She has a PhD in meteorology, and is involved in climate modelling and the assessment of impacts. The team is made up of the following experts:
The REC's Contribution to Combating Climate Change
November 2009 | Print
Time to Change
April 2008 | Print
Greenhouse Gas Inventories
November 2005 | Print
Improving National Greenhouse Gas Inventories
November 2005 | Print
Aarhus Meets Kyoto
December 2003 | Print
Shaping the post-2012 Climate Regime: Implications for Central and Eastern Europe and Turkey, 2009
PDF document, 1.2 MB
South East European Climate Change Framework Action Plan for Adaptation, 2008
PDF document, 76 kB
Complying with the Kyoto Protocol Requirements: Capacity Needs in Central and Eastern Europe (2001)
PDF document, 407 kB
Economies in Transition after Kyoto (1999)
PDF document, 168 kB
Activities Implemented Jointly (AIJ) Case Studies in Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Poland and S
PDF document, 194 kB