An Overview on
Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM) - Stanford University Workshops

The Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei and Stanford University have a long-standing tradition of co-operation in the organization of high quality scientific workshops. The main objective of this co-operation is to enhance the dialogue between European and U.S. research. The events provide a forum for the policy-oriented discussion of scientific results and future strategies for addressing the topical problems related to climate change in an international context. The understanding of determinants of co-operation and broad participation in an international climate regime are to be improved. Summarizing, based on high-level academic standing, the series of FEEM-Stanford University-workshops aim at fostering co-operation between leading research institutions on both sides of the Atlantic, in the economic research designed to support climate policy. The workshop agendas are designed to facilitate a vital exchange of ideas between researchers and policy-makers and to stimulate additional research in order to provide a sound basis for future policy interventions.

The first international workshop organised by FEEM and the Stanford Energy Modeling Forum, with the sponsorship of IPCC and under the auspices of EFIEA, took place in May 1997 in Venice, Italy. Starting from lessons to be learnt from the theory and policy of international environmental coalitions, the event focused on “International Environmental Agreements on Climate Change” and represented a milestone in that it initiated a successful transatlantic research cooperation on climate regimes.

In September 2001, FEEM and Stanford University, supported by the Venice International University, jointly organized a second international workshop on “Climate Policy – Do We Need a New Approach?”. The workshop took place in Venice, Italy. A key question of this workshop was to verify whether the Kyoto Protocol still had a chance to be implemented and which were the key issues in current climate policy. Acknowledging both the positive and negative sides of the Kyoto Protocol, the conclusion of this workshop was that there appeared to be no alternative to this approach in the short term. The key lessons that could be drawn from the workshop were that the Kyoto Protocol should act as a first step and more importantly induce a chain reaction to climate change control. Since the Kyoto process is going ahead in steps, alternative proposals should become more important the closer we get to the second commitment period. As a consequence, the workshop recommended to keep thinking about alternatives and ways to improve Kyoto, in particular because of the need for new ideas in the context of the involvement of both the US and developing countries and adaptation strategies.

The predictions of the workshop have been confirmed by recent policy developments. The Kyoto Protocol finally came into force in February 2005, and correspondingly the search for potential future policy strategies has intensified. Technically at least, Kyoto’s entry into force requires negotiations starting in 2005 toward a new round of climate commitments. In informal settings, delegates from both developed and developing countries show increasing interest in Post-2012 approaches that could lead the international effort in new directions. The third joint workshop by FEEM and Stanford University, to be held on 20-21 June 2005 in Venice, builds upon the results of the previous workshop and discusses “Post 2012: Climate Policy Architectures and Participation Scenarios”.