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Latin America is an important continent for global climate protection and global energy transition. While playing an important role in global climate protection due to its vast forest areas such as the Amazonas basin, Latin America is also exposed to the drastic effects of climate change in form of droughts, melting glaciers or rising sea levels. The region has large oil and gas reserves. While its electricity supply has for long been based on hydropower, new renewable energy technologies such as wind and solar are recently gaining ground. Therefore, Latin America is of great importance for the international energy policy of Germany.

Germany has already established bilateral energy agreements with the regional heavyweights Mexico and Brazil. Argentina will play a central role in international energy policy in 2018: with its G20 presidency following Germany, Argentina will be shaping the energy agenda and thus be instrumental for the decision whether the forum will profit from the momentum of the worldwide advance regarding renewable energies. The geopolitical challenges are enormous, as the changing of US policies under Trump threatens the previous achievements of global cooperation for energy transition and climate protection.

Right now, it is the right time to initiate and continue the political dialogue between Germany and Latin America: How can Germany expand its strategic alliances with Brazil, Mexico and Argentina towards global energy transition? To what extent do Germany and the Latin American G20 countries benefit from bilateral cooperation? What socio-economic opportunities are associated with an energy transition and the use of renewable energies? Which energy policy challenges unite these countries, and which separate them? Do countries also pursue common goals on a global scale?

These are the guiding questions of a side event organized by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) and the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS Potsdam) on April 16th, in the context of the Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue 2018.

Agenda

I. Registration and welcome coffee

• 8:30 h

• 9:00 am
• Frank Priess, Deputy Department Head, Department European and International Cooperation, Konrad- Adenauer-Stiftung
• Prof. Dr. Ortwin Renn, Scientific Director, Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS)

• 9:15 am
• Andrea Heins, Undersecretary of Energy Saving and Efficiency of the Ministry of Energy and Mining of the Argentine Republic

• 9:45 am
• Franziska Tröger, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany
• Prem D. Zalzman, Director of Innovation for Sustainable Development, Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of the Argentina Republic
• Suzana Kahn, Chairman of the Scientific Committee of the Brazilian Panel on Climate Change and Member of the IPCC, Brazil
• Pablo Necoechea, Sustainability Manager at Televisa and KAS/EUCERS fellow, Mexico

V.Closing

• 11:15 am
• Dr. Sybille Röhrkasten, Scientific Project Leader, Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS)

• 11:30