International strategies for fighting climate change and protecting biodiversity will be the focus of high-level talks taking place in Sicily this spring, Environment Minister Stefania Prestigiacomo has announced.
Presenting the schedule for the talks, which are taking place in Siracusa at the end of April as part of Italy's Group of Eight (G8) presidency, Prestigiacomo explained the meeting would spotlight climate change policies, ahead of the Kyoto protocol's expiry in 2012.
''We will focus on climate change, with particular emphasis on the wider availability of technologies that are currently only available in limited parts of the world,'' said Prestigiacomo.
''We know that the fight against global warming can only be won if the so-called developing countries, such as China and India, commit to such technologies and join the great global battle.
''Another crucial issue is biodiversity,'' she added.
The April 22-24 meeting will be attended by environment ministers not only from the world's eight richest nations, but also from China, India, Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, South Africa, Australia, Korea and Egypt.
The Czech Republic, in its capacity as European Union duty president, and Denmark, which is hosting a pivotal United Nations climate change summit in December, will also attend.
A preparatory technical meeting in Trieste at the start of April will focus on low-carbon technology, with the main event starting on April 22.
The first two working sessions will focus on climate change, with an emphasis on low-carbon technology capable of promoting economic recovery while reducing carbon emissions.
On the second day representatives will seek to flesh out some of the non-binding, post-Kyoto commitments reached in 2008, ahead of the UN climate change summit in Copenhagen later this year.
The third day will consider initiatives for 2010, designated International Year of Biodiversity, as well as considering longer-term global strategies to protect biodiversity.
The talks, taking place in the 13th-century Maniace Castle, are the fourth ministerial meeting under Italy's G8 presidency, ahead of the final summit in July on the Sardinian island of La Maddalena
