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Ahead of the next round of ambitious United Nations climate talks, Chairman Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming will convene a hearing to explore the challenges facing both the United States and the international community in creating an effective international response to climate change.

The conference next month in Bonn, Germany takes up where the conferees left off last December in Poznan, Poland during the latest round of U.N. Climate Change talks. The deadline for updating the world’s approach to battling climate change is December 2009, when nearly 200 countries will meet at a pivotal climate conference in Copenhagan, Denmark. At the same time, Rep. Markey’s Energy and Environment Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee is developing ambitious climate legislation to tackle global warming and energy independence.

A panel of diplomatic and climate expert witnesses will inform the Select Committee on what must be accomplished prior to the Copenhagen meeting, what to expect with regard to the ongoing negotiation processes, and the challenges for success post-Copenhagen. Appearing before the Committee will be John Bruton, the European Commission’s ambassador to the United States, and two veteran observers to the international climate talks: Elliot Diringer of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change and Rob Bradley from the World Resources Institute.

• John Bruton, Delegation of the European Commission and Ambassador to the U.S.
• Elliot Diringer, Vice President of International Strategies at the Pew Center on Global Climate Change
• Rob Bradley, Director of the International Climate Policy Initiative at the World Resources Institute
• Karen Alderman Harbert, President and CEO, Institute for 21st Century Energy