NEAR Secretary General KIM Jae-hyo participated in the R20 Conference held in Vienna, Austria on January 31-February 1 as a guest speaker with Kyung Sil Kim, Specialist in Cross-Cultural Communication and Translation. The R 20(R-20: Regions of Climate Change), a coalition of partners led by World regional governments was held under the theme of Implementing the Sustainable Energy Future with the participation of more than 600 delegates from sub-national governments related to Climate Change, NGO, related companies, research Intitute, the academy along with Founding Chair Arnold Schwarzenegger, R20 Executive Director, President of European Commission Manuel Barroso, Federal Chancellor of Austria Werner Faymann, Prime Minister of Romania Victor Ponta, Director—General of UNIDO Kandeh Yumkella, NEAR Secretariat delegation The R 20 (R-20: Regions of Climate Change) Conference, a coalition of partners led by regional governments from all over the world, was held under the theme of “Implementing the Sustainable Energy Future” with the participation of more than 600 delegates concerned about climate change including sub-national governments, NGOs, related companies, research institutes, and the academy along with Founding Chair Arnold Schwarzenegger; R20 Executive Director Dr. Christophe Nuttall; President of the European Commission, Manuel Barroso; Federal Chancellor of Austria, Werner Faymann; Prime Minister of Romania, Victor Ponta; Director-General of UNIDO, Kandeh Yumkella; and the NEAR Secretariat delegation. The R2o Conference focused on the following themes: “The Energy Mix of the Future,” “Empowering Regions to Implement New Energy Solutions,” “Innovative Finance Mechanisms for Climate Investment Flows,” “Technologies for a Smart Future,” ”Emerging Countries Showing the Path: Successful Strategies for Regions,” and ”Implementing the Renewables.” NEAR Secretary General Kim participated in Panel 5 “Emerging Countries Showing the Path: Successful Strategies for Regions” as a guest speaker. Secretary General Kim briefly introduced NEAR and explained the current situation of NEAR member regions. In addition, he discussed the possibility of promoting a joint International Forum in Northeast Asia this year with R20 in partnership with NEAR. *R20: The R20 Regions of Climate Action a non-profit organization founded in 2010 by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and other global leaders in cooperation with the United Nations. The R20 is a coalition of partners led by regional governments that work to promote and implement projects that are designed to produce local economic and environmental benefits in the form of reduced energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions; strong local economies; improved public health; and new green jobs. These local actions can help the world achieve our shared global environmental and economic goals. "R20 is not just another NGO or network of regions, it is much more than that. It is a real coalition of forces which believe that climate change and green economic development can be tackled at the subnational level." — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, in the Global Journal, May-June 2011