Participants from around the world have been invited to take part in the inaugural Energivie Summit on the building sector's role in the fight against climate change on Monday in Strasbourg.

The three-day symposium aims to draft a manifesto on the role of building in the energy transition away from fossil fuels, with a view to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) to be held in Paris in 2015.

"Today in Strasbourg, the entire world moves to action," said Philippe Richert, President of the Regional Council of the French Region of Alsace, during an opening address to the inaugural Energivie Summit on Monday evening.

"The world is agreed," said President Richert, referring to growing consensus on the threat of climate change, emphasizing that action to solve the problem was necessary and would begin with the symposium.

Other notable speakers during the summit include Dr. Rajendra Kumar Pachauri, the Indian-born chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the group which shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former US Vice-President Al Gore for work in spreading information about the climate change issue.

Brice Lalonde, former leader of the French Green Party and the Executive Coordinator of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), is also scheduled to participate.

The summit is organized by the Alsace Energivie Competitiveness Cluster, a collaborative association of businesses, research laboratories and training institutions which works to develop energy efficiency in the construction sector, with a special focus on energy-positive buildings.

Other sponsors include the region of Alsace, the Bas-Rhin department of France, the University of Strasbourg, and private companies such EDF France, Hager, and Groupe ES.

Over 60 speakers and 1,000 participants are expected to attend over the course of the three days of conferences, workshops, one-on-one interviews, and site visits. Endit

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