On December 11, 2024, a high-level delegation from the International Council on Environmental Economics and Development (ICEED) visited the headquarters of the Council of Europe (CoE) in Strasbourg, France.
Founded in 1949, the Council of Europe is an intergovernmental organization composed of 46 member states, which are mostly European countries, except for Russia and Belarus. It focuses on promoting human rights, democracy, and the rule of law.
The delegation from ICEED was welcomed by Christophe Speckbacher, the head of the Secretariat for the CoE’s Conference of International Non-Governmental Associations (CINGO). This forum of the CoE is unique among international organizations in providing a forum for NGOs to discuss pressing issues discussed in Strasbourg—such as artificial intelligence (AI), freedom of the press, and democratic processes—and consolidate their recommendations at the committee and sub-committee level.
Through CINGO and independently, ICEED has engaged comprehensively with the CoE’s activities at the forefront of shaping AI governance. ICEED experts and delegates have contributed to the CoE’s Drafting Group on Human Rights and Artificial Intelligence (CDDH-IA), and have participated in the Committee on Artificial Intelligence (CAI) as permanent observers. The world’s first legally binding treaty on AI, the “Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law on AI,” emerged from these processes in September 2024. It has since been signed by several countries outside of Europe, including the United States, Canada, and Japan.
ICEED welcomes the CoE’s efforts in the field of AI governance, including its outreach to regions and markets beyond its European purview. ICEED looks forward to continuing to engage with the CoE, collaborating through its unique areas of focus and approaches to civil society engagement to ensure that ethical and human-centric AI governance remains a priority in global policy discussions in the future.