Germany and South Africa host Petersberg Climate Dialogue II
The Petersberg Climate Dialogue II took place in Berlin (July 2-4, 2011) to prepare for the UN climate summit in Durban, South Africa at the end of this year. The ministers and high-ranking representatives from 35 countries met at the invitation of the German Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen and South African Minister of International Relations Maite Nkoana-Mashabane. Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel held the keynote speech on July 4.
At the start of the conference Röttgen noted, "last year on the Petersberg near Bonn we set the course for the outcome of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Cancún. We want to build on this tradition. This year, too, we want to use this informal ministerial meeting to mark out at political level an ambitious yet realistic framework for the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference in Durban."
Enlarge image
Minister Roettgen (R) and South Africa's Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Maite Nkoana-Mashabane attend the Petersberg Climate Dialogue
(© picture-alliance/dpa)
Germany and the EU advocate legally binding reduction targets as described in the Kyoto Protocol. A binding legal framework provides transparency, ensures that countries and private players have a predictable planning base and generates confidence that commitments will actually be kept. However, those states that made reduction commitments under the Kyoto Protocol account for less than one third of global emissions, and their share continues to fall. Therefore Germany and the EU are calling on the US to make comparable commitments and for the major newly industrialised countries to set themselves appropriate and binding targets.
Chancellor Merkel emphasized this very point during her address, noting that alone the industrialized nations cannot achieve the agreed goal of limiting global warming to two degrees.
Despite all other problems, climate protection can tolerate no delay. Besides the ethical responsibility of limited natural resources, these limitations are forcing a redirection of energy policy. Thus, a special accent during her address was the theme of "Economic Development and Climate." She stressed the historic responsibility which the industrialized countries have on climate. She noted that these nations would need to secure their wealth with reduced resource consumption. For emerging countries this means learning to grow economically and at the same time develop sustainably.
Enlarge image
Chancellor Merkel speaks at the Petersberg Climate Dialogue in Berlin
(© picture-alliance/dpa)
The Chancellor views the German energy policy as a good example. The Federal Government aims to reduce the nation's CO2 emissions by at least 35 percent by 2040 and by 80 percent by the year 2050. Even if Germany must shoulder great burdens to achieve this, especially in the next ten years, she remarked:"If we do not show that it can happen, there is zero chance that the others accept that it can happen," Merkel said.
Röttgen further commented on the need to move forward during this conference on the agreements reached in Cancún that strengthened international climate protection. “These decisions must now be implemented. In addition we need to find a way of increasing the level of ambition regarding reduction commitments and make it legally binding. Step by step we must develop solutions to the complex question of how much, and in what form, each country contributes. I am certain that as the next holder of the presidency South Africa will find the right balance between widely different expectations."
Background: Petersberg Climate Dialogue
The first Petersberg Climate Dialogue took place in May 2010 on the Petersberg near Bonn. It began as a political initiative by the Federal Chancellor in 2009 in Copenhagen. As president of both the EU and G8 in 2007, Germany had already taken on a pioneering role in international climate policy. The aim of the Petersberg Climate Dialogue was to comprehensively support and advance the international climate negotiations following the disappointing summit in Copenhagen and bridge the gap between "implementation and negotiation".
This year's Petersberg Climate Dialogue II will continue in the same spirit. Once again the focus is on linking implementation and negotiation. Once again, Germany is sharing the chair of the Petersberg Climate Dialogue with the president of the next climate change conference – this year, South Africa. In 2010 Germany and South Africa launched the International Partnership for Emission Reductions and MRV, thus drawing developed and developing countries closer together on one of the core issues of the negotiations.
Please see article on right for more information about the Petersberg Dialogue.
© German Embassy Pretoria
August 8, 2011
