The two environment ministers were happy to report that the Petersberg Climate Dialogue IV had taken place in a highly constructive atmosphere. Peter Altmaier particularly welcomed that fact that no attempts had been made by any party to point the finger of blame at others, as had been the case in previous years.

Cabinet ministers from around the world attended the Petersberg Climate Dialogue IV as part of the preparatory work for the next United Nations Climate Change Conference, which is to be held at the end of the year in Warsaw. The goal is to draw up a new climate agreement by 2015, so that it can come into force in 2020. The Kyoto Protocol was extended last year until 2020. The participating countries are together responsible for 80 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Everyone agrees that there is still a lot of work to be done and that every country must do its bit, stated Peter Altmaier "I didn’t see any countries that were unhappy with the outcome."  

Higher expectations 

What exactly still has to be done before the Warsaw conference? The two environment ministers consider it vitally important to boost confidence. All commitments to date must be met. This applies to financing too, said the Federal Environment Minister. At the Doha Climate Change Conference in 2012, a total of 100 billion dollars were pledged for climate change mitigation by 2020. 

In future it cannot be a question of industrialised countries or emerging economies, but of shared competition. Europe aims to retain a leading role. 

If a new agreement is to be finalised by 2015, all countries will also have to cooperate more closely, he added. The agreement must be driven forward at political level if efforts are to be successful. "If we are to achieve our goals, more will have to be done than has been done to date," said Peter Altmaier. That is why the statements made by Chancellor Angela Merkel one day earlier were so important and so helpful, he added.

On the first day of the Dialogue the Chancellor called on the international community to do more to protect the global climate. "Waiting is not an option. If we do nothing, the road ahead will only get more complicated. And if we do nothing at this stage, everything will simply become much more expensive."

Joint efforts needed

Much has been achieved, but, "Really combatting climate change is proving to be very complicated," said Angela Merkel. She underlined the fact that there are a great many individual initiatives underway. In Saudi Arabia a huge solar power project has been launched and Brazil has done much to stem the destruction of rainforests. The pressure must, however, be increased on all states to step up their climate change mitigation efforts, she said.

A new climate agreement must build on a common foundation. At the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in 2009 all states undertook to keep global temperature rise to within the two degree limit. But the voluntary commitments made at that time to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases were not enough to achieve this target. Even if all industrialised states were to cease emitting any carbon dioxide with immediate effect, the target could not be achieved, explained the Chancellor. The only way forward is a new agreement that will be binding for all states.

Europe aims to remain climate protection pioneer

Europe will remain a party to the Kyoto Protocol and will continue to meet its commitments. But Europe alone cannot halt climate change. The situation is not easy – Europe is going through a difficult economic period. A genuine single market must be forged out of 27 national markets, continued Angela Merkel.

In the wake of the crisis, economic growth has slowed in Europe. As a result, emissions of greenhouse gases are not rising as rapidly as forecast. Although this is good news for the climate, said the Chancellor, it is bad news for emissions trading. If an instrument based on the premise of growth ceases to become effective as economies stagnate, it is perfectly legitimate to consider revising the instrument, she added. 

The Chancellor stressed the fact that it is initially important to reform the framework conditions for expanding the use of renewable energies. Only then can industry plan and invest on a sound basis. 

This should be seen in close conjunction with changes in European emissions trading. "If we manage to reform the Renewable Energy Sources Act, then we can turn our attention to emissions trading in Europe," said Angela Merkel. Emissions trading is a key instrument in protecting the global climate and will have to be adapted. 

The Petersberg Climate Dialogue is the result of a personal initiative of the Chancellor at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in 2009. Since then the Climate Dialogue has been used to prepare the ground for the UN Climate Change Conferences and build bridges in the field of international climate change mitigation.

The Dialogue is always co-chaired by the nation due to host the next UN climate negotiations: in 2010 this was Mexico, in 2011 South Africa, in 2012 Qatar and this year Poland. The Dialogue is intended to add impetus to the political process of international climate change mitigation.

The invited guests represent the various groups at international climate negotiations.Entitled "Shaping the Future", the Petersberg Climate Dialogue IV offered a forum for representatives of more than 35 states to do the preparatory work for the next UN Climate Change Conference, which is to be held at the end of the year in Warsaw.