Federal Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks is confident about the adoption of a new climate agreement. At the presentation of the Federal Environment Agency's annual report, Minister Hendricks said: "In July 2013, the Petersberg Climate Dialogue showed that the international community's willingness to negotiate a comprehensive climate agreement over the next 16 months has increased tangibly." The upcoming special summit in September hosted by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will provide more momentum to the process.
"Especially the poorest of the poor are already feeling the impacts of climate change. They are particularly affected by a growing number of harsher droughts, storms and inundations", Hendricks said. This year, the Federal Government made available 1.85 billion euros to advance ambitious climate action in developing and newly industrialised countries. As a board member and donor of the Green Climate Fund, Germany also advocates a swift and substantial initial funding, for which it has committed 1 billion US dollars.
Hendricks explained that the credibility of Germany and the EU in climate negotiations depended on whether they achieved their own ambitious climate targets. In this context she pointed to the German government's Climate Action Programme 2020 which is to be adopted this year. The programme will contain measures in every sector to ensure that Germany reduces its annual greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2020 compared to 1990 levels.
Hendricks reaffirmed that the Federal Government is pursuing three goals with a view to EU climate action: Reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels by means of measures within the EU, raising the share of renewables in the energy supply to 30% by 2030, and a binding increase in energy efficiency by 30% compared to 2005 levels. In addition, radical reforms of the emissions trading scheme are necessary as early as 2017.
"We advocate that the European Council adopt ambitious interim targets for climate action up to 2030. In this way we can send a clear signal to the international negotiations."
Two aspects are currently in the focus of international climate negotiations: Firstly, raising voluntary reduction targets and binding emission reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol as well as the reduction commitments for the period up to 2020 that were made at the climate summit in Copenhagen. Secondly, the design of a new effective climate agreement for the time after 2020. The new global climate agreement is to be adopted in Paris in 2015, enter into force in 2020 and include all countries in ambitious climate action.