SPECIAL REPORT: Germany, France push for fair global climate deal in Paris

Journalists from Africa, Asia and Latin America listen to Matthias Duwe (right), Head of Climate at the Ecologic Institute in Berlin, as they attend a 10-day 2015 Climate Change Training Course for Journalists in Berlin. PHOTO|LUCAS LIGANGA 

By By Lucas Liganga

In Summary

In order to avoid a repeat of the Copenhagen conference, ministers of environment and representatives from 35 countries met in the German capital Berlin from 18 May through 19 May under the auspices of the 6th Petersberg Climate Dialogue in preparation for the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris in December.

Berlin. In December 2015, all roads will lead to the French capital, Paris, for the 21st Conference of Parties (COP21), where a climate deal is expected to be clinched, heading off a repeat of the failed Copenhagen climate change conference in 2009.

One of the reasons for the failure of COP15 in the Danish capital was that many questions were not sorted out in advance and were raised on the floor. Considered the largest high-level climate gathering, the COP15 talks broke down because of the failure of parties to reach a deal on greenhouse gas reduction targets and financial support for climate change adaptation and mitigation in developing countries.

In order to avoid a repeat of the Copenhagen conference, ministers of environment and representatives from 35 countries met in the German capital Berlin from 18 May through 19 May under the auspices of the 6th Petersberg Climate Dialogue in preparation for the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris in December.

The goal of this year’s Petersberg Climate Dialogue for all parties was to produce a negotiating text acceptable to all participants in the 2015 international climate conference in Paris.

The 6th Petersberg Climate Dialogue, with the slogan “Reaching for the Paris outcome”, was aimed at identifying the remaining challenges to tackling climate change and bringing concrete possibilities for action to light.

Scheduled for the middle of the year, the dialogue gives ministers the opportunity for political reflection on the decisions taken at past UN climate conferences.

At the same time, the dialogue was an opportunity to openly discuss the desired outcomes of upcoming UN climate conferences.

The Petersberg Climate Dialogues from 2010 to 2014 developed concrete ideas about what could be achieved politically in relation to the targets set and thus made an important contribution to the success of the climate conferences.

In Berlin, the 35 ministers of environment were joined by their representatives, co-chairs of the ad-hoc working group on the Durban Platform of Enhanced Action (ADC), the executive secretary on the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and high-level representatives of the UN secretary general. They met for two days at the invitation of the governments of Germany and France.

The ministers and their representatives came from Angola, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, European Union, EU Presidency, Gambia, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Luxemburg as incoming EU presidency, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines and Peru.

And others were from Poland, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America and Venezuela.

In an informal setting, the ministers discussed how to accelerate progress towards an ambitious agreement at COP21 in Paris and how to enhance climate action in their respective countries.

In her speech, German Chancellor Angela Merkel underlined her commitment to contributing to the success of Paris by striving for a strong signal from the G7 and doubling by 2020 the German contribution to climate finance as compared with 2014.

“Let us mobilise, let’s act, it is urgent,” French President Francoise Hollande told the ministers. “This is also in our interest, because climate change is not only a threat but also a source of substantial opportunity to invent a different model of development.”

In discussions, the ministers stressed that if the Paris conference was to be a success, it would need to provide a clear sense of direction that the world is embarking on a journey towards climate resilient sustainable development with a human dimension.

“Most of the ministers stressed that the agreement should be comprehensive and built to last while holding the increase in global average temperature below 2°C or 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels,” said a statement issued at the end of the Petersberg Climate Dialogue.

At the same time, the statement quoted the ministers as saying that the agreement should be flexible enough to accommodate changing circumstances and to continuously improve. They also underlined that it would be crucial to achieve political parity between mitigation and adaptation.

During the dialogue, the ministers explained that they were working hard domestically on ambitious and transparent national contributions that will be submitted as soon as possible, many of them this summer.

However, a number of ministers expressed concern that the overall level of ambition of the Paris outcome would not suffice to hold the temperature rise below 2°C.

“To address this in the agreement, many called for the establishment of a regular assessment of the aggregate level of ambition,” said the statement, adding that some ministers suggested that the results of such an assessment should inform and encourage bolder and more ambitious contributions over time.

At the same time, several ministers stressed that not only mitigation ambition, but also ambition on adaptation and means of implementation should be regularly assessed while taking into consideration their different nature.

Reporting on the outcome of the dialogue, The Financial Times said Chancellor Merkel and President Hollande, the leaders of the EU’s two largest economies, had “firmly decided to take all efforts to reach an ambitious, comprehensive and binding” global climate deal at a UN meeting of almost 200 countries in Paris in December.

“We will strive to decarbonise fully the global economy over the course of this century,” the German and French leaders said in a joint statement in Berlin after talks with other country representatives ahead of the Paris summit.

World leaders have been reluctant until now to spell out so clearly the idea of including a goal to end carbon emissions in the Paris agreement, a move some analysts say could mark a turning point in the decades-old UN climate talks, said the Financial Times.

Chancellor Merkel also called for global greenhouse gas emissions to be cut by at least 60 per cent by 2050 from 2010 levels.

Both leaders backed worldwide carbon emissions trading system, said the FT, adding there was a need for “concrete action for a profound transformation of the world economy and society”.

“We have to make a complete shift to a carbon-free economy. Germany and France support and advocate this everywhere,” the London-based newspaper quoted Ms Merkel as saying.

This target is in line with climate scientists’ findings that global temperatures could rise to risky levels unless emissions from burning coal, oil and gas are reduced and ultimately halted in the coming decades

Twenty journalists from Africa, Asia and Latin America attended a 10-day 2015 Climate Change Training Course for Journalists in Berlin and as accredited press at the Climate Dialogue.

The course that started on 11 May through 20 May was funded by the German Federal Foreign Office and organised by the Ecologic Institute, a trans-disciplinary research organisation focusing on environmental issues.

It was designed to improve the journalists’ understanding of climate change and to prepare them for reporting from international climate negotiations in the lead-up to the climate conference in Paris in December 2015.

The journalists from Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Egypt, Ghana, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Ethiopia, South Africa, Brazil, Jamaica, India, Philippines, Indonesia and South Korea received in-depth training in the science of climate change, economic arguments around climate change policy and the international negotiation process.

All course segments were designed to meet the professional needs of journalists and were presented by a team of experts in climate change science and policy.

Commenting on the outcome of the Dialogue, Philippine Star Reporter Alexis Romero said: “The ghost of Copenhagen is haunting everybody as we keep on referring to what happened in the Danish city during COP15.”

Gyuseok Jang, a reporter with Christian Broadcasting System in South Korea, said the world was moving towards the same point of reaching a consensus in Paris. “Even South Korea has changed its mindset towards tackling climate change,” added Gyuseok.

“Climate change issues are now taken as a global challenge,” said Francis Lungu, a reporter for the Post of Zambia.

Marcelo Leite, a columnist from Brazil, said: “I have heard this kind of language for over 20 years now. I am less optimistic on the outcome of COP21. There is no clarity about the climate financing by 2020.”

Lydia Asamoah, Ghana News Agency’s Chief Reporter, said: “I was quite impressed by speeches made by the German Chancellor, German environment minister, and French minister for Foreign Affairs. Their speeches showed that there was seriousness on addressing climate change.”

“The Petersberg Dialogue was positive and optimistic,” said Galton Braga, a television reporter for the Brazilian Television System. “But there were lots of issues to be tackled like the Green Fund.”

Although there was no guarantee, UNFCCC Secretary Christiana Figueras said she was confident that Paris would deliver a different result. “I did not hear a single country say we don’t want an agreement,” she added. “We need an agreement to protect ourselves, stir economic growth and promote energy security.”

Ms Barbara Hendricks, the German Environment Minister said: “Without a doubt, the fight against climate change is a moral obligation of our generation. It is a moral obligation vis-a-vis the generations we will pass our planet to. It is a moral obligation vis-a-vis people who already suffer storms, floods, hunger, drought and poverty and which are most severely hit by our changing climate.”

Ms Hendricks said climate action was more than just a moral obligation and task, adding: “I’m firmly convinced that in the 21st century, climate action is a requisite for a competitive modern economy, and thus for sustainable prosperity.”

Climate action was not a luxury but an investment in the health and well-being of people and we should be bold, Ms Hendricks said, and there was need for a climate neutral world economy in the second half of the century to keep global warming below two degrees.

She said it was undisputed that industrialised countries have a major responsibility, adding: “This is why we should not only talk about climate targets but also about fair means of climate funding and adaptation.”

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said the COP21 meeting in Paris will not be the end of the process but also the starting point.

According to Mr Fabius, there is strong political will at global level in addressing climate change and there were ground breaking agreements signed between China and the United States, the world’s major emitters of greenhouse gases.

“We have to create a Paris alliance on climate change,” said Mr Fabius. The alliance would include financing technologies for those who have no access yet.

Ms Hendricks and Mr Fabius considered the outcome of the dialogue positive. In their view, the international community could adopt an ambitious and durable climate agreement at the end of this year as the political will to deliver such an agreement is greater than ever before. But decisions must now be reached as quickly as possible.

Ms Hendricks said: “The international community has learnt from the experience of Copenhagen in 2009 and we are now significantly better placed for a successful outcome in Paris. We know that we cannot resolve all issues on the last night of the COP.

“That is why we need to clarify as many questions as possible as early as possible. We need a basis for political decisions by October. In combating climate change, we have no time to lose.”

And Mr Fabius added: “A success in Paris depends on all of us. I am encouraged by the collective willingness that I sensed here in Berlin to get results.

“We are not there yet. From now on, every meeting must have a clear outcome and send a signal that we are moving forward. I will convene a ministerial meeting mid-July in Paris to take stock of the results of the next negotiation round in Bonn next June.”

The first Petersberg Climate Dialogue was held in May 2010 as a follow-up to COP15 in Copenhagen, Denmark and in preparation for COP 16 in Cancun, Mexico.