Government transition will not impede Germany’s negotiators at Bonn climate conference

The upcoming UN climate conference (COP23) in Bonn will be an important milestone on the way to creating a rulebook for the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement, Germany’s chief UNFCCC negotiator Karsten Sach said at a briefing in Berlin. “If Paris was the constitution," Sach said, the conference held in Bonn "is about the fine print." Germany now had to do its part and strengthen last year’s Climate Action Plan 2050 – the country’s long-term decarbonisation roadmap – with concrete measures. “This is sure to become one of the core topics for the negotiations” to form a new federal coalition government, said Sach. The talks began on 18 October and will likely last until the end of the year. However, this will not impede the German COP negotiators’ ability to act in Bonn, said Walter Lindner, state secretary in the foreign ministry. “The change of government has nothing to do with Bonn”, as all the parties promote climate protection, said Lindner. “We all pull in the same direction”, he added.

See the CLEW article COP23 – Heartland of coal and renewables hosts climate summit for more information.