Petersberg Climate Dialogue II Opening speech by Dr. Norbert Röttgen

- Check against delivery -

Excellencies,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a great honour and pleasure for me to welcome you on the occasion of this second Petersberg Climate Dialogue.

The Dialogue was conceived on the Petersberg near Bonn last year. This year it has moved to the German capital, a city which has already witnessed important milestones on our collective journey towards tackling climate change. The most striking milestone was the so-called Berlin Mandate in 1995, the pre-cursor to the Kyoto Protocol. Its negotiation was led by one of my predecessors, Angela Merkel, the current Chancellor of Germany - as you can see, there are clearly benefits for a politician of being a successful climate negotiator! I am very happy that Chancellor Merkel has remained a committed advocate for progressive action to combat climate change and that she will share her thoughts with us later today.

I am very pleased to co-chair this dialogue with South Africa, a country that has demonstrated a strong commitment to tackling global climate change. Its advocacy of progressive action and its engagement in implementing effective climate protection policies are well known. And this leadership will be critical for reaching a successful outcome in Durban.

I look forward to working with my Co-Chair, Ms Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, the South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation. We are delighted that so many of our colleagues were able to take up our invitation to be here today and tomorrow. We are both looking forward to your contributions. These will be instrumental in shaping this Dialogue and ensuring that we all get the most out of our time here.

As was the practice last year, we are aiming for an open and frank exchange of views. I think this setting offers an ideal forum for us to generate a political impetus for Durban.

It is my job now to set the scene for the discussions ahead over the next two days. Let me start with my assessment of where we are with the climate negotiations at the mid-point of 2011:

After Copenhagen in 2009, the successful outcome of the Cancún conference was a powerful signal that the international community can act collectively. In 2011 it is of vital importance to grasp this momentum and build on it. All states must show that they are willing to fulfil the specific commitments they have made since Bali.

Implementation of the Cancún agreements at the national level is a key tool to stimulate further interventions. We must show that emissions can be decoupled from economic growth and that climate change remains a political priority despite many political crises and some economic downturn.

In Germany for example, we have committed ourselves unconditionally to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions until 2020 by 40 percent compared to 1990 levels. Recently we agreed a national energy roadmap with the target of reducing our greenhouse gas emissions by 80-95% by 2050 while phasing out nuclear energy at the same time. We have decided to do this because we are convinced that fast and effective mitigation measures for example offer substantial economic, political and social benefits. And we do not limit ourselves to this. We are already using a significant portion of our revenues from auctioning allowances to finance mitigation and adaptation activities in developing countries.

But implementation of the existing decisions and action on the national level alone are not enough. A global problem needs a global solution, a global rule-based framework. States must demonstrate that they are determined to continue their hard work in the negotiations to resolve the key issues left unresolved in Cancún. These include the legal form of the agreed outcome, equity issues and the insufficient level of ambition of mitigation pledges. Studies clearly show that with the current pledges we are not on a pathway to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius.

The step by step approach to making progress chosen after Copenhagen has proven effective and promises to be equally successful throughout the coming years, so long as it is combined with a sense of urgency. It is essential that the political momentum for a comprehensive and legally binding climate change regime that ensures a 2 degree pathway is maintained and further strengthened in the build up to and beyond Durban.

I believe that if we want to drive Durban to a success, we need to find a balance in a number of areas: between the two tracks, within the two tracks and in particular between those priority issues identified respectively by developed and developing countries. It is our task to elaborate our strategic policy options for Durban and to give clear political guidance to our negotiators.

We should keep in mind the scientific assessments that continue to show urgent action is needed. These are not conjecture but hard-headed, evidence-based analyses that we ignore at our peril. The imperative for us to respond is stronger than ever. But it is important that, as we enter the second half of 2011 and start to look beyond, we identify a clear focus in our work. I am confident our conversations over the next two days will help us achieve this focus.

Allow me quickly to guide you through our agenda for today and tomorrow.

First, my Co-Chair will set the scene out of the perspective of the incoming COP-Presidency. Thereafter, I will invite Minister Juan Elvira to share his reflections on the current situation and the challenges ahead as seen from the vantage point of the actual COP Presidency.

We will then move to the themes we intend to cover in the course of the Dialogue. In the first session, entitled “Moving forward towards Durban”, we will focus on the critical strategic issues we all need to determine in and beyond Durban as well as high-level policy options and political guidance. This session will be kicked-off by introductory remarks by Minister Jairam Ramesh from India. After the coffee break Minister Chris Huhne from the United Kingdom will share his thoughts to help us continue the discussion.

Chancellor Angela Merkel will address us after the lunch break with her reflections on the role of climate change in international politics.

The last session of day one will then focus on the implementation agenda including the core themes such as mitigation and adaptation, finance, technology and capacity building. Introductory remarks for this session will be provided by Minister Sylvester Quarless from Grenada.

Once we have completed the more structured discussion during the day, there will be an opportunity for us to continue in a more relaxed setting over dinner. The dinner will take place in the Tiergarten, the central park in the heart of Berlin. I hope that the proximity of nature will inspire us all to develop our ideas in smaller groups with good food in our hand. Transport to the venue will be waiting just outside this building at 19.00.

The second day will start with a session on possible scenarios for the Durban outcome. This will be based on the elements that have been identified in the preceding conversations and discussions. A possible set of scenarios for Durban can be found in the background paper that you should all have received in advance of this Dialogue. In the paper we highlighted three possible outcomes addressing particularly the balance on mitigation. Introductory remarks for this session will be provided by Minister Tim Groser from New Zealand.

After the coffee break the thread of this Dialogue will run into our final session where we will look at possible outcomes for Durban and the kind of balance we should strike when faced with a spectrum of options. Building on the different scenarios that will emerge from the previous session, our aim at this point is to narrow down the specific options for a Durban outcome. Introductory remarks will be provided by Commissioner Connie Hedegaard from the European Commission.

At the end of the Dialogue, my Co-Chair Maite Nkoana-Mashabane will give us her thoughts on the next steps for the journey ahead to Durban before we jointly present our conclusions.

We have a lot of ground to cover over the next two days. I know you are eager to make a start. We are sitting in the heart of Berlin, very close to the site where world history was made two decades ago. Let us draw inspiration from our setting. If we want to make world history again, a frank, open and constructive Dialogue will be essential for getting us to Durban in good shape.