Germany sees 'ice broken' in Bonn climate dialogue
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![German Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen speaks at a press conference in Bonn, Germany, May 4, 2010. With a view to reviving global climate talks, Germany and Mexico co-hosted a three-day ministerial-level meeting of 45 nations in Bonn on Sunday, calling on nations to flesh out common grounds before the next UN summit in Cancun. [Xinhua]](http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20100505/00114320f5750d4b257709.jpg "German Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen speaks at a press conference in Bonn, Germany, May 4, 2010. With a view to reviving global climate talks, Germany and Mexico co-hosted a three-day ministerial-level meeting of 45 nations in Bonn on Sunday, calling on nations to flesh out common grounds before the next UN summit in Cancun. [Xinhua]") |
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German Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen speaks at a press conference in Bonn, Germany, May 4, 2010. With a view to reviving global climate talks, Germany and Mexico co-hosted a three-day ministerial-level meeting of 45 nations in Bonn on Sunday, calling on nations to flesh out common grounds before the next UN summit in Cancun. [Xinhua] |
The three-day high-level climate talks co-hosted by Germany and Mexico in Bonn, Germany have broken the deadlock since last year's Copenhagen climate change summit, a German official said Tuesday.
The Petersberg Climate Dialogue, named after the meeting place of Petersberg Hotel, Germany's former government guesthouse in Bonn, invited environment ministers or high-level representatives from some 45 countries.
On the last day of the dialogue, German Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen said participants had in-depth discussions on forest protection, technology transfer and emissions trading, and considerable progress was achieved in "a constructive atmosphere."
"The ice has been broken," Roettgen said, putting the Bonn talks in comparison with the UN climate summit in Copenhagen in 2009, which fell far short of global expectation of reaching a legally-binding deal on climate change.
"Talks on emissions trading were better than expected," Roettgen said. Some countries still had some reservations on this proposal, but overall there was a great openness available for further discussions.
Roettgen also confirmed that Germany intended to provide developing countries with 350 million euros (465 million U.S. dollars) for forest protection in the next three years as part of the funds committed by Germany on the bio-diversity conference in Bonn in 2008.
The minister meanwhile made it clear that the Petersberg dialogue and similar events were not to replace the UN process. "This is not an either-or."
The informal dialogue, proposed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Copenhagen, is expected to set a basis of rebuilding trust between developing and developed countries and to call on nations to flesh out common ground before the next UN summit on climate change in Cancun, Mexico, toward the end of the year.
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