16 May 2019
Petersberg Climate Dialogue Commits to Enhanced Action Ahead of UN Summit, COP 25
BMU/Thomas Koehler
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The tenth Petersberg Climate Dialogue, convened by Chile and Germany, aimed to help prepare for the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Summit in September 2019 and the Santiago Climate Change Conference in December.

The Dialogue addressed finance, implementation and enhancing NDCs.

14 May 2019: The tenth Petersberg Climate Dialogue resulted in a commitment to joint progress on climate action and implementation, and reaffirmed the need to submit revised and enhanced climate targets and long-term strategies by 2020. Germany and Chile organized the Dialogue under the theme, ‘Fulfilling the Promise of Paris.’

Ministers from around 35 countries attended the Dialogue in Berlin, Germany, from 13-14 May 2019, to address finance, implementation and enhancing Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

The Dialogue, which included an address by German Chancellor Angela Merkel vowing to make Germany climate neutral by 2050, aimed to help prepare for the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Summit in September 2019 and the Santiago Climate Change Conference in December.

Carolina Schmidt, Chilean Environment Minister and incoming President of the 25th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 25) to the UNFCCC that will take place in Santiago, discussed the need to: include cities, regions and the private sector in the UN Climate Summit; integrate adaptation in national climate agendas; and strengthen the means of implementation for action. She said that COP 25 will discuss market mechanisms and ways to enhance climate targets before the 2020 deadline.

COP 25 reflects a new era of ambition.

German Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze stressed that 2019 “marks the beginning of a new chapter in international climate policy,” emphasizing implementation and cooperation. Following the “crushing defeat” in the fight against climate change in Copenhagen in 2009, she noted, the first Petersberg Climate Dialogue convened to rebuild trust and create a space for constructive discussion. She said while the Katowice Climate Change Conference adopted most of the Paris Agreement implementation guidelines, it failed to adopt clear rules for using international market mechanisms, highlighting that COP 25 will provide an opportunity to adopt such rules.

Schulze said that Germany will, inter alia: double its public climate financing to four billion euros between 2015 and 2020; double its contribution to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) compared with the first replenishment; stop coal-fired power generation by 2038 and take 30% of coal plants off the grid by 2022; and phase out nuclear power by 2022.

She further noted that Germany and France will be coordinating their carbon pricing approaches, including introducing a market instrument for carbon pricing in all sectors, particularly in the buildings and transport sectors.

In her statement, UNFCCC Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa highlighted that COP 25 reflects “a new era of ambition,” specifically to implement the Paris Agreement and ensure enhanced NDCs. She said COP 25 will address: refining the technical aspects of the enhanced transparency framework; continued support to developing countries, including GCF replenishment; climate empowerment and gender; and outreach and inclusion of non-State actors in climate action.

The annual Petersberg Climate Dialogue was launched in 2010, after the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference, and has been held annually. The Dialogue facilitates open discussions in small groups on key issues in international climate policy. [BMU Press Release at Conclusion of Dialogue] [BMU Press Release Announcing Dialogue] [Remarks of German Federal Environment Minister] [Remarks of UNFCCC Executive Secretary] [SDG Knowledge Hub Story on the Ninth Petersberg Climate Dialogue in 2018]


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