Spiegel - Merkel Dumps Goal Of Binding Agreement Aimed At Holding Global Temp Rise @ 2C

[hatrack]

Frustrated by the climate change conference in December, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is quietly moving away from her goal of a binding agreement on limiting climate change to 2 degrees Celsius. She has also sent out signals at the EU level that she no longer supports the idea of Europe going it alone.

"I have three children," German Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen said during a speech in Berlin last week, as he ventured to explain why climate policy still remains important after December's failed summit in Copenhagen. He said that a maximum rise in temperature of 2 degrees Celsius "is the highest amount that we can still tolerate, because beyond that life will no longer be possible as we know it."

Currently the prospects are not so good that his children will enjoy a life that remains unchanged. True, starting this weekend, the German government will attempt to rekindle international efforts to save the Earth's climate as it hosts a conference at the Petersberg Hotel near Bonn. But, at the same time, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has now decided to change the course of her climate policy.

As recently as last December she said: "If we don't succeed in limiting global warming to 2 degrees, then the costs of the resulting damages will be many times higher than what we now, with a change in our lifestyle, can achieve." Now it's a different story: Merkel will no longer endeavor to contractually implement the 2-degree target -- in other words, to reach a legally binding agreement with specific reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. She doesn't want to be snubbed again because she has realized that important countries won't lend their support the next time around either. This was confirmed two weeks ago at the nuclear summit in Washington by Chinese President Hu Jintao and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

EDIT

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,691194,00.html

[Deep13]

1. I think the problem is that pariah nation that is run by idiots.

[Dogmudgeon]

2. I think it may simply be a fig leaf

Germany has embarked on a full-bore build-out of coal power plants (which Merkel has no control over) and is not likely to meet any of their emissions limits on time -- particularly with the hapless "Siggi Pop" (Sigmar Gabriel) as the Environment Minister.

--d!

[bananas]

3. India and China refuse to binding agreements - Germany is still aiming for a 2 degree target

When the Indian leader absolutely refused to accept any concrete targets in the Copenhagen Protocol, Merkel dropped the diplomatic etiquette. "But then you do not want legally binding!" she yelled at the leader of a nation with over a billion people. Singh literally shouted back: "That's not fair!" His Chinese colleague, Deputy Foreign Minister He Yafei, added calmly and in polished English: "The current formulation would not be agreed."

<snip>

The environment minister remains valiant. He says that he and the chancellor are "not looking to abandon the 2-degree target, but rather to find new ways to attain it," says Röttgen. But that could also take significantly longer. If the resolutions that countries laid down in the "Copenhagen Accord" are implemented, the average global temperature is expected to rise by over three degrees Celsius during this century. Climatologists warn that this could lead to a dangerous warm period.

A Time for Realpolitik

After having dreamt of achieving the great objective, now it's time for realpolitik. Merkel and Röttgen had to admit that countries like China and India will not submit to a mandatory target that others have contrived. They are continuing to pursue their climate policies, but are focusing strictly on domestic issues -- and neither is willing to relinquish any of their sovereignty. Germany is adapting to this and now plans to launch concrete climate protection projects with individual partner countries. Röttgen speaks of a new approach: "In Bonn we want to create a new level that will allow us not only to point towards CO2 targets from above, but also to launch projects from below that produce measurable successes." This includes forest protection and more concrete cooperation in the transfer of environmentally friendly technologies.