Climate Summit COP24 in Poland: Merkel Stays Away but Sends Money

Germany doubles its commitment to the international climate fund Green Climate Fund by a further 1.5 billion euros as was announced by Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze and Federal Development Minister Dr. Gerd Müller at the start of the 24th World Climate Conference in Poland. In this way, the Federal Government supports the implementation of the Paris Climate Protection Agreement and global cohesion in the fight against climate change.

Federal Development Minister Müller: "Climate protection is the survival of mankind. Katowice must be a trend reversal: We must implement the requirements of the Paris Agreement consistently and bindingly and also invest in international climate protection, because the poor countries with the lowest emissions are hardest hit by the consequences of climate change. 100 million people in coastal and drought regions are already at risk of losing their livelihoods due to heat and rising sea levels. Germany is leading the way. We double our contribution to the Green Climate Fund and launch the 'Alliance for Development and Climate', An initiative to attract additional private investment for climate protection projects in developing and emerging countries."

Federal Environment Minister Schulze: "In the climate negotiations, we advocate more commitment, courage and solidarity in climate protection. Here in Katowice we want to adopt a binding set of rules for the implementation of the Paris Agreement. In the end, everyone should know exactly what they have to do so that together we can combat climate change. We also need the courage and self-confidence to become better together. And we need solidarity between rich and poor countries. We will not leave the developing countries alone when it comes to climate protection and adaptation to climate change. With our contribution to the Green Climate Fund, we are sending a strong signal of cohesion. That is well invested money, because it will help to promote climate-friendly solutions throughout the world. We will work to ensure that other industrialised countries make similar commitments and that emerging economies also participate."

The money from the fund will be used to support mitigation and adaptation measures in developing and emerging countries that are particularly hard hit by climate change. These include the large-scale development of renewable energies, the implementation of climate-friendly mobility concepts, new protective structures against storm surges in Bangladesh and the development of storm early warning systems.

The fund has been in existence since 2014 and so far it has had 7.3 billion dollars at its disposal - but the sum was not enough to carry out all the projects. Even then, Germany was one of the largest donors with a total of 750 million euros. In terms of replenishment, Germany is now the first country to announce a concrete sum and thus wants to act as a signal generator for other countries.