Paris climate agreement

After the Paris climate agreement the Federation of German Industries (BDI) warns against Germany or the European Union launching go-it-alone initiatives. “In climate policy Germany must not switch from being a trailblazer to a hermit”, said BDI President Ulrich Grillo in Berlin on Monday. “Now is not the time to rush into thinking about new EU objectives, let alone national ones.”

According to Grillo, the compromise achieved in Paris is a step in the right direction in order to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. However, the agreement falls well short of what would be necessary in order to implement climate protection efforts in a fair and binding manner.

Grillo argued that up-and-coming industrial nations are still not adequately involved in funding climate protection. “The conference did not succeed in satisfactorily resolving the division between industrial countries and developing nations and overcoming the one-sided distribution of the financial burdens”, criticised the BDI President.

On the positive side, the agreement at least permits market mechanisms for global emissions trading. “Only through global implementation can climate goals be achieved cost-effectively”, said Grillo. “The G20 nations in particular should resolutely press ahead with the development of global emissions trading systems. Here I see a major assignment for the German G20 presidency 2017”.

Grillo praised the host country France for its conduct of negotiations. He called the prospect of climate protection contributions made by nations a “good starting point for more efforts worldwide in climate protection”.