As of: 23.04.2010

General information: Petersberg Climate Dialogue

From 2 to 4 May 2010 Germany and Mexico are jointly hosting the Petersberg Climate Dialogue on the Petersberg near Bonn.

The Petersberg conference aims to establish a political position for the further UN process in time for the next round of formal negotiations of the UN Climate Secretariat (UNFCCC) after Copenhagen, which will also take place in Bonn from 31 May to 11 June 2010.

In an informal framework the participating environment and climate ministers will discuss what concrete steps should be taken in the run-up to the UN Climate Change Conference at the end of this year in Cancún (Mexico). The goal is to reach an ambitious outcome in Cancún which defines and implements the decisions of Copenhagen. Therefore, the talks will focus on how progress can be made on important negotiating issues and on the role of the Copenhagen Accord in achieving this.

The conference was announced by Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel in Copenhagen and will bring together a group of 45 states in which all the important country groups are represented. These groups are based on both geographical location and affiliation to important negotiating blocs of developed, developing and newly industrialising countries. A list of the participating countries will be available at the start of the event.

Federal Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen will host the conference and chair the talks together with his Mexican colleague Juan Rafael Elvira Quesada (President of the next UN Climate Change Conference at the end of 2010). The conference will be jointly opened by Chancellor Angela Merkel and Mexican President Felipe Calderón.

Participants will use this informal meeting for a frank exchange of views in an atmosphere of trust. Working groups will discuss key topics in more depth. These are:

• Mitigation and reporting
• Adaptation
• Carbon market
• Financing
• Technology
• Reducing emissions from deforestation.

As co-chair of the conference, Federal Environment Minister Röttgen will wrap up the talks with an informal oral summary of the discussion results. While no formal resolutions will be adopted, the outcome of the dialogue is intended to inform and facilitate the UN negotiations. At the same time, the Petersberg Climate Dialogue will promote decentralised initiatives as a useful means of forwarding the negotiating process, for instance by trying out forms of cooperation and gathering practical experience.