11/15/2023 0 Comments Angela merkel successor![]() ![]() She wanted to see for herself, talk to the scientists and thus understand better the effects of climate change. In 2007, the Danish prime minister and myself invited her and environment minister Sigmar Gabriel to Greenland. Because of her background as environment minister and because she had been to Kyoto, and maybe also because of her background as scientist, she understood the importance of the issue. Before climate became “Chefsache” in all prime ministers’ offices, the big advantage was Merkel’s experience. The last question depends on which role her successor will take on. What has Merkel's influence been, specifically on EU and international climate action? So what will the world lose when she leaves office? Germany is a key country when it comes to these European efforts, not least due to its size so the country’s leader Angela Merkel has been an important figure. It has been Europe that has kept this agenda alive also when others did not. For example, after four years of Donald Trump, you can now again discuss climate at the G20, and that is crucial.Įurope has a role to play to develop solutions, to show the way, to push in international talks and it has quite some soft power that you need in the end to also get in China. President Joe Biden has brought his country back to the table. ![]() The atmosphere for ambitious action has changed and more and more people come on board – big companies, the investment community are starting to act. Now the future is here and people can see the effects – at an economic level, but also how it impacts lives, to the point where heavy floods in July were responsible for many deaths in Germany and neighbouring countries. Ultimately, EU member states then agreed on the 2030 targets in 2014.īack then, we spoke about climate change as something that would happen in the future, with some even asking whether it would happen at all. Scientists told us we have a window of about ten years, before we would start to really feel the impacts of climate change – like forest fires and floods. When I became Commissioner in 2010 – shortly after the climate conference COP15 took place in Copenhagen, Europe was very much impacted by the economic crisis, yet there was a sense of urgency on climate. Connie Hedegaard: There is a main difference between then and now. ![]()
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