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Statement by Angela Merkel, Chancellor, Federal Republic of Germany
Climate protection is one of the biggest challenges facing us in the 21st century. The scientific facts are
clear: the pace of climate change is accelerating; it is endangering our security and economic development.
The impact will be dramatic and the risks uncontrollable, if we do not take resolute action right now.
It therefore makes complete ecological and economic sense for the world to agree at the Conference of
the Parties in Copenhagen at the end of this year on an ambitious, effective and comprehensive climate
convention for the period after 2012. With this new convention we must pave the way for reduced global
emissions. If we succeed in cutting emissions by at least 50 per cent from 1990 levels by 2050, we will be able
to keep the global rise in temperature below the critical two degrees Celsius mark.
At the same time we must intensify our efforts to adapt to climate change. So the Copenhagen Convention
should also provide an appropriate framework for the development and implementation of adaptation
strategies. The precondition for this is the systematic analysis and evaluation of the effects of climate change
on infrastructure, environment and nature. Attention should be given to particularly hard-hit regions, such as
coasts and mountain ranges, and to economic sectors, above all agriculture and tourism, as well as to health-
related aspects.
I therefore welcome the goal of the World Meteorological Organization and the World Climate Conference-3
– namely, to improve the international community’s ability to predict key climate trends and risks. The
planned new information network can play a decisive role in allowing climate information and predictions to
be used more effectively to plan adaptation strategies. Only on the basis of reliable and scientifically sound
information can effective action plans be drawn up and implemented.
With this admirable initiative the World Meteorological Organization is building a bridge between
established climate data on the one hand and the application of climate information by decision-makers on
the other. It is thereby making a valuable contribution to the endeavours to counter the impact of climate
change on the world’s population.
Angela Merkel
Chancellor, Federal Republic of Germany