Brussels, 06/07/2016 (Agence Europe) - Germany and China will do what is needed to speed up ratification of the Paris Agreement. They made this announcement on Tuesday 5 July in Berlin during informal ministerial discussions that took place as part of the "Petersburg dialogue" (4-5 July), chaired by the German Environment Minister, Barbara Hendricks.
Chancellor Angela Merkel announced that the ratification proposal would be submitted to the Council of Ministers on Wednesday 6 July. Chinese negotiator, Zhenhua Xie, indicated that his country intended to ratify the agreement at the end of August. Ségolène Royal, the President of the COP21, welcomed these two pieces of "good news" and said "I sense a real desire to move forward and ratify ", which she felt during these fruitful exchanges for the implementation of the Paris Agreement and the preparations for the COP 22, which will take place 7-18 November in Marrakesh.
In addition to the ratification of the Paris Agreement, challenges and good practices for the long-term, were at the heart of the discussions. These included low carbon development strategies, the transition to climate friendly investment and the different expectations for the COP 22.
The European Commissioner for Climate Action, Miguel Arias Cañete, speaking on Twitter, said "High Ambition Coalition in Berlin coordinates actions on Paris Agreement implementation/entry into force". This alliance of industrialised and developing countries played a major role in the success of COP21 and has managed to maintain its impetus.
Christiana Figueres, the Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention for Climate Change stepped down from her post on 5 July to pass on the reins to Patricia Espinosa (EUROPE 11554). Commissioner Canete thanked her publicly for her "perseverance, outstanding skills and hard work".
The Petersburg dialogue focuses on the subject of the climate (named after a castle near Bonn) and was originally an initiative of Chancellor Angela Merkel for relaunching negotiations following the failure of the Copenhagen climate conference (COP 15). Since then it has been transformed into an annual high-level forum for reconciling the different points of view of the different parties involved in the negotiations. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)