G20 Summit: Merkel’s Anti-Trump Front Is Crumbling

via The Global Warming Policy Forum (GWPF)
http://www.thegwpf.com

In the run-up to the G20 summit, the German Government is trying to isolate US President Trump. According to SPIEGEL, Angela Merkel is lobbying for a commitment to the Paris climate agreement from as many statesmen as possible. But it’s not that easy.

First cracks in the climate alliance emerged early – just after Donald Trumps’ historical speech in the Rose Garden where he announced America’s withdrawal from the Paris climate deal. Only Germany, Italy and France signed a joint, critical statement in response to the farewell from the international climate alliance. Japan, Canada and the UK did not.

Undaunted, German chancellor Angela Merkel is trying to rescue the alliance against Trump. At the beginning of July, at the G20 summit in Hamburg, the leaders of the most important industrialized and emerging nations, such as China and India, will meet. Angela Merkel wants to take a manifest stand in the fight against global warming. According to SPIEGEL, her officials have drafted a 13 page document intended to be signed by as many heads of state as possible.

According to the draft statement, G20 leaders would have to committed to a “redesign of the global energy system in line with Paris” and to their pledges of “national contributions” for the reduction of greenhouse gases.

Social Democrats put Merkel under pressure

According to SPIEGEL, the draft document contains a number of points in which the Paris agreement is expressly reaffirmed and specified. “Our actions are guided by the Paris agreement,” it says. The goal was “to keep global warming well below two degrees [Celsius]”.

However, the German government fears that not all 19 heads of state and government – not including Trump — will sign this declaration at the summit in Hamburg. According to SPIEGEL, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in a telephone call with Angela Merkel, has proposed that any reference to the Paris climate agreement should be removed from the G20 statement to allow US President Trump to sign it.

Merkel’s Social Democratic coalition partner (SPD) has warned the Chancellor not to concede and not to remove the clear commitment to the Paris Agreement. Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel told SPIEGEL: “It would be a good thing if as many participants of the G20 summit were to make it clear that they will comply with the Paris climate treaty.” He warned: “The G20 should not signal a tacit consent against the Paris agreement.”

Merkel is currently consulting by phone with G20 leaders to establish how great their willingness is to isolate Trump on the climate issue. During her Latin America trip this weekend, she will also discuss the subject with the Mexican President.

Translation GWPF