Federative Republic of Germany

Opening Speech – Model G20

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Presidents, Prime Ministers, Environment Ministers and
Delegates here today, good morning!

We, the Federative Republic of Germany representatives, are pleased to be here,

being able to discuss our common present and future with the G20 nations. Not that
long ago such summit would be impossible, and today we have this precious
opportunity to not only speak clearly and frankly, but also to listen carefully to what
other friend nations have to say.

However, let us not forget that this international democracy environment that the G20
Summit provides can also mislead our discussions. We should not make use of
rhetoric to escape from our obligations, be they individual or collective. We should
not hide ourselves behind our achievements, but work on solutions for our challenges
and pending disagreements.

We have done our homework. Since the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, Germany
has achieved outstanding results regarding the greenhouse gas emissions, and even
reached the established goal before the deadline. And despite the disappointing
outcome of the Environmental Summit in Copenhagen in December last year,
Germany can only be proud of its efforts. One year before the summit we developed
the International Climate Initiative (ICI), an innovative, groundbreaking mechanism
for financing climate protection projects, both national and international. The
international ones are mainly in developing, newly industrialized and transition
countries, and they have benefitted countries like Brazil, India, China, Russia and
South Africa.

Yet, we have much more to be done. But Germany recognizes we cannot move
forward alone. It is time to move together, to cooperate, to act in order to prevent
global warming from reaching over 2 degrees Celsius and threaten our planet, our
nations, our peoples. We believe we can move forward in cooperating in some key
points, such as clean energy infrastructure, energy efficiency in companies, law
enforcement, international binding and funding mechanisms, and nuclear energy
security.

Quoting the German Chancellor Angela Merkel in her speech in the U.S. Congress
last year, “we have no time to lose!”

Thank you.