Merkel: My duty as G20 president is finding ground for compromise

German Chancellor Angela Merkel says her chief task during Germany’s G20 presidency is to “work on options for an agreement and not contribute to speechlessness". In an interview with weekly newspaper Die Zeit ahead of this year’s G20 summit in Hamburg, Merkel says political constellations in the group “have to be accepted the way they are” without playing down conflicting positions. A good G20 agreement would “show that we appropriately address global challenges and doesn’t whitewash dissent". Merkel reiterated her disappointment over US President Donald Trump’s decision to pull his country out of the Paris Climate Agreement but emphasised that many US states and cities remained committed to curbing climate change and reducing CO₂ emissions. The Chancellor also said the Paris deal “actually is no matter to be discussed within the G20 but a UN-process". At the same time, she argued, the group of the leading industrialised nations had found common positions on climate protection in the past, which was why the matter would be discussed within the forum. 

See the CLEW article Germany faces balancing act in climate leadership role for background.