Merkel “will not whitewash” climate dissent with Trump at G20

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is determined to lead the climate negotiations at the G20 summit in Hamburg “in a way that they serve the content and goal of the Paris Agreement”, she said in a government declaration before the federal parliament. After the US’s withdrawal from the accord, “we cannot expect easy negotiations in Hamburg. The dissent is obvious, and it would be insincere by us to whitewash it. I will not do that”. “We want to and must cope with the existential challenge posed by climate change, and we cannot and will not wait until the last person on the planet can be convinced of the scientific knowledge of climate change,” said Merkel. Merkel today hosts a meeting of the European leaders who will take part in the Hamburg summit.

Find a video of the speech in German here.

For background, read the CLEW factsheet German reactions to US decision to withdraw from Paris Agreement and the CLEW article Merkel vows to convince climate sceptic “elephant in the room”.