Germany appoints Greenpeace chief as climate envoy

By Erbil Basay

BERLIN (AA) - Germany has appointed Greenpeace International Executive Director Jennifer Morgan as the country’s first special climate envoy, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock announced Wednesday.

Morgan will start working as a special envoy for international climate action at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from March 1, said Baerbock.

She will step down as executive director on Feb. 28 in order to take the position, Greenpeace International confirmed on its website.

Morgan, who is a US citizen but fluent in German and lives in Berlin, has applied for German citizenship. She will initially work as a special representative and later as a state secretary in the foreign ministry, Baerbock added.

Climate policy will play an important role in foreign policy from now on, she stressed.

Morgan's appointment, however, has been criticized by some in Germany, with Christian Democratic Union Party (CDU) Deputy Jurgen Hardt saying it crosses the line between the government and "lobbying" due to her Greenpeace affiliation.