Germany, China sign MoU to establish climate dialogue

By Timo Kirez

GENEVA (AA) - The governments of Germany and China signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the establishment of a dialogue and cooperation mechanism on climate change and green transformation.

Following the Sino-German government consultations in Berlin, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck and Zheng Shanjie, China's chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, signed a declaration to this effect.

In it, both countries make it clear that they want to cooperate more closely in the fight against climate change. According to the German Ministry of Economics, the memorandum contains eight fields of action for cooperation, ranging from the central area of decarbonization of industry to the expansion of renewable energies, circular economy and the issue of sustainable financing.

In the memorandum, the two countries acknowledged they have a special responsibility in climate protection and to comply with the 1.5 degrees Celsius limit on global warming.

"They reaffirm that visible progress in climate protection is necessary, especially in this decade, and to this end, they want to further increase efforts," the ministry said.

The plan is to build on and expand existing formats. Particularly, there will be closer cooperation at the provincial and sectoral levels and decarbonization will be accelerated, especially in the industrial sector.

In addition, there is to be an annual high-level forum led by Habeck and Zheng to track and coordinate joint developments.

Two German automakers BMW and Mercedes agreed on a memorandum of understanding with the Chinese National Development Commission.

Another German automaker, Volkswagen, and the Chinese Education Ministry signed an MoU for deeper cooperation in attracting skilled workers.