As of: May 2010

International climate protection for the post-2012 period

The   Kyoto Protocol is the most important instrument of international climate policy to date. However,
under the Kyoto Protocol developed countries have so far only committed to emission reductions for the
period 2008 to 2012 (referred to as the "first commitment period"). Binding efforts for the post-2012 period
have not yet been agreed.

Also in terms of the emission reductions needed to ensure that the global temperature rise does not exceed
2°C, the Kyoto Protocol is only a first step on a long road: for instance, the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change calculates that by 2050 developed countries must reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by
80 to 95 percent compared to 1990. The Kyoto Protocol only covers the first 5 percent of this.

Furthermore the 2°C upper limit cannot be complied with unless the world's major emitters take action.
The US, the biggest emitter among the industrialised countries, has still not ratified the Kyoto Protocol. At
the same time, so far major newly industrialising countries, whose emissions are rising steadily (in 2009
China took over from the US as the country with the world's highest emissions), have not committed to any
binding emission reductions, due to the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities".

Beginning of the negotiations on a post-2012 climate protection agreement

To ensure that further efforts are made on climate protection after the end of the first commitment period
under the Kyoto Protocol, at the   Climate Change Conference in Bali (COP 13) in December 2007 the
international community agreed to commence negotiations on an international climate protection regime for
the post-2012 period.

In the Bali Action Plan the Parties to the Framework Convention on Climate Change agreed to negotiate on
concrete commitments, contributions of all countries to reducing emissions (including reduction of
deforestation), adaptation, technology and financing up to and beyond 2012 .

In Bali the developed and developing countries all agreed on the need to significantly increase their efforts
to jointly combat climate change. For the first time, developing countries announced they were prepared to
take their own measurable, reportable and verifiable climate protection measures in future, supported by
technology cooperation, financing and capacity building. The negotiations on future commitments for
developed countries under the Kyoto Protocol considered an emissions reduction of between 25 and 40
percent by 2020 compared to 1990. All developed countries, including the US, should have comparable
reduction commitments. This defined the level of ambition for the next round of negotiations.

Negotiations on the post-2012 climate protection regime were conducted in several meetings in 2008 and
2009. There were two separate lines of negotiation: the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for
Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP) negotiated on future reduction commitments of
developed countries which are party to the Kyoto Protocol; in the Ad hoc Working Group on Long-term
Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA) the talks included negotiations on mitigation
commitments of all countries - including the US and the major newly industrialising countries - as a
contribution to a future climate protection regime.

No breakthrough at the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen

The negotiations on the post-2012 climate protection regime were originally intended to be concluded at
the   Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen (COP 15) in December 2009. Following difficult
negotiations, however, the conference only achieved a political agreement, the Copenhagen Accord. This
contains some core elements on future climate protection policy, but is not legally binding and the
Conference of the Parties only formally took note of it.

Thus the Copenhagen Accord has not yet achieved the aim of Germany and the EU to agree on a new
comprehensive and binding climate protection regime for the post-2012 period. However, it is a first step in
the right direction. Over 100 countries (including the EU member states) have now announced their formal
support for the Copenhagen Accord. Moreover, numerous developed and developing countries have
presented concrete climate protection targets and measures for 2020.

At the same time, COP 15 in Copenhagen agreed that the negotiations in the two parallel working groups
under the Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol will be continued on the basis
of the existing negotiating texts. This work is to be completed by the next Climate Change Conference in
Cancún (COP 16) in December 2010, so that the conference can take a decision on the results.

German drives forward the climate negotiation process – Petersberg Climate Dialogue in May
2010

At the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel announced a conference
of environment ministers in summer 2010 with the aim of driving forward the process of climate
negotiations. This conference,   the Petersberg Climate Dialogue, took place on the Petersberg in Bonn from
2 to 4 May 2010. Germany and Mexico, the host and presidency of this year's Climate Change Conference
(COP 16), had jointly invited environment ministers from around 45 countries. The countries invited
represented all groups of countries participating in the UN climate negotiations. Federal Environment
Minister Röttgen and his Mexican colleague Elvira presided over the conference.

The Petersberg Climate Dialogue succeeded in giving new momentum to international climate protection
discussions and impetus for the UN climate negotiations in 2010: in informal talks the ministers succeeded
in determining a political position and providing political direction for the continuing UN negotiation process
also with a view to the next Climate Change Conference in Mexico. All participants shared the view that the
aim of UN negotiations remains an ambitious new climate protection agreement. In addition to negotiations,
the participants also agreed that climate protection measures should be implemented rapidly. A range of
countries therefore presented climate protection initiatives that can serve as models for further concrete
cooperation between developing and developed countries. These included, for example, projects to reduce
deforestation in developing countries or improve technology cooperation. At the meeting Germany, together
with South Africa and South Korea, launched an initiative to support developing countries in elaborating
environmentally sound, climate-friendly growth strategies. The implementation of these strategies must be
transparent, measurable and comprehensible.

Outlook – international climate negotiations in 2010

In addition to the Climate Change Conference in Mexico (COP 16) from 29 November to 10 December 2010
and the meeting at expert level which took place in Bonn from 8 to 11 April, three more rounds of
negotiation at expert level are planned for this year: from 31 May to 11 June and from 2 to 6 August, both
taking place in Bonn, and another meeting in fall 2010.

Germany and the EU stand by their objective for the international climate protection process: the conclusion
of a comprehensive legally binding post-2012 climate agreement which enables us to limit the average
global rise in temperature to 2°C compared with preindustrial levels.