State Secretary Machnig concludes environmental policy talks in Australia
Germany and Australia want to work more closely together in climate protection and in the global protection of biological diversity. This was agreed between the State Secretary of the Federal Environment Ministry, Matthias Machnig, the Australian Minister for Climate Change, Penny Wong, and the Australian Minister for the Environment, Peter Garret. "In the preparations for the upcoming global climate summit in Copenhagen at the end of this year, Australia has an important bridging function towards the Asian states, specifically China, Japan and India", Machnig stated at the end of his environmental policy discussions in Australia.
State Secretary Machnig considers the introduction of an emissions trading system planned by the Rudd government to be 'a positive and important signal' which bodes well for the adoption of a comprehensive international climate protection agreement. "Climate protection is increasingly becoming a driving force for innovation for national economies as their competitiveness will increasingly depend on their energy and resource efficiency. The caps on climate gases foreseen for Australia will strengthen the country and will no less lead to a de-industrialisation in Australia than has been the case in Germany following the introduction of emissions trading in Europe", Machnig went on to explain.
The discussions also focused on the protection of biological diversity. Germany currently holds the presidency for the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). In this context one of the most important German objectives is to negotiate an international legal regime to combat bio piracy by 2010. In the past Australia was opposed to this notion but it has signalled openness to negotiations since the Rudd government took office. "We owe it to the developing countries with a high biological diversity that we finally establish a secure legal framework for an equitable sharing of the benefits from the use of their biological resources", Machnig pointed out. The Australian Environment Minister Peter Garett assured State Secretary Machnig that Australia would enter into the next round of negotiations constructively and that it would no longer preclude a legally binding international regime as outcome.
Australia also agreed to explore ways in which it could take part in the LifeWeb initiative launched by Germany. The purpose of the initiative is to provide funds to developing countries to support them in the establishment of protected areas in forests and for other threatened ecosystems. To this end Germany will make available an amount of 500 million Euros until 2012 and 500 billion Euros annually from 2013 onwards. Cooperation between Germany and Australia can specifically take place on the protection of coral reefs in South-East Asia.
The talks also centred around the planned establishment of an Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) – similar to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change IPCC. This independent body of scientists would give scientifically founded advice to governments on matters of international biodiversity conservation.