At the Climate Change Conference in Bonn, Federal Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks presented an outline of her ideas for a new climate agreement. "Ambitious national measures and stronger international cooperation are the key to successful international climate action", Minister Hendricks stated at the Ministerial Conference on 6 June 2014.
A new climate agreement taking effect after 2020 is to be adopted at the Climate Change Summit in Paris 2015. "The aim of the Paris Protocol is to lead countries towards a carbon-free future", Minister Hendricks explained. In contrast to the Kyoto Protocol, the follow-up agreement will apply to all states and not just to developed countries. The Minister went on: "Every country must contribute to combatting climate change as best it can and according to its responsibility. I expect all major CO2 emitters to set themselves ambitious national mitigation or reduction targets. They would then be bound by these targets."
Furthermore, Minister Hendricks announced that Germany would intensify its climate action efforts: "We stand by our ambitious climate targets and will step up our efforts to meet them. Germany and Europe can and want to be a model for others." By November 2014 a "Climate Action Programme 2020", coordinated between the responsible ministries, will set out measures aimed at achieving the German reduction target of 40 percent by 2020.
This year's Bonn Climate Conference, which regularly takes place every summer, included a meeting of the ministers for the first time. On Friday 6 June 2014 the ministers discussed the structure of a future climate agreement after 2020 and additional climate action prior to 2020 within the framework of the "Durban Platform". At working level negotiations on technical issues will go on until 15 June.