Germany and Tunisia plan to broaden their cooperation in the fields of climate protection and energy policy. On a visit to Tunisia's capital Tunis Federal Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel signed a Joint Declaration with his Tunisian counterpart Nadhir Hamada on Monday in which both countries agreed to cooperate closely on climate protection projects under the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Minister Gabriel also held talks with Tunisian Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi and Industry Minister Afif Chelbi.
At an energy workshop in Tunis Minister Gabriel declared: "Climate protection and economic development are not opposed to one another. The more than 50 CDM projects currently in the pipeline in Tunisia combine two goals: technology transfer and a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. I am confident that together we will be able to combine economic growth with less energy consumption."
During the Minister's visit, Germany's energy agency dena (Deutsche Energie-Agentur) and its Tunisian counterpart ANME (Agence Nationale pour la Maîtrise de l'Énergie) agreed to set up a working group to identify CDM projects.
Further information:
- Declaration: Joint Declaration of Intent on bilateral co-operation regarding Clean Development Mechanism project activities between the Government of the Republic of Tunisia and the Government of the Federal Rebublic of Germany