The "Berlin Call": German Industry calls for Global Climate Protection
November 17th 2009
German industry calls on the international community to establish a global and reliable agreement at the UN COP 15 in Copenhagen. "A legally binding agreement is very important for the German industry. We need investment protection and planning security for worldwide investment in climate friendly technologies. Climate protection and growth are two sides of the same coin," BDI President Hans-Peter Keitel declared.
High-level company representatives of all industrial sectors presented the “Berlin Call” of the BDI Initiative ‘Business for Climate Protection’ in Berlin today. "The companies need equal competitive conditions on a global level. Unbalanced burden sharing does not help the climate, but would cost investments, innovation, and jobs. This is why absolute and comparable mitigation targets for industrialized countries and appropriate emission ceilings for emerging economies are so important," Keitel said. A global carbon market was the most important instrument to efficiently share the burdens of climate protection.
"Thanks to its innovative capacity, German industry can contribute significantly to effective global climate protection," Peter Loescher, Siemens CEO and chair of BDI’s Climate Initiative, stated. "We are leading the global market with numerous climate relevant technologies. Many countries could profit from these climate protection technologies." Loescher also called upon the German delegation at the climate negotiations in Copenhagen not to allow Germany’s technological advantages to be lost. "Competition is getting tougher and we want to continue leading the way."
The event in the European School of Management and Technology (ESMT) was held in cooperation with T-Systems and Cisco in form of a climate friendly TelePresence-Conference.
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(From left to right) Hans-Juergen Kerkhoff (VDEh, Wirtschaftsvereinigung Stahl), Dr. Wulf Bernotat (E.ON AG), Herbert Bodner (Bilfinger Berger AG), Michael Ganser (Cisco), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hans-Peter Keitel (BDI), Peter Loescher (Siemens), Matthias Wissmann (VDA), Dr. Werner Schnappauf (BDI)
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(From left to right) Prof. Dr.-Ing. Keitel, Loescher, Wissmann, Dr. Schnappauf
The "Berlin Call" is available for download: http://www.bdi.eu/457_6205.htm