Petersberg Climate Dialogue 2023

The Petersberg Climate Dialogue (PCD) is an annual high-level political and international forum that took place from 2 -3 May 2023 ahead of the annual United Nations Climate Change Conferences (Conference of the Parties or COP). The PCD series was co-hosted in Berlin by the German Federal Foreign Office and the United Arab Emirates – the incoming COP28-Presidency. Delegates from 40 countries attended this year’s high-level dialogue series, the 14th such event. Its central goal is to strengthen trust both in multilateral climate negotiations and between states.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres, speaking virtually to the conference, called for honesty when facing the climate crisis: “We must be upfront about what this requires: It requires cooperation – rising above geopolitical divisions; Climate justice – developed countries and international financial institutions delivering on long-overdue finance; And cleaning-up our economies – breaking our fossil fuel addiction, and driving decarbonisation in every sector.”

Bringing together a representative range of countries to build alliances among nations that want to forge ahead, where industrialised countries, island states, emerging economies and civil society come together, the PCD aims at strengthening strategic dialogue on just energy transition, global transformation and responses to climate impacts. The focus this year included topics such as climate adaptation, climate finance and dealing with loss and damage, but in particular the first-ever global stocktake.

Opportunity of a Generation

UNFCCC Executive Secretary Simon Stiell emphasised his intention to listen – to listen to the challenges many face regarding the realities of the climate crisis. “We are at a crossroads. We are presented with an opportunity of a generation. The opportunity [is] to course-correct. The question is, whether we will take it or not. We must bring a new implementation mindset to the global stock take. This stock take is our opportunity to look at where we have gotten thus far and design a way forward which approaches the task differently.”

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and co-host of the conference stated: “Together, we’re facing the greatest security challenge of our century, namely the climate crisis. All of us gathered here today can do our part to mitigate this crisis. After all, and this is the good news contained in the latest IPCC report, we have the policy tools and the financial resources at our disposal as well as the technical solutions to contain this crisis.”

The high-level dialogue will be closed on Wednesday afternoon by COP28 President-Designate Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber of the United Arab Emirates and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The next Climate Change Conference COP28 will take place in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates from 30 November to 12 December 2023.

 

Additional information:

The first Petersberg Climate Dialogue, aimed at improving communication between leaders and environmental ministers following the nearly unsuccessful negotiations at the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen (COP15), was initiated by German politician and former German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The meeting took place on April 2–4, 2010 at Hotel Petersberg, located on the hill named “Petersberg” near the German city of Bonn, where the UNFCCC is headquartered. In subsequent years, the Petersberg Climate Dialogue conference was held in Berlin.

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