Relief was the most frequent reaction to the results of the UN Climate Change Conference 2010. ‘We haven’t saved the climate yet, but at least Cancún has shown us that the UN negotiation process has a future,’ said Lorenz Petersen, head of GTZ’s Climate Task Force. GTZ planning officer Nana Künkel, a member of the German negotiation delegation in Cancún, was also pleased with the results: ‘The negotiation package strikes a balance between the various interests and in particular reflects the concerns of the developing countries very well too,’ she explained. The Cancún Agreements are seen internationally as the basis for a globally binding agreement that is to be adopted at the UN Climate Change Conference 2011 in South Africa and which will determine the future of the Kyoto Protocol.

Limiting global warming to 2°C

‘Climate change is forcing people throughout the world to change the way they think,’ said Lorenz Petersen. ‘This makes the conflicts of interests connected with climate protection so serious.’ Alongside other topics, there are two big areas of action: reducing emissions and adapting to climate change. It is the industrial nations and the newly emerging economies in particular that need to drastically cut their greenhouse gas emissions in order to limit the extent of climate change. Global warming of 2°C is considered to be just about manageable and was officially adopted in the Cancún Agreements as the parties’ goal, but additional efforts will be needed to reach the 2°C target. Climate change is inevitable, and it has the greatest impact on developing countries. ‘People in the partner countries are faced with the difficult task of adapting to the impacts of climate change,’ said Nana Künkel. ‘To do so, they need extensive support, including capacity development on technical and financial topics. That is something that became clear again in Cancún.’

The future of climate protection

Capacity development is a key concept: ‘GTZ can offer expertise that is in great demand worldwide in the field of climate protection,’ Mr Petersen explained. This includes helping developing and more advanced nations measure the impact of climate measures, offering advisory services on the use of financing mechanisms, and drafting climate strategies for individual countries or regions. ‘These areas will become even more important for us in future.’