Climate, Economy on Agenda for Chancellor Merkel’s Meeting with President Obama on June 26
Press Release
Chancellor Angela Merkel is traveling to Washington, DC, today for her first meeting in the USA with President Barack Obama. In their meeting on Friday at the White House, the leaders will talk primarily about climate protection and the situation of the global economy. They will also address the situation in Iran, North Korea’s nuclear program, and joint efforts in Afghanistan.
“I am very much looking forward to the visit,” Chancellor Merkel said in Berlin before her departure on June 25. Their talks before the upcoming international conferences are very important, she said, referring to the G-8 Summit in Italy in July, the G-20 Summit in the US in September and the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December.
This will be the two leaders’ fourth bilateral meeting. They met for the first time in July 2008 in Berlin before Obama was elected. Since then they have met two times in Germany–in Baden-Baden in April and in Dresden and Buchenwald in June.
Chancellor Merkel and President Obama will meet at the White House beginning at 10:30 on Friday morning, followed by a joint press conference in the Rose Garden. On the matter of the global economy, Chancellor Merkel said she wants to discuss with President Obama how to return to sustainable economic activity, especially in advance of the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh in September.
Before meeting with President Obama on Friday, Chancellor Merkel will meet with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of Congress, where Chancellor Merkel will also address climate protection. That is fitting, as legislators in the United States are currently debating the “American Clean Energy and Security Act.” It is designed to reduce CO2 emissions, create new jobs in the environmental sector and save trillions of dollars in energy costs. The German government welcomes this debate on climate protection and would like to see the United States commit itself to binding reduction targets at the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen.
There is currently much movement on this issue in the United States, Chancellor Merkel said, making it a good time to talk about how an agreement can be reached at the Copenhagen climate conference. However, there is still a great deal of work ahead, she said.
Chancellor Merkel will begin her Washington visit tonight, when she receives the Eric M. Warburg Award of the Berlin-based Atlantik-Brücke (Atlantic Bridge) in a ceremony in the Library of Congress. Chancellor Merkel is being recognized with the organization’s most prestigious honor for strengthening cooperation between Europe and the United States. The Atlantik-Brücke was founded in 1952 with the goal of building a bridge between post-war Germany and the United States.
