Merkel Urges Action on Climate Change
In a speech to the U.S. Congress days ahead of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Merkel said current economic, security and environmental challenges also posed barriers that countries needed to overcome together.
There was "no time to lose" in fighting greenhouse gas emissions, she said, encouraging nations to make a commitment at the Dec. 7-18 climate meeting in Copenhagen.
"We need an agreement on one objective—global warming must not exceed two degrees Celsius," Merkel declared. "To achieve this, we need the readiness of all countries to accept internationally binding obligations."
There was lengthy applause from the Democrats who hold the majority in Congress. But U.S. lawmakers are struggling to pass legislation to reduce industry emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.
Legislation narrowly passed the House in June but has hit resistance in the Senate and is not expected to pass that chamber this year. This could put the Obama administration on the defensive at Copenhagen, where officials had hoped to be able to negotiate a deal that would be ratified.
Merkel, who began her second term in office last week, met with President Barack Obama at the White House before giving the first address to the U.S. Congress by a German leader since Konrad Adenauer in 1957.
Speaking to reporters during a picture-taking session in the Oval Office, Obama praised Merkel's leadership on climate change.
"The United States, Germany, and countries around the world I think are all beginning to recognize why it is so important that we work in common in order to stem the potential catastrophe that could result if we continue to see global warming continuing unabated," Obama said.
Obama and Merkel, meeting in the Oval Office, discussed Afghanistan, climate, non-proliferation and the global economic crisis, a U.S. official said.
Childhood Behind Iron Curtain
Merkel, the first German leader to have grown up in communist East Germany, touched on her childhood behind the Iron Curtain, and said back then she would have never dared to dream she would be addressing the U.S. Congress.
She thanked the United States for supporting Germany in its bid to reunify. The 20th anniversary of the Berlin Wall's fall is Nov. 9.
"I know, we Germans know how much we owe to you, our American friends. And we shall never, I personally shall never, ever forget this," she declared to applause from lawmakers.
She acknowledged that America and Europe had their differences, including in style: Americans sometimes sees Europeans as hesitant and fearful, while Europeans may consider Americans as too headstrong and pushy.
Security challenges the West faces together included Iran—which must be prevented from getting a nuclear bomb—and Afghanistan, she said. She also said new global rules and supervision were needed to prevent a repeat of the recent economic crisis.
"In a way, this is a second wall that needs to fall," she said of resistance to global financial regulations.
The invitation to address Congress has cooled talk in the German media about a lack of rapport between Merkel and Obama.
U.S. officials say the two have developed a solid working relationship after getting off to a rocky start last year when Merkel refused to let Obama speak at the Brandenburg Gate when he was a presidential candidate.
Western powers are engaged in a cat-and-mouse game with Iran, which has signaled that it wants fundamental changes to a nuclear fuel deal it committed to in talks last month.
The United States, Germany and their NATO allies are struggling to forge a new strategy on Afghanistan, where violence is at its worst since U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban in 2001.
