"After the financial crisis and the refugee crisis, the Chancellor is now tackling the climate crisis, and of course we are trying to provide political decision-makers with relevant facts from the excellent research at our institute," said Ottmar Edenhofer, PIK-Director. "This was not about media, not about sightseeing – this visit by the Chancellor to our institute was really all about information. She asked important questions, it was an intensive discussion." In addition to CO2 pricing, the topics discussed included the increase and causes of devastating weather extremes, the effects of climate change on human health and on agriculture, as well as greenhouse gas neutrality, a target internationally agreed upon in the Paris Agreement. So far, however, the countries of the world have not yet embarked on a path of emission reductions making the goals of climate stabilisation achievable.
Scientists from all research departments were involved in the meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel. Photo: PIK/Greb
Chancellor Angela Merkel discussing climate risks and policy solutions with experts from natural sciences and social sciences. Photo: Guido Bergmann/BPA
Weblink to the joint proposal by Ottmar Edenhofer (PIK/MCC) and Christoph Schmidt (RWI) for a CO2 pricing framework (in German):
http://www.rwi-essen.de/publikationen/rwi-positionen/450/
Weblink to the dossier by PIK and MCC: Eckpunkte einer CO2-Preisreform für Deutschland (in German):
https://www.pik-potsdam.de/news/press-releases/files/eckpunkte-einer-co2-preisreform-fur-deutschland