Berlin - Germany and the United States need to coordinate technologies to improve energy efficiency and cut carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Wednesday ahead of a visit to California. Speaking to German national public broadcaster ZDF following a visit to the far northern Norwegian island of Spitsbergen, Steinmeier said the effects of climate change were "immediately visible."
The correct conclusion was to achieve greater efficiency and to make greater use of renewable resources, the German foreign minister said.
He said he would hold talks in California regarding the coordination of the differing emission trading systems in Europe and the US.
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has embarked on an ambitious environmental programme to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the most populous US state.
Referring to the planting by Russia of a flag on the seabed at the North Pole at the beginning of the month, Steinmeier said: "We must take care that the ambitions of certain states do not lead to the generation of new conflicts."
With the availability of new technologies, the polar region was now being seen as a source of fossil fuels, Steinmeier said.
The visit to Spitsbergen, and the accompanying discussions with scientists had brought home "how the changes here, particularly to the ice, have become visible," he said.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed similar sentiments during a visit to Greenland in mid-August.
