Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, Environment Minister Peter Altmaier and Development Minister Dirk Niebel are jointly hosting a reception for Germany’s bid to provide headquarters for the Green Climate Fund. Open to the press, the reception will be held in the Federal Foreign Office on Thursday (20 September) from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m.

The three ministers will be outlining Germany’s bid and the country’s climate-related work to all the ambassadors currently accredited here. Numerous members of parliament as well as high-level advocates of the campaign from the spheres of politics, research and business will also be attending.

The Green Climate Fund was launched in 2011, at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Durban. Its objective is to help finance measures in developing countries and emerging economies aimed at reducing emissions and assisting adaptation to climate change. The plan is to mobilize 100 billion US dollars annually as of 2020, with a large proportion of that money managed by the up to 300 staff of the Green Climate Fund Secretariat.

The world’s second-largest provider of climate funding, Germany has proposed that the Green Climate Fund have its headquarters in Bonn, a city synonymous with sustainability. Rival bids have been put forward by Switzerland, Poland, South Korea, Namibia and Mexico. The winning bid will be decided in mid-October.

Background information is available at www.greenclimatefund.de