Cop 27: Germany sceptical on US carbon offset proposal

A senior official at Germany's ministry for economic co-operation and development today expressed scepticism about an upcoming US proposal to develop a carbon credit mechanism for private companies, which is aimed at funding climate mitigation projects in developing nations.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Cop 27 UN climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, state secretary Jochen Flasbarth said the ministry was "familiar with this proposal" but that a certain "amount of scepticism" remained.

Flasbarth questioned whether the US proposal, to be presented at the summit in Sharm el-Sheikh on 9 November, "is actually something that ought to replace what we as industrialised countries have pledged with regard to our partner countries". He said Germany is already in talks with countries like Indonesia and India and "many others" on a bilateral level and that carbon markets needed to be separate from those discussions.

Flasbarth however said Germany did not oppose carbon offsetting, and noted the country had helped create the necessary framework for the implementation of Article 6 at the Cop 26 summit in Glasgow last year.

By Florence Schmit