What can she achieve?

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is planning to attend the UN Climate Conference in December, a government spokesman confirmed on Monday. This makes her one of around 40 heads of state who, according to Reuters, have expressed their intention to participate in the summit. 192 countries will be represented in total.

The announcement comes only days after leaders at the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Singapore said they did not expect a major breakthrough in Copenhagen.

German government spokesman Christoph Steegmans told German Press Agency (dpa) that the outcome of the Singapore summit "did not exactly spark great euphoria" and that these low expectations were "partly why the chancellor decided to play an active role in ensuring that the bar is not set too low in Copenhagen, and that we try to make the most of it and not to let anyone off their responsibilities."

In an effort to rally the European Union behind her, Merkel said on Wednesday she would discuss Copenhagen with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Denmark’s Lars Loekke and the EU’s Swedish presidency to, "make our position clear in Brussels."

Merkel made her comments following a German government meeting at the Meseberg Palace near Berlin.

"It is clear that it now depends on us, on Germany and Europe, to be ambitious there and not to put the success of Copenhagen in doubt," Merkel said after the meeting. This success will, according to the chancellor, be cemented if objectives can be set in the first half of 2010 for a successor to the Kyoto protocol.

Critics not happy with track record

However, politicians from the German Green Party have criticized Merkel's decision, saying that her trip to Copenhagen would not be so crucial if her government had done a better job with climate policy all along. The main problem they identify is the lack of agreement on financial aid for climate protection projects in developing countries.

"One of our main criticisms of this government is that Germany is blocking any consensus in the European Union to put concrete numbers for financial support on the table," Dr. Hermann Ott, a Greens politician and member of the Bundestag, told Deutsche Welle.

Ott's doubts reflect the calls of developing nations, such as China, for advanced economies to help them pay for climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts. He believes that, despite the burden of the financial crisis, the money for this kind of aid could be sourced from the EU emissions trading system.

"From 2013 onwards, almost all of these certificates for the energy industry will be auctioned, so we'll have several billion euros available for supporting developing countries," said Ott. "If these revenues go into the general budget and not climate change, they will be lost."

According to Dr. Hendrik Vygen, member of the board of Germanwatch - a non-profit, non-governmental organization promoting global equity - Merkel's decision to travel to Copenhagen is a good one. However, he can understand the Greens' criticism, saying that he found it "wrong" that Germany and the EU were reluctant to specify their share of aid.

Potential for influence

Vygen commends Merkel's courage for wanting to personally appear at the climate conference, saying that he believes she "wants to fight for a legally-binding agreement."

"Merkel is risking total failure, but I think her decision is right," Vygen told Deutsche Welle. "I hope Merkel's decision inspires other heads of government to join in."

Despite his skepticism about the German government's strategies, Hermann Ott from the Greens has faith in the Chancellor's power of influence.

"Angela Merkel is a good negotiator," said Ott. "If she is actually willing to go there and fight for a good climate deal, then I am rather optimistic that she can do that. The question is whether she actually plans to be very constructive there."

Author: Eva Wutke (tw/AFP)

Editor: Susan Houlton