Merkel’s green stand weakened by home politics

ANGELA MERKEL’S appearance at a key United Nations climate summit yesterday was overshadowed by difficult talks on forming a new coalition government in Germany.

The chancellor’s speech was supposed to be one of the centrepieces of the Bonn climate conference as Europe sought to demonstrate its commitment to the environment.

But instead, Mrs Merkel was forced to concede that political considerations made it “difficult” for her own country to give up coal-fired power stations.

She told delegates: “I want to speak openly. It’s not easy in Germany either. We know that as a country that uses a lot of coal, Germany needs to make a significant contribution to achieving these goals. But it’s also a question of jobs and the price of energy.”

The environment has been a bone of contention in coalition talks, with the Green Party demanding the shutdown of coal-fired power stations.