Visit to Germany by Representatives of AOSIS

Enlarge image From left: Peter Napwatt, BSR, Cochitta Paul, Mr. Kloeckner, Secilil Eldebechel, Keswa Nand Reddy, Mr. Furman, Alexander Tama Henry, Toleau Viliamu Julio (© europäische Akademie, Berlin) Seven representatives from the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) participated in an information visit to Germany recently at the invitation of the German Foreign Office. Among them were high ranking officials Toelau Viliamu Iulio from Samoa, Keshwa Nand Reddy from Fiji, Alexander Tama Henry from the Cook Islands and Conchitta Paul from Kiribati.

The visitor programme (6 – 12 November) combined a range of events and activities in Berlin and Hamburg under the general heading “Adaptation to Climate Change and Creation of the Green Economy”. Talks with German climate change experts at the Foreign Office Climate and Environment External Policy, Sustainable Energy and South East Asia, Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific divisions and the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety were followed by a visit to the German Renewable Energy Federation and a brief tour of the Heinrich-Böll-Foundation’s new building in Berlin. Further appointments in Berlin took them to the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce, the “Der Tagesspiegel” newspaper, solar energy production sites, the Berlin Centre of Competence for Water, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the Adlershof Science and Technology Park.

During a day in Hamburg, they met experts at the Climate Service Center, the Climate Computing Service Centre and Greenpeace Headquarters. The programme was then rounded off back in Berlin with a working breakfast, a visit to the “Grüne Punkt” recycling organisation and a tour of the Federal Parliament Building.