Climate diplomacy, as a new topic area in foreign policy urgently needs to be further developed and embedded into international foreign policy processes. In doing so, on one hand the diplomatic services need to be institutionally strengthened – at the national, at the European and at the UN level and at the other, we need to raise sensitivity among diplomates for this supplementary topic and specifically train them on the subject.

From the beginning of my parliamentary work in the European Parliament from 2014 until 2019 I was working intensely on implementing the topic of climate diplomacy into the work of the Committee of Foreign Affairs. My additional central concern was, to strengthen the European External Action Service in this topic area.

As rapporteur I was putting forwards the own-initiative report of the European Parliament. I presented this report to different parliaments, foreign services, embassies, think tank and at international conferences such as the Munich Security Conference and I also presented the report to General Secretary Guterres at the United Nations.

Fridays for Future

I have been supporting Fridays for Future since the beginning and have welcomed and supported international action groups in the European Parliament in Saxony-Anhalt.