(Bloomberg) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel signaled she'll challenge Donald Trump's skeptical views on global warming, setting the stage for a showdown between a vocal champion of environmental protection and a man who once dismissed climate change as a Chinese hoax.
When asked at a regional town-hall meeting how she'll interact with an American leader who wants to pull out of the global climate accord, Merkel indicated she wouldn't back down from her long-held convictions even as she imagined there would be some give and take.
“Of course I'll say that I believe that climate change is certainly caused by humans –- and we'll want to see if the position there develops,” Merkel told members of her Christian Democratic Union in the western city of Muenster on Wednesday. “One always has to try to find compromise through mutual respect and a clear position. That's politics -- always to find compromise.”
Since his Nov. 8 election victory. Merkel said she spoke with Trump once by phone. At the time the two agreed “that we'll try to cooperate.” The German leader responded to Trump's victory the day after with a pointed reminder: “Whoever rules this great land, with its economic might, its military potential, its cultural strength, he bears responsibility that is felt everywhere in the world.”
Trump tweeted four years ago that “the concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.” In the first presidential debate with rival Hillary Clinton he denied saying this, though the Nov. 6, 2012 tweet stands. He has also promised to "cancel" the Paris accord, which calls on the world's nations to reduce fossil fuel emissions and limit global warming by the end of the century.
“I think it's a good thing that I meet people all over the world who don't always share my opinion,” Merkel said. “The climate negotiations with President Barack Obama were a bit easier, but before that it wasn't very easy.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Patrick Donahue in Muenster, Germany at pdonahue1@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alan Crawford at acrawford6@bloomberg.net, Flavia Krause-Jackson, Nikolaj Gammeltoft
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