BEIJING, China, May 7, 2010 – Minister of Trade and Environment, Hon. Michael Church, MP, is now in China on the second leg of his two-country travel to promote Grenada’s interest in and key role in global climate change management.

The Petersberg Climate Dialogue, named after the meeting place of Petersberg Hotel, Germany’s former government guesthouse in Bonn, invited environment ministers or high-level representatives from some 45 countries.

In Petersberg, Minister Church was engaged in informal discussions on the way forward in international climate change talks after a virtual collapse in Copenhagen, Denmark and well before another major meeting in Cancun, Mexico in December.

The Minister told his colleagues that there was the need to rely on the scientific community to set targets for protecting the earth from global warming.

The Ministers had in-depth discussions on forest protection, technology transfer and emissions trading, and considerable progress was achieved in “a constructive atmosphere.”

The informal dialogue, proposed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Copenhagen, is expected to set a basis of rebuilding trust between developing and developed countries and to call on nations to flesh out common ground before the next UN summit on climate change in Cancun.

Consistent with Grenada’s position, the meeting agreed that in many countries, climate change impacts constitute “a higher-than-ever urgency to act.”

The Petersberg meeting was co-hosted by Mexico and Germany, as an opportunity for Ministers to dialogue on some of the more difficult issues facing the negotiations.

Separately, Minister Church held bilateral discussions with the Government of Japan. Senior Japanese officials indicated that they were ready to disburse funds under the Hatoyama Climate Fund of US$15 billion, part of the Copenhagen Accord climate Fund.

The Japanese indicated that while they wished all states to associate with the Accord, that they recognise not all states will and the Japanese Parliament had agreed, as recent as ten days ago, to move toward international cooperation along this path.

The Minister discussed a number of projects for possible funding including Solid Waste Disposal Projects, Forest Rehabilitation and Rehabilitation of Water Infrastructure. The Japanese delegation indicated that these will be considered in capital and responses forwarded to St. George’s.

The three-day meeting was also attended by Her Excellency Ambassador Dessima Williams who deputised for the Minister during some parts of the meeting, and Mr. Leon Charles, Grenada’s chief climate negotiator.

Minister Church is now in Beijing, China to carry the message of the need for urgent and ambitious climate change actions which would support small island states.

These and other talks are in preparation for the start of the negotiations which begin in Bonn Germany, May 31st. 192 UN member states are expected to attend the first substantive negotiating gathering since Copenhagen. Following the Bonn meeting, three other such sessions are scheduled for the rest of 2010.