Between G20 and Japan on Palau: Baerbock visits the endangered paradise barefoot

Just a moment ago there was a confrontation with Lavrov, then a trip to Japan, which was shocked by the Abe attack, and in between Palau.

Between G20 and Japan on Palau: Baerbock visits the endangered paradise barefoot

Just a moment ago there was a confrontation with Lavrov, then a trip to Japan, which was shocked by the Abe attack, and in between Palau. On her packed trip to Asia, Foreign Minister Baerbock takes the time to visit a small island nation and learn how climate change is robbing people of their livelihoods.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock stands barefoot on the beach at Rock Island. A small tongue of beach frames a green rock, surrounded by crystal clear water. The paradisiacal backdrop is only disturbed by the posters brought by the Minister of Tourism of the Republic of Palau, Ngiraibelas Tmetuchl. The minister wants to show the prominent guest from faraway Germany why climate change is the greatest threat to Palau: In the pictures, which are just ten years old, the island is significantly larger than it is today.

The people in the island state west of the Philippines live from tourism, agriculture and fishing. And most of them live right on the coast. But the sea level is rising and washing away the beaches. On Rock Island, which is part of a marine sanctuary, the water threatens turtles. They lay their eggs in the sand here. Because the layer of sand is getting thinner and thinner, the eggs are no longer buried so deeply and some are washed away. If one species dies, many die with it: Today, fishermen have to go much further out to fill their nets.

The islanders literally have the ground washed away from under their feet. Baerbocks changes islands: by boat and then by bus to a village square right on the beach. The entire village is to be resettled, because at high tide the first houses and streets are already flooded. For the women who plant taro - a root vegetable and the staple food on palau - a catastrophe. Their fields are a few hundred meters from the water. More and more often they are flooded by salt water and the harvest is destroyed. "Taro is to us what potatoes are to Germans," explains one farmer. She is very afraid that taro will soon no longer be available.

On this village square, Annalena Baerbock, who the day before had attended the G20 foreign ministers' meeting overshadowed by the Ukraine war, is giving a widely announced climate speech. Her audience listens intently. There is no interpreter, so she speaks perfect English. The setting is beautiful: behind the Secretary of the Ocean, palm trees, beach.

The people here would have to ask themselves whether their home will still exist in 30 or 50 years. For Baerbock it's an unimaginable question, she says and affirms: "We stand by your side." Germany will leave Palau and no other island state alone in need. She wants to support the island state in the energy transition and in adapting to climate change. And above all, she wants to ensure "that our partners finally recognize the climate crisis for what it is: a security issue - a crisis that is changing our geography and accelerating conflicts around the world."

For 120 years there has not been a German foreign minister (or a minister) in Palau. And that despite the fact that the state was a German colony until 1914. It shouldn't be that long until the next time, says Baerbock. In fact, she also wants to send a signal to the region with her visit: the Indo-Pacific is geostrategically important. China and the US are fighting for supremacy here. So far, Palau has been an important western partner and has a security agreement with the USA. However, that expires in 2024.

Other Micronesian island states have already opted for protection from China, most recently the Solomon Islands in a much-noticed agreement. Palau is also one of the few countries to officially recognize Taiwan. And Palau has clearly opposed Russia's invasion of Ukraine in the UN General Assembly. Baerbock expressly thanks the island state for this - another reason why Germany wants to get involved here in particular.

Baerbock cannot bring concrete projects to Palau. Unfortunately, she doesn't have any more money with her. But she promises to reallocate the 6 billion euros that Germany has already pledged for climate protection projects. She wants to focus more on "loss and damage". In climate policy, the term for countries that are particularly hard hit by climate change must be compensated for this by the biggest polluters. A particularly difficult topic in climate policy.

The non-governmental organizations that traveled with them are happy about this announcement. They have long called for more focus on the issue. Christoph Bals from Germanwatch found the speech "quite impressive." However, it is crucial that additional funds are made available for this strategy in the coming years. A reallocation is cynical if it means that there is less money for climate protection projects or climate adaptation measures, says Bals.

Baerbock's promise should not necessarily please the domestic coalition partners. At the moment it is not even clear if and when Germany will provide the 6 billion euros that has already been promised. Nevertheless: The almost 19,000 inhabitants of Palau have contributed almost nothing to the climate crisis, and are still the hardest hit, says Baerbock and thinks that is simply unfair.

Nevertheless, Baerbock gave the villagers hope with their visit - hope that climate protection could actually be at the top of the political agenda of the large industrialized countries. And Baerbock probably hopes that the visit will leave an impression on the entire region. Because for its climate foreign policy it will need every partner. And in the best case, she could set a new accent at home: that she is serious about foreign climate policy. The next major climate conference will take place in November. It will be the first in which the Foreign Ministry will conduct the negotiations from Germany, because Baerbock wanted it at all costs and wrested climate diplomacy from the Ministry of the Environment in the coalition negotiations. This will show how effective Baerbock's new climate foreign policy can be.