Vice Chancellor and Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Robert Habeck begins his visits this evening to Brazil and Colombia (11-16 March 2023) with the Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture Cem Özdemir.

Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Habeck said, “With their potential for renewable energy and their significant raw material deposits, Brazil and Colombia will play a key role in mitigating climate change and transitioning our economies to green, sustainable models. The change of government in both countries has opened a door for more intensive, strategic cooperation. The governments of Lula and Petro are committed to tackling the climate crisis and illegal deforestation, and are consistently pressing ahead with decarbonisation. As democracies, we want to use this momentum to face these global challenges together and build green value chains across the Atlantic to further prosperity and climate action.”

In Brazil, Minister Habeck will co-open the 39th German-Brazilian Business Days in Belo Horizonte, which will take place under the motto ‘New approaches to energy, climate and digitalisation’. Minister Habeck will also chair the political part of the German-Brazilian Joint Economic Commission and visit a German company that is constructing production sites in Brazil for plants designed for the production and use of green hydrogen.

On the agenda in the Brazilian capital Brasília are bilateral discussions with his counterparts, Vice President and Minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade Geraldo Alckmin, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mauro Vieira, Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Marina Silva, and Minister of Mines and Energy Alexandre Silveira, as well as a meeting with civil society representatives. Key issues include the green transformation of industry, intensified cooperation on energy policy with a focus on green hydrogen, the trade agreement between the EU and the MERCOSUR countries as a contribution to fair and sustainable trade relations, intensified cooperation in the environmentally compatible extraction and further processing of raw materials and in establishing a circular economy, and cooperation on climate action and forest conservation.

Near Manaus in the Brazilian part of the Amazon area, Minister Habeck will visit a project that is committed to forest conservation, the preservation of biodiversity and a better quality of life for the Amazonian river communities.

The last stop of the trip is a visit to the Colombian capital Bogotá. Here, in addition to a visit to the German Colombian Peace Institute, CAPAZ (Instituto Colombo-Alemán para la Paz) and talks with business representatives, bilateral discussions are planned with Habeck’s Colombian counterparts, Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism Germán Umaña Mendoza, Minister of Agriculture Cecilia López, and Minister of Mines and Energy Irene Vélez.