Diplomacy: world trade, climate and energy – Baerbock in Panama

Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock wants to secure world trade through more intensive cooperation with Central American Panama in the areas of climate and energy. “World trade is only safe in the long run if you comply with international rules and if you get the climate crisis under control,” said the Green politician on Friday after a conversation with her colleague Janaina Tewaney. With the Panama Canal, which connects the Atlantic with the Pacific, the country is a geographical hinge. “In Panama, a lot of threads come together and then diverge again,” added Baerbock.

Panama offers “an indispensable part of the world infrastructure, which also guarantees our prosperity in Europe,” said Baerbock, referring to the Panama Canal. Trade policy must be rule-based, socially just and sustainable, she demanded.

Baerbock pushes for financial reforms for more transparency

Panama is putting climate protection at the center of its policy and could become an export hub for green hydrogen if the countries of Latin America became major exporters of green hydrogen, said Baerbock. To this end, it is important that Panama tackles reforms in the transparency of financial flows. Panama has long been considered a tax haven and a location for money laundering for criminal networks and terrorist financing. In recent years, however, the country has signed several agreements to bring its finance system into line with global standards and to exchange tax information with other countries.

With regard to environmental and climate protection, Tewaney emphasized that her country and Germany are not just trading partners, but that there are common values ​​and interests. Panama also has great potential in view of the geopolitical dynamics caused by the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. As a country in the center of the world, Panama wants to promote transit routes that also affect Germany’s foreign trade and lead through the Panama Canal.

Baerbock visits historic Panama Canal helm station

The Panama Canal, which is around 80 kilometers long, ends near Panama City. The canal, which opened in 1914, is one of the most important waterways in the world. Around 14,000 ships pass through it every year, and around six percent of world trade is handled through it. Since the canal was expanded, large tankers and freighters with up to 14,000 containers can also be channeled through the canal.

In the afternoon (local time), Baerbock visited the historic control station of the Miraflores locks located at the Pacific estuary of the canal. With a click of the mouse, she opened the lock gates for a freighter coming from Belgium, which was lying in the old lock of the canal and was on its way to the west coast of the USA.

Climate change threatens navigability of the Panama Canal

Climate change is having a direct impact on the canal, which is an important source of income for the Central American country. As rainfall decreases and temperatures rise in the region, the water level of the artificial Gatun Lake in the canal has dropped, negatively impacting the waterway’s navigability.

At the end of the visit to the German research ship “Eugen Seibold” of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz, Baerbock informed himself about research in connection with climate change. Since March, the experts on the sailing ship have been researching the East Pacific sea corridor between Costa Rica and Ecuador for the next three years from Panama. The focus in the field of oceanography is on climate change and the change in ocean currents due to the increase in the greenhouse gas CO2.