Merkel Talks Climate

In her weekly video podcast, Merkel said Saturday that it was crucial for world leaders to reach an agreement on climate protection at a December summit on the Indonesian island of Bali. The current Kyoto Protocol will expire in 2012.

"We can all see that, in view of extreme weather situations, flooding and drought disasters, forest fires and famines, that climate change is a global task that concerns us all," she said. "The industrial states must take a higher responsibility in this, but developing countries also must do justice to their responsibility."

Will US sidestep negotiations?

Merkel, a strong advocate of reaching an agreement within the UN framework, added that New York and the UN headquarters were the right places to discuss these issues.

US President George W. Bush, who has refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol, is hosting his own conference on climate change in Washington later in the week.

German climate activists called on Merkel to do everything in her power to prevent the US from sidestepping the UN negotiations.

"This trip is her first real test as self-proclaimed climate protector on the international scene," Brigitte Behrens, the executive director of Greenpeace Germany, told German news agency DPA.

German industry worried about Merkel's demands

Speaking at the UN climate summit on Monday, Merkel is also expected to call for halving CO2 emissions by the middle of the current century, according to government officials, DPA reported.

German business leaders meanwhile expressed concern about Merkel's push for more climate protection.

"Merkel is endangering German jobs," Jürgen Thumann, the president of the Federation of German Industries, said in the Monday edition of German business magazine Wirtschaftswoche. Thumann added that Germany could do more to combat climate change by exporting state-of-the-art energy technologies.

The conference will be the biggest ever on climate control, with some 150 states and about 80 heads of state or government in attendance.

Security Council still sensitive issue

German government officials meanwhile have remained tight-lipped about whether Merkel will address the issue of a permanent seat for Germany in the UN Security Council.

While her predecessor was very vocal about getting Germany a place at the world's top decision-making body, Merkel is expected to express Germany's "readiness to take on responsibility."

According to news reports, German officials have now said that they would be willing to accept an interim solution that would allow Germany, India, Japan, Brazil and representatives from Africa to join the Security Council for 10 to 15 years while a long-term solution is found.

Meeting some, avoiding others

Merkel will also hold talks with a number of leaders during her visit to the UN. She is scheduled to meet with UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and Brazilian President Lula da Silva, among others.

While her 15-minute time slot to address the general assembly on Tuesday comes just a few speakers after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, she is expected to avoid an encounter with the Iranian leader.