German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Tuesday stressed Germany's and Europe's "ambitious climate-protection goals" during a visit to the Norwegian polar island of Spitzbergen, DPA reported. Everything had to be done to stem the dramatic effects of climate change, Steinmeier said in Ny Alesund, one of the most northerly research stations in the world. Steinmeier also said that international law had to be respected in any attempts to exploit energy reserves in the Arctic. He was accompanied by his Norwegian counterpart Jonas Gahr Store, who welcomed German research efforts on the island. Germany's Alfred Wegener Institute and France's Paul Emile Victor Polar Institute operate a year-round research station on the island. Sixty per cent of Spitzbergen is covered with ice and only 2,500 people live on the island. Due to climate change, the ice sheet is becoming thinner and the island's glaciers are receding. The first stop on Steinmeier's visit to Norway was the city of Tromso Monday where he attended a seminar on energy with Store. Steinmeier was accompanied by several top German business executives from firms including Siemens, EON Ruhrgas, RWE, and Wintershall.
