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BERLIN — Germany announced on Wednesday the appointment of a new international climate ambassador – American Jennifer Morgan, the current managing director of Greenpeace International.
Saying that he has been living in Germany since 2003 and has applied to become a German citizen, Morgan will start his new job as a climate policy special envoy at the foreign ministry. He will become a minister after he acquires German citizenship.
Ms. Morgan will report directly to Annalena Baerbock, former co-leader of the Green Party and secretary of state who announced Ms. Morgan’s appointment.
In the new government that came to power in December, international climate policy will take place in the foreign ministry, not the environment ministry, as it used to be. A new ministry of economy and climate will lead local climate policy.
Ms. Baerbock said the hiring of Ms. Morgan is an expression that Germany’s climate policy also belongs on the global stage.
“We cannot tackle the climate crisis issue at the national level alone,” Ms. Baerbock said at a press conference in Berlin, where she introduced Ms. Morgan.
“As director, Jennifer Morgan will guide our external climate policy, expand partnerships with other countries around the world, and lead dialogue with civil society around the world,” said Ms. Baerbock.
Ms. Baerbock made the announcement Wednesday morning after the cabinet agreed on Ms. Morgan’s new position. He is considered the last major hire. new governmentIt consists of the Social Democrats, the Greens and the Free Democratic Party. Mrs. Baerbock ran as chancellor candidate for the Green Partyhowever, he was nominated as foreign minister after his party finished a disappointing third in the September election.
Miss Morgan is a bold choice for several reasons. Federal ministries generally do not prioritize foreigners. Ms. Morgan’s background as an activist with Greenpeace, known for her media knowledge and activism, leads her to choose a bureaucracy where many senior officials have worked for years to advance through the ranks. The current prime minister, Olaf Scholz, has hired an investment banker as secretary of state while serving as finance minister under Angela Merkel.
Still, this move angered some opposition politicians.
“It’s particularly remarkable that a Green federal minister can so easily cross the lines between government and lobbying,” said Jürgen Hardt, foreign critic of Ms Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats, now the largest party in the opposition.
Ms. Baerbock promised to make climate policy an international issue for Germany.
“We won’t have just one climate ambassador in the future,” Ms. Baerbock said, referring to Ms. Morgan. Instead, we will turn all of our 226 German diplomatic missions abroad into climate embassies in all countries of the world,” she said.
At the press conference, Ms. Baerbock highlighted Ms. Morgan’s links with Germany, explaining to the government the unusual decision to hire a foreign national.
“After six wonderful years at Greenpeace, I consider this a unique opportunity to work with the secretary of state on a subject that has driven me for 30 years,” said Ms. Morgan, born in New Jersey, in fluent German.
Thorsten Frei, a conservative Member of Parliament, likened the hiring of Ms. Morgan to the economy ministry’s hiring of a coal lobbyist.
“A Greenpeace activist with little connection to Germany has no place in the Foreign Ministry,” he told Bild, Germany’s most widely read tabloid newspaper.
When asked if there was a problem with hiring a lobbyist, Ms. Baerbock said the process was transparent. Ms. Morgan said she can read her resume so anyone can decide if she’s qualified.
“I’ve learned to find the places where I think I can make the biggest difference,” Ms Morgan said. “And at this historic moment, I think it’s the foreign ministry.”
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