Merkel's Husband Is Sending Ivanka and Melania Trump to Learn About Climate Change
By
Arne Delfs
July 6, 2017, 12:56 PM PDT
Ivanka, Melania Trump to tour research lab on G-20 sidelines
German leader’s husband hosts spouses at Hamburg summit
U.S. First Lady Melania Trump
Photographer: Maciej Gillert/Gallo Images Poland via Getty Images
As Group of 20 leaders seek to avoid a blowup over the U.S. stance on climate change, German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s husband is giving Ivanka Trump a lesson in what it looks like.
President Donald Trump’s daughter, First Lady Melania Trump and other spouses of G-20 leaders aren’t just going sightseeing during the global summit in Hamburg, they’re also getting a tour of the German Climate Computing Center on Friday. German officials say the idea for the visit came from Merkel’s husband, Joachim Sauer, a professor of physical and theoretical chemistry.
The lab, located near the secured hall where Merkel, Trump and other leaders are meeting, uses supercomputers to model climate change and its effects on the world’s regions. It’s been in operation since 1987 and has more than 60 staff.
While the chancellor’s husband hasn’t commented publicly on the purpose of the visit, Merkel has made her stance clear. After Trump pulled out of the Paris climate accord calling it “very unfair” to the U.S., Merkel said the rest of the world wouldn’t be deterred.
“We want to tackle this existential challenge and we can’t and we won’t wait until the last person on earth is convinced of the scientific basis for climate change,” Merkel said in a speech on June 29.
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