"Europe must make a contribution to save the world" – this was EU commissioner Günter Verheugen's solemn closing comment. In the sold-out Munich Residenz Theater, the two other Allianz Lecture participants agreed with him on the European Union's important role regarding climate protection.

The US economist and Nobel prize winner Joseph E. Stiglitz harshly criticized his country's government, saying: "Europe should take on a key role in leadership. We've seen what happens in a world without checks and balances."

The physicist and climate advisor to the German government, Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, hopes that the EU's climate protection program will serve to make Europe a role model for the world.

However, Verheugen mentioned that an ideal policy wouldn't help if competitiveness suffered: "There's a risk of industries relocating and taking jobs as well as pollution with them."

Stiglitz agreed and stressed that market forces by themselves couldn't handle this problem; there is a need for government intervention. For example, the US does not require its industry to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. "American firms are in fact being subsidized at a cost to citizens all over the world."

Schellnhuber would rather count on a "bottom-up" approach. Just like you can buy "fair trade" bananas or coffee, you could imagine "clean trade" products. It was also conceivable that a successor to the Kyoto protocol would not be limited to nations. Other actors, such as regions or companies, could participate, thus forming a "coalition of the willing" and increasing pressure on governments.

In order to limit global warming to two degrees Celsius, emissions would need to be lowered considerably; investing half a percent of the gross global product would be sufficient to become almost "carbon-free" by the end of this century. Given the current public interest in the topic, he concluded: "It's now or never."