Germany news: Berlin commits €60M to climate adaptation fund

Germany qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Monday after defeating Slovakia 6-0 in Leipzig.

"Everyone wanted to send a message today. Everyone knew what was at stake," Germany captain Joshua Kimmich told broadcaster ZDF.

"In Germany, we're not used to it being difficult to qualify — that's why I'm very happy with how we played."

Read DW's full write-up of the match here.

Germany's Environment Minister Carsten Schneider, speaking Monday at the COP30 climate conference in Belem, Brazil, announced that Berlin will contribute €60 million ($70 million) to the International Adaptation Fund.

The fund, set up in 2007, is designed to help finance innovative projects in affected developing countries that are signatories to the Kyoto Protocol.

The fund has distributed some $1.4 billion since 2010, helping roughly 45 million people.

Germany is currently the largest overall donor to the fund and has contributed €610 billion in total. 

 Schneider said it is right that the issue of climate adaptation is so central in Belem, adding that those communities that cannot adapt, face the threat of famine, poverty and mass exodus as the climate makes their homes uninhabitable.

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt on Monday told DW that his migration policies are "tough as nails" as he promised to, "make sure that our borders are more tightly controlled and that people are turned back." 

Dobrindt also said he views the fact that asylum applications have dropped by 60% under his watch a major achievement, noting that illegal migration is an issue that has also fueled the rise of the far-right.

The interior minister did say, however, that he wholeheartedly believes in the individual right to asylum, but added that he opposes "misuse" of the asylum system, saying such abuse must be dealt with.

He also told DW that he and other EU interior ministers are currently soliciting "partners in Africa" that could help set up "return hubs" as a place to park rejected asylum seekers even if they are not from Africa.

German Vice Chancellor, and finance minister, Lars Klingbeil sounded a positive note in Beijing Monday after talks with Vice Premier He Lifeng, especially on access to industrially important rare earths.

Klingbeil said both China and Germany want to "find common solutions with regards to reliable access and supply chains" after months of European concern over Chinese export restrictions resulting from Beijing's trade war with US President Donald Trump.

"The Chinese side doesn't say that when it doesn't mean it," Klingbeil emphasized when speaking of concrete results believed to be on the horizon.

Klingbeil called cooperation with China necessary — not only on trade and raw materials, but also in the field of climate policy, global health and financial stability. 

China leads the world in rare earths production — key for everything from cellphones to fighter jets — and Klingbeil insisted Beijing's "unjustified application of export controls" poses a serious threat to the global economy.

The German finance minister and vice-chancellor also called for fair business competition between the two countries, saying, "we do not shy away from competition, but it is also clear that it must be fair."

Citing Chinese overproduction in sectors such as steel, photovoltaic and electric vehicles, Klingbeil said, "We in Germany see this as a threat to fair competition" that puts German jobs "at risk."
 
Klingbeil's Chinese counterpart He Lifeng said both sides had emphasized their willingness to strengthen stability and security in the global supply chain, including for rare earths.

At the same time, He said, "The Chinese side invites German companies to come to China to invest." 

With regard to disputes with the European Union, He made clear that China hopes Germany will use its influence to bring the two sides closer together again. 

Eleven people have been detained and questioned by police in Istanbul, Turkey, in the suspected poisoning deaths of a German-Turkish woman and her two small children ages six and three, according to Turkey's Anadolu news agency.

The three victims, as well as well as the woman's husband who died Monday evening after fighting for his life in an Istanbul hospital, fell ill Wednesday after having eaten street food from a vendor in the city's popular Ortakoy neighborhood on the banks of the Bosphorus River.

The children both died Thursday and the mother on Friday.

Although an investigation was opened into the food stand, authorities now believe the poisoning may have actually happened at their hotel.

Turkey's Hurriyet newspaper reported that a substance was sprayed in a room on the ground floor of the hotel that the family was staying in to combat a bed bug infestation. 

The pesticide may have reached the family's room on the next floor through a bathroom vent. 

The unnamed hotel was evacuated Saturday after two more guests were taken to hospital with similar symptoms, according to Anadolu.

The hotel was subsequently sealed off by municipal officials on Sunday. 
      
Authorities say that five food sellers, the hotel's owner and two staff, and three people from the pest control company have been questioned.

Eight of them were scheduled to appear before a judge on Monday. 
      
A toxicology report prepared by forensic experts was expected to be released later on Monday.

Food samples are being checked by experts at the agriculture ministry.

In a report commissioned by Berlin's Foreign Ministry, the German Economic Institute (IW) said Monday that China is "flooding" Germany and other European nations with goods as it diverts exports to the US as a result of a tariff war with President Donald Trump.

The study found that Chinese exports to Germany rose by 11% in the second quarter of 2025 compared to the same time in 2024 with prices dropping an average of 4%. 

In comparison, Chinese second quarter exports to the US fell 16%. 

China is not alone in shifting exports to Europe, putting further pressure on European producers.

Imports of Chinese hybrid electric cars, for instance, doubled in Q2, while exports of the same to the US were down 99%.

"As the US is further isolating itself from China, Germany is increasingly becoming an alternative market for Chinese companies," said Jürgen Matthes of IW.

The shift puts a further burden on Germany's car industry, which had invested in China for decades and is now being undercut by its EV imports.

The volume of trucks, sheet metal, foils, heating appliances, polyester and polyamide plastics as well as various other product groups imported into Germany also increased significantly, while at the same time those to the US nosedived.

Matthes said state largess and the undervaluing of the yuan mean that Chinese industry benefits from unfair competitive distortions, offering goods at extremely low prices. 

"Brussels must therefore focus more strongly and comprehensively on countervailing duties in order to restore fair competitive conditions," the IW expert demanded.

Chancellor Merz has taken part in a panel at an economic summit hosted by the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung.

He complained that the German economy has become "too sluggish, too slow, too bureaucratic," according to the newspaper.

His plan to change that rests in large part on easing and digitalizing Germany's immigration policy, saying that the country needs more skilled migrants.

He defended his position on the so-called "debt brake," saying he hadn't "loosened" it, but simply made two exceptions — for defense and for a special infrastructure investment fund — adding that this was a necessary step to boost growth and increase jobs.

The chancellor also complained about German savers who are afraid of investing. He said that around €2 billion was sitting in savings accounts.

"We want the money that's in Germany to be invested sensibly," he told the panel.

The German government announced on Monday that it was ending the partial suspension of weapons deliveries to Israel for use in Gaza.

"The government welcomes the ceasefire in Gaza that came into effect on October 10 and which has stabilized in recent weeks," spokesperson Stefan Kornelius said.

Read the full report on why Germany is lifting its partial arms embargo on Israel.

Vice Chancellor Klingbeil's first public comments upon his arrival in China have focused on the connections between Germany and China as well as their shared responsibilities.

"Germany and China together can find answers to the challenges of our time," he said ahead of the China-Germany Financial Dialogue in Beijing.

He pointed to German investments in expertise and engineering technology that helped boost China's growth and modernization as well as the important role Chinese suppliers play in German industrial value chains.

"The close trade relations between China and Germany over the past few decades also mean that we have a common responsibility," he added.

Police in the German capital Berlin said on Monday they had received over 900 calls about an alleged threat against dozens of schools.

A video that has been shared in numerous groups announcing planned attacks was deemed fake by police, but that hasn't quelled concerns.

Police said they believed the message to be "false information deliberately intended to stir up fear." 

"We have no indications of any danger or concrete threats," they said in a statement on Sunday, adding that schools would open as normal on Monday with officers on standby to respond if needed.

Reactions in chat groups where the video was shared indicated that parents were considering not sending their children to school.

One parent in the group said: "My son showed me the video with the threat; he is scared, and so are his classmates. They will not go to school tomorrow. I am scared too. Please do something."

Police have opened an investigation.

One in every seven (15.2%) children and young people in Germany was at risk of poverty in 2024, according to a new report from the Federal Office of Statistics (Destatis), based on data from the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC).

That amounts to a total of 2.2 million people and marks an increase from 14% in 2023. However, it still remained below the EU average of 19.3%.

The EU-SILC calculates poverty risk as those with less than 60% of the median net equivalent income of the total population.

This amounts to anything less than a net €1,381 per month for a single person, €1,795 for a single parent with a child under 14, and €2,900 for households with two parents and two children under 14.

Young people from families with migrant backgrounds were four times as likely to be at risk of poverty.

The data also looks at material conditions related to poverty.

For example, 19% of under-16s were living in households that were unable to replace worn or broken furniture. Some 12% were in households that could not afford a weeklong holiday.

Around 5% were regularly unable to enjoy free time activities such as joining a sports club or going to the cinema due to financial limits, and around 3% could not afford two good pairs of shoes for everyday use.

Between 1% and 2% of under-16s were unable to invite friends over to play or to eat, not to host birthday parties or to access fresh fruit and vegetables daily.

 

Chancellor Friedrich Merz sought to put an end to an ongoing dispute with his party's own youth organization over a planned pension bill.

The Young Union is the youth organization for the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU). Its members are aged between 18 and 35 years old, with 18 of its members sitting in the Bundestag as part of the coalition government.

The problem for Merz is that he only has a 12-seat majority and the Young Union opposes plans to keep the pension level to at least 48% of the average income until 2031 and to potentially increase this level by around 1 percentage point after that.

The Young Union has criticized the plan, saying it will incur high costs — citing "added costs of more than €200 billion by 2040."

They also expressed opposition to the "mothers' pension," put forward by the CSU.

Merz has responded by calling the opposition to pension protections a vote loser and on Sunday he said in an interview the bill had been agreed on in the coalition agreement, which the Young Union also approved.

However, he offered a branch to the Young Union, saying that once this bill is passed, they could open a discussion on a systematic change to the system after 2031.

"I support the idea of fundamentally changing our pension system for the period after 2031," Merz told public broadcaster ARD on Sunday evening.

Germany's Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil was set to become the first representative from the current coalition government to visit China on Monday.

He is expected to discuss trade, with an emphasis on rare earth elements, with Chinese officials.

However, there will also be expectations that Klingbeil, who is also Germany's finance minister, can make headway in dealing with concerns over an increasing trade deficit with China and exposure to risks from its market.

"Access to critical raw materials and the reduction of Chinese overcapacity in sectors such as steel and electric mobility are of great importance for the economy and jobs in Germany," Klingbeil said before setting off.

Following the introduction of major and often-changing trade tariffs by the Trump administration in the US, Beijing overtook Washington as Berlin's largest trading partner for the first eight months of 2025.

The US-China trade war in particular has seen China seek to divest its exports to other markets, sparking fears in Europe of dumping that could undercut home-grown industries.

Germany is now facing a record trade deficit of €87 billion ($101 billion) with China, according to a forecast by state-owned international economic promotion agency Germany Trade & Invest, cited by Reuters.

This comes from a year-on-year 13.5% decline in German exports to China and an 8.3% increase in imports.

At the same time, China is a major supplier of rare earth materials and chips used in cars, both key to Germany's struggling industrial sector.

A dispute between China and the Netherlands, which led to Beijing placing a limit on the trade of rare earth materials, rang alarm bells in Europe.

Check out DW's analysis for a deeper dive on what can be expected from Klingbeil's visit to China.

Guten Morgen from DW's online news team in Bonn!

We will be following along to bring you the latest from Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil's visit to China as well as Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul's continued Balkans tour.

We are also expecting Chancellor Friedrich Merz to give a few words at an economy summit hosted by the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung later in the day.

Keep reading for all that and more of Monday's news from Germany.