It is agreed that the SDG coordinating office would fit perfectly into the profile of Bonn but financial terms need to be clarified. General Anzeiger learned that the UN desires a “flat-rate project financing” of three million euros for the coordinating office. The federal government, however would rather see funding based on specific project proposals.

Observers see the recently released federal funding of 17 million euro for the UN presence in Bonn as a sign of goodwill towards the UN. Some of this funding is intended to go towards measures that need to be taken in the former German Parliament chamber, work on the UN square in front of the UN Campus and the new extension at Bonn International School in Plittersdorf. Around 1.3 million euro have been earmarked for expansion and modernization of the House of Nature on Venusberg. It will be expanded into an international forest information center. Additionally, the federal government had announced an extra 5 million euro this year to support UN conferences and meetings at the World Conference Center Bonn (WCCB).

A spokesperson from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety also expects a timely start to construction for the new high-rise building on the UN campus. It is to be built next to the old chamber of the Climate Change Secretariat. Around 1,000 people are working for the UN in Bonn.

(Orig. text: Cem Akalin)