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ECONOMICS 
FEATURED ECONOMIES 
BUSINESS TODAY 
In the international community, Germans are now seen as masters of the empty promise.
In conjunction with the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December, the heads of state of European Union countries had given into the demands of developing countries and pledged new aid funds.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, speaking to the press in Brussels, called it "a signal of extraordinary solidarity," and pointed out that Germany alone had pledged to hand over €1.26 billion ($1.73 billion) by 2012. These were additional funds that had not been included in previous development aid budgets, she said.
The chancellor won high praise for the commitment. Yvo de Boer, head of the UN Climate Change Secretariat, said the money Germany was pledging for environmental projects in poor countries provided "a huge encouragement."
