Germany will unveil an initiative at U.N. talks on climate change this week to attract more private investment in projects in Africa and elsewhere, Development Minister Gerd Mueller said.

Mueller told the RND newspaper network that Germany would "send a strong signal” at the U.N. climate conference in Katowice, Poland with its Alliance for Development and Climate initiative and a pledge to spend an additional 1.5 billion euros ($1.7 billion) on climate protection.

Expectations are muted for this week’s meetings given divisions within Europe, and tension between the United States and China.

Delegates from about 195 nations will seek to produce a "rule book” to flesh out details of the Paris Agreement of 2015, which the United States, at the behest of President Donald Trump, has announced it will quit.

Agencies