Mr. Contius was involved in the establishment of bilateral environment and climate change dialogues with Brazil, China, India and other countries and served as German chief negotiator for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg 2002), the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio de Janeiro 2012) and as German co-lead negotiator for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. His previous assignments in the Environment Ministry include legal affairs, prevention of air pollution, G7 and G8 cooperation, and project financing.