Angela Merkel is essentially the de-facto global head of modern political liberalism.  The central tenet, almost religious-based in its importance, is the lunacy within “climate change”.  However, as most reasonable people have concluded, the ‘climate discussions’ are more about controlled global economics than any actual concerns about planetary climatology.   Bottom line, it’s the economics that really matter beyond all else.
Backdrop – The day after President Trump announced his decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Treaty, the German auto-sector immediately responded with a statement.  We see the immediate admission that ‘climate’ is simply a tool to shape global economics within that reactionary auto industry statement (emphasis mine):

(Via Reuters) […] “The regrettable announcement by the USA makes it inevitable that Europe must facilitate a cost efficient and economically feasible climate policy to remain internationally competitive,” Matthias Wissmann, president of the German auto industry lobby group VDA, said in a statement on Friday.

“The preservation of our competitive position is the precondition for successful climate protection. This correlation is often underestimated,” Wissmann said, adding that the decision by the Unites States was disappointing. (link)

As clearly stated, when push comes to shove German sensibilities are connected more to their economics than to any do-gooder need to save the planet.  This reality, in combination with upcoming German elections, sets the stage for Angela Merkel’s statement today, three months later:

BERLIN (Reuters) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned on Sunday against a swift abandonment of diesel cars after a series of emissions scandals, saying the fuel is still needed if climate change targets are to be met.
Speaking at a pre-election town hall event on RTL television on Sunday, Merkel called on German carmakers, all of which have been caught using workarounds to cheat nitrogen emissions tests, to work to re-establish public trust in diesel.
“We need diesel if we are to achieve our climate protection goals,” she said.  Diesel cars … emit the nitrogen dioxide that can cause breathing problems in high concentrations.
She told one car owner that the more modest compensation received by German car owners compared with their U.S. counterparts was the result of very different legal systems in the two countries.
Nonetheless, Germany’s carmakers needed to compensate owners whose cars were less valuable as a result of the scandal as best as possible, she said, otherwise “the German car industry, which is admired the world over, could suffer substantial harm”.
The future of the auto sector, Germany’s biggest exporter and provider of 800,000 jobs, has become a hot election issue as politicians blame executives and each other for the sector’s battered reputation after Volkswagen’s (VOWG_p.DE) admission almost two years ago that it had cheated U.S. emissions tests.  (read more)

Germany will be the primary EU country responsible for filling the financial void from the U.K. leaving the EU (Brexit).  That financial hole is approximately €15 billion per year. Additionally, unless they abandon the religion of climate change, Germany will be faced with having to renegotiate trade deals with the U.S. while they remain encumbered with the regulatory burden of the Paris treaty.
Chancellor Merkel is not a stupid woman, she knows the long-term ramifications to multicultural feel-goodisms and how they can undermine national economics.  The fact that Merkel would be attempting to spin Diesel fuel as an Eco-friendly fuel source is beyond laughable. Germany is reliant on diesel fuel which is created from heavy-grade oil; not refined light sweet crude.  The majority of the heavy oil used within Europe comes from Libya and North Africa energy development contracts.
You won’t see this in the MSM – but Merkel’s statement today, albeit against the backdrop of political survival, is another stark admission that Germany is retreating from the Paris Climate Treaty.
The treaty was/is only viable as each western economy agreed to jointly jump into an economic abyss, while filling the coffers of the multinational banks who underwrite the entire premise behind the geopolitical wealth distribution.  Thanks to President Trump the U.S. is no longer willing to commit economic suicide;  Turkey has also pulled away:

[…]  The U.S. decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement means Turkey is less inclined to ratify the deal because the U.S. move jeopardizes compensation promised to developing countries, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday. […] Erdogan said that when Turkey signed the accord France had promised that Turkey would be eligible for compensation for some of the financial costs of compliance. (link)

Germany is the tip of the climate spear.  Chancellor Merkel can’t openly retreat, yet Germany has to abandon the cult if they are to remain economically competitive.  The statement from Mrs Merkel today is a quiet, albeit visible, move toward the exits.