 Delegates will discuss how to cut emissions of greenhouse gases |
The ministers will meet counterparts from key developing nations at the two-day meeting in Potsdam.
They will discuss how to cut greenhouse gas emissions and how to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which runs out in 2012.
Ministers from Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa will be attending the talks.
'No new deal'
German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel said meeting was about bridging the gap between industrialised and developing nations.
"We must guard against giving developing nations the impression that the developing world expects them to carry our share of the burden," he said.
He said that the meeting would not bring a new deal, but was more of a chance to discuss the issues.
"We are going to speak about the barriers that have until now held back international climate change negotiations and how to break them," he said.
Head of the United Nations Environment Programme Achim Steiner echoed his comments.
The Potsdam talks, he said, were "not about pre-negotiating an outcome", but about preparing for "a quantum leap forward" later in the year.
G8 heads of state are expected to focus on climate change at talks in Germany's Heiligendamm in June.
World environment ministers are also due at a UN conference on the issue in Bali in December.
Last week, European Union leaders agreed to slash carbon dioxide emissions by 20% from 1990 levels by the year 2020 at a climate change summit in Brussels.
But tackling the issues hinges on the response of heavy polluters outside the EU - the US, China and India.
