A group of Germany’s biggest companies on Monday called for state aid to alleviate the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic to be tied to action on climate change.

More than 60 companies including ThyssenKrupp, Bayer, Allianz and Deutsche Telekom signed a letter pushing German Chancellor Angela Merkel to pursue an ambitious post-crisis policy focussed on cutting emissions.

"We appeal to the federal government to closely link economic policy measures to overcome both the climate crisis and the coronavirus crisis," the companies said ahead of the annual Petersberg climate dialogue which began on Monday.

The leaders of 30 nations convened for the annual conference, held online this year due to the pandemic, with the aim of keeping up commitment to the Paris Climate agreement.

Under the landmark 2015 accord, 189 nations committed to working to stop global temperatures from rising beyond 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

But some of the giants of German industry are concerned that environmental issues will be neglected due to the almost unprecedented economic damaged caused by the virus.

Car manufacturers are already lobbying to prevent the announced tightening of emissions limits on cars,

Airlines, which have been devastated by the pandemic, are also asking for a waiver on jet fuel taxes, and the plastics industry is appealing bans on some products put in place after 2015.