Green co-leader Baerbock calls on the industrialized countries to take more vigorous climate protection measures. “It finally needs to be binding,” said Baerbock in the ZDF morning magazine with a view to the world climate conference COP26 in Glasgow. The national programs presented so far have not been sufficient to achieve the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees. “The big industrialized countries must lead the way.”
Baerbock went on to say: “We have no problem with knowledge. We have known for years that we have to act urgently. It is also known that we are not getting on the 1.5-degree path with the nation states’ climate plans . ” Phasing out coal, phasing out the internal combustion engine, protecting the forests and, above all, a technological leap towards a climate-neutral industry, “that has to be done now and not just promised,” said Baerbock. Over the next two weeks, around 200 countries will be fighting in Glasgow to see how the 1.5 degree target agreed in Paris can still be achieved and actually implemented. The states’ previous plans are nowhere near sufficient for this. One of the goals of COP26 is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and limit global warming. (02/11/2021)
About 100 countries want to stop deforestation by 2030
At the world climate summit in Glasgow, more than 100 countries pledge to stop the destruction of forests and other landscapes by 2030. The British government said this late Monday evening. She chairs the UN conference. The participating countries, including Germany and the entire EU, represent 85 percent of the world’s forest area, i.e. around 34 million square kilometers.
Also included are the countries with the largest forests of all, i.e. Canada, Russia, Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia as well as China, Norway and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. According to this, around 12 billion US dollars (around 10.3 billion euros) in public funds will be mobilized for the project by 2025. In addition, there are 7.2 billion US dollars in private investments.
Forests are considered to be the lungs of our planet; they absorb around a third of the CO₂ emissions emitted by humans each year. But they are shrinking worryingly, as the message continued: Every minute an area of around 27 football fields is lost. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke of forests as “the cathedrals of nature” and said: “They are essential for our survival.” Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo said his country was blessed with a lot of rainforest, according to the statement. His government pledges to protect them as “natural capital”. (02/11/2021)
India promises climate neutrality for the first time by 2070
At the world climate summit in Glasgow, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi first set a goal for his country’s climate neutrality: by 2070, the densely populated country only wants to emit as many climate-damaging emissions as can be absorbed in sinks such as oceans and forests. That is the upper limit that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has specified for global climate neutrality so that life on planet earth remains livable. Renewable energies, according to Modi, should provide around 50 percent of the energy demand by 2030. Last year it was 38 percent.
Many countries – like the EU – are striving for climate neutrality by 2050; China has set its sights on 2060. In his speech, Modi also pointed out that 17 percent of the world’s population lived in India, but that this was only responsible for five percent of global emissions.
Merkel promotes global CO₂ price
Chancellor Angela Merkel has campaigned for a global award on greenhouse gas emissions as a central instrument for the change in industry and society. “We will not move forward with government activities alone,” she said on Monday at the start of the world climate conference in Glasgow. It is about a comprehensive transformation of life and business. “That is why I want to make a clear plea here for pricing carbon emissions.” These already exist within the EU and, for example, also in China. With a CO₂ price one could get the industry to find the best technological way to achieve climate neutrality. This also applies, for example, to CO₂ emissions in the transport sector. “In the decade of action in which we now live, to be more ambitious nationally, but to find global instruments that not only use taxpayers’ money, but that are economically sensible. And for me that is CO₂ pricing.”
In addition to EU emissions trading for power plants and industry, Germany has also introduced a general surcharge for fuel, gas and heating oil, for example. The income is intended to promote change and cushion social hardship. As an industrial and export country, Germany has a great interest in introducing such prices in other countries as well. This is the only way to ensure fair competition. Otherwise, the EU is already planning a tax on imports from countries with less stringent CO₂ requirements.
Merkel also recalled that as Environment Minister in 1995 she “had the honor” of leading the first UN climate conference in Bonn. Glasgow was their last summit, and the question now was how far the world had come. “We’re not where we need to be yet,” she admitted. The presented national CO2 reduction targets are not sufficient to implement the Paris Climate Agreement, which is intended to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees as possible. At the same time, Merkel was confident that progress could be made in Glasgow: “We must and we can implement the Paris Climate Agreement.”
US President Joe Biden also referred to a short time left to act in the fight against global warming. He asked whether the international community would do what is necessary now or “condemn future generations to suffering”. It is possible to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius if everyone comes together and pledges to implement their share ambitiously and resolutely.
At the same time, Biden spoke out in favor of supporting developing countries in their efforts. There is an obligation here to help. The US president admitted that not enough was happening. He concluded the speech with the words: “May God save the planet.” (01.11.2021)
“We have to act because otherwise it will be about our extinction”
As part of the climate summit in Glasgow, the President of the island state of Palau issued an urgent warning of the collapse of his country and its culture. “We have to act, and immediately, because otherwise it is about our extinction,” said head of state Surangel Whipps Jr. on Monday the broadcaster BBC Radio 4. Palau has only about 19,000 inhabitants, which are distributed on more than 500 islands in the Pacific , around 1000 kilometers east of the Philippines. “We want people at this conference to understand that we can no longer just talk and take mini-steps or postpone the matter,” said Whipps. Radical changes are needed that actually have consequences. “If these islands go under, we will have lost the culture, the language, the identity of the people,” he said. “Of course you can move people to a building in Shanghai or a field in Arkansas or anywhere.” But that would have serious consequences, warned Whipps. “They are no longer a nation, no longer a people. We shouldn’t become extinct because of the actions of the largest CO₂ emitters.”
One of its addressees is likely to be China’s President Xi Jinping. After all, no country produces such a large amount of climate-damaging greenhouse gases as China. But Xi is unlikely to speak in person at the UN climate summit, or at least connect via video. According to the official list of speakers on Monday, only a written statement is to be published on the summit’s website. A spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry initially refused to confirm this.
The US had previously put Beijing under pressure. China has an obligation to tighten its targets, said US security advisor Jake Sullivan on the flight with President Joe Biden to Glasgow. As the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter, China is absolutely capable of doing this. The state of relations with Washington is no reason not to act on climate protection. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, as host, has already made the heads of state and government responsible: “For mankind, the clock on climate change has long expired. It is a minute to midnight and we have to act now,” it said in his previously published report Speech.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also canceled his participation in the conference at short notice, according to government circles. Last month, the Turkish parliament was the last G20 country to ratify the Paris climate agreement. But the summit is going on without some of the big countries. In addition to Johnson, Biden and the French head of state Emmanuel Macron, the outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel will also address the delegates. The CDU politician will then give a short address at an event on the most pressing issues of climate protection in this decade.
At the two-week climate summit COP26 in Glasgow, representatives from more than 190 countries discuss the further implementation of the Paris climate agreement, which aims to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees as possible. At the start on Sunday, the British conference president Alok Sharma called for more efforts in the fight against global warming. (01.11.2021)
Start with appeals and a damper
The climate chief of the United Nations, Patricia Espinosa, said before the plenary session on Sunday that a continuation of the emission of climate-damaging greenhouse gases would be tantamount to “investing in our own extinction”. “Either we count on a rapid and large-scale reduction in emissions in order to achieve the 1.5 degree target. Or we accept that humanity is facing a bleak future on this planet.”
A bitter damper came at the beginning of the climate conference from the G20 summit in Rome: the major economic powers failed to send a strong signal to Glasgow for more climate protection. There is also no clear target date for the important carbon dioxide neutrality and the phase-out of coal-fired power generation.
The British President of COP26, Alok Sharma, said before the plenary that the window to reach the 1.5-degree target was closing. Glasgow must keep what Paris has promised. “This COP is our last great hope to keep 1.5 degrees as possible. This international conference must deliver.”
The Pope also encouraged the states to do more climate protection. “Let us pray that the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor will be heard,” said Francis in front of numerous people in St. Peter’s Square in Rome. The acting Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze (SPD) expressed the hope that the conference will usher in “a new phase in international climate cooperation”.
The 25,000 or so people expected in Glasgow include numerous activists who want to protest on the streets for a more ambitious climate policy. The German Fridays-for-Future activist Luisa Neubauer criticized that none of the rich industrialized countries had yet kept their climate commitments. Six years have passed since the historic Paris Agreement – and emissions are now higher than ever. “This conference must be the moment when this trend is reversed,” said the 25-year-old of the German press agency. (10/31/2021)