Climate change is largely a consequence of energy consumption – after all, the burning of fossil raw materials is responsible for most of the warming to date, while land use accounts for much less. And probably never since the last oil crisis has energy been discussed as intensively as in the past few months: Where does Germany’s energy come from, how can we save as much as possible, how can the supply be future-proof?
Seen in this way, climate change somehow resonated in many of the discussions that dominated 2022 – but was it a good year for climate protection? I have collected some of the most important developments here.
In February and April, two new reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) made it clear how urgently global warming needs to be slowed down. In the first of these, the scientists warned that the consequences and extent of global warming have so far been underestimated. Heat waves, the spread of pathogens, water shortages – the IPCC now counts 127 “key risks” as a result of climate change.
While humans can defend against some of these, there is still no way around reducing greenhouse gas emissions, as the second of the two reports makes clear. He also shows how this can be achieved in areas as diverse as mobility, nutrition or industrial production.
Have reacted to such forecasts – surprise! – the USA. With the “Inflation Reduction Act”, the Biden government passed a remarkable climate protection law through Congress in August. If you add it all up, the American state is now providing the equivalent of almost 1.6 trillion euros for building a more resilient, CO₂-neutral economy. Because foreign companies are disadvantaged, not everyone in Europe thinks that’s a good thing – but one should be grateful to Joe Biden, says my colleague Claus Hulverscheidt. Last but not least, the US climate package is late satisfaction for Al Gore.
At the international level, however, progress has been rather modest. At the COP27 climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, in November, a fund was approved for the first time to help poor countries cope with the climate damage they had suffered. But there are still many unanswered questions, and the states have not been able to bring themselves to phase out fossil fuels. Experts are therefore only partially convinced by many of the results of the conference. My colleague Michael Bauchmüller commented that the summit showed above all the weak basis on which international climate policy stands.
Intact ecosystems are essential for a stable climate. In this respect, it is also good news for the climate that the World Conference on Nature in Montréal was sealed with a pact for the protection of species – even if the agreement has weaknesses.
Shortly before Christmas, the EU finally followed up with a climate package, emissions trading is being tightened. You can read here what this means for consumers and how the new climate tariff works.
And in Germany? A floating LNG terminal was recently inaugurated here, the first in the country. As understandable as it is to look for alternatives to Russian gas – in the end, despite all the protestations for more climate protection, new infrastructure for a fossil fuel is being created. My colleague Karl-Heinz Büschemann believes that many traffic light actions are not exactly beneficial to the climate. Rather, the government is currently promoting “the waste that should be avoided”.
But I want to end on a positive note – and I therefore recommend that you read this essay at the end, which explains why we should remain optimistic despite all the crises.
Climate Friday is now taking a Christmas break and will appear again on 01/13/2023.
(This text is from the weekly Newsletter climate friday you here for free can order.)