Status: 11/6/2021 1:13 p.m.
From “absolutely inadequate” to “ridiculous”: Development Minister Müller and activists have sharply criticized the interim results of the climate summit in Glasgow. Environment Minister Schulze was more confident.
At the halfway point of the World Climate Conference in Glasgow, politicians and observers from Germany drew a mixed interim balance. The executive Federal Development Minister Gerd Müller criticized the results of the negotiations so far. “The emerging resolutions are not sufficient to achieve the 1.5 degree target,” said the CSU politician to the editorial network in Germany. The offers of support for poorer countries are also “absolutely inadequate to adapt to the climate change that is already taking place”.
These countries and the African continent should not be the losers of climate change, warned Müller. They bear the brunt of global warming and its consequences – millions of people here have already lost their livelihoods due to climate change. It therefore needs a climate load balancing.
Neubauer criticizes “empty speeches”
Climate activist Luisa Neubauer also sharply criticized the summit results. “As expected, a lot revolves around more or less empty speeches,” said the co-organizer of the “Fridays for Future” initiative of the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung”. “The agreement on the protection of the rainforests rather symbolizes what is going wrong here: that one agrees on agreements whose goals are far too far in the future, and without a concrete plan how they will be adhered to.” Nodding off another nine years of clearing is “ridiculous, because deforestation must of course be stopped immediately”.
The agreement to reduce methane is also not radical enough to meet global climate targets, said Neubauer, who is currently in Glasgow herself. “While there is agreement here to reduce methane, the federal government is also talking about expanding gas infrastructure. Also in the EU. Gas is one of the biggest drivers of methane, one of the most dangerous greenhouse gases there is. “
Mareike Aden, ARD London, currently Glasgow, on the climate protests: “The people here say that none of this is enough – it is at most a drop in the ocean”
esschau24 1:00 p.m., 11/6/2021
Schulze: No “Spontaneous Rescue of the World”
The acting Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze was more confident. The SPD politician will travel to Glasgow herself in the coming week. The 1.5-degree target is still achievable, she told the newspapers of the Funke media group. “As much as has changed on the subject of climate protection in recent years, we can manage to keep 1.5 degrees within reach.” It depends on the US delivering what it has promised and that China has more confidence in itself than it has promised so far.
In the ongoing negotiations, it is important to finally conclude the rule book for the Paris Agreement, said Schulze. “Global climate protection thrives on the trust that everyone participates and abides by the rules.” For example, there were still no passages on reporting obligations or the rules for emissions trading. One could not expect “the spontaneous rescue of the world” from a climate conference. But the world will be a few steps closer to the 1.5-degree target after Glasgow than before: As a positive sign, she cited the new climate neutrality target for 2070 that India has set itself.
Scholz plans “Climate Club”
Meanwhile, SPD Chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz sees progress in founding an international alliance for climate protection that he is aiming for. “We are on the right track and we are receiving a lot of encouragement,” said the executive finance minister of the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung”. His plan for a climate club had a positive response at the G20 meeting of the leading industrialized countries last weekend in Rome. “The talks in Rome show me that many have understood that it is worth strengthening international cooperation within the framework of a climate club.” US President Joe Biden has made it clear that the United States is again relying on international cooperation.
The SPD is currently holding talks with the Greens and the FDP about the formation of a traffic light coalition in which Scholz is to take over the chancellery. The climate club is intended to motivate numerous countries to jointly take steps to protect the climate in order to avoid disadvantages for companies. “This open and cooperative club defines common minimum standards, promotes climate protection in an internationally coordinated manner and ensures that climate protection is an international locational advantage,” said Scholz when he presented his plans in August.