It’s hard to believe, but it’s already been a year, almost. But the sky won’t fall on our heads between now and January 1st, so we can reasonably expect the New Year to turn around soon. “So this is Christmas/And what have you done?/Another year over/And a new one just begun,” was once said by John Lennon and Yoko Ono. The song is now 52 years old, and I’m still not sure whether it’s really cheesy. But what have we done?
A week ago, my colleague Christoph von Eichhorn reported here on the results of the COP28 climate conference in Dubai; the experts’ assessments varied quite widely. One can see it as a big step that the end of fossil energy is announced in the final document, but one can also criticize that the wording is not very binding. What did we do? More than nothing, but probably less than enough.
Solar energy expansion has picked up significantly
Nevertheless, there was progress. The EU has advanced the “Fit for 55” climate package, including a reform of emissions trading. There was also an agreement on the EU renaturation law. It should not only serve nature, but also the climate, for example by protecting moors – this was first taken out of the law and later at least partially negotiated back into it, to the delight of nature and climate activists. In Germany, the expansion of wind energy did not progress as well as planned, but at least much faster than in previous years. Solar energy expansion also picked up strongly.
However, the year has shown more than ever how urgent action is needed, as Christoph von Eichhorn described in his annual climate review. Absurd heat records in the oceans and on land, as little ice in Antarctica as never before measured, overall the warmest year since records began: 2023 was certainly not short on such rather eerie superlatives. And now comes 2024. And what are we going to do? Well, we’ll see.
I wish you a relaxing holiday and all the best for the new year, let’s hope it’s Lennon and Ono’s turn again that it will be a good one. Climate Friday is also taking a break, the next one will appear on January 12th.
(This text comes from the weekly Newsletter Climate Friday you here free of charge can order.)