In view of global geopolitical tensions, Egyptian Foreign Minister Samih Schukri called on the member states of the World Climate Conference to comply with the agreed climate targets. “The current situation in the world must not be used as an excuse not to keep previous commitments, especially with regard to support for developing countries,” said Schukri on Monday in Berlin at the start of the Petersberg Climate Dialogue.
According to the official translation, the decisive decade for action has begun. At the UN climate summit in Glasgow last November, the states pledged to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees and to sharpen their national climate targets by the end of the year at the latest. The current President of the World Climate Conference spoke of unprecedented geopolitical tensions that would affect food security and the reliability of international supply chains. In the current uncertain times, it is important “to act quickly and ensure that climate protection remains at the top of the international agenda”. If the countries of the world do not increase their climate targets now, the 1.5-degree target will not be achievable, said Schukri.
At the Petersberg Climate Dialogue, ministers and representatives from around 40 countries want to agree on the further course in the fight against climate change. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi also want to speak during the two-day meeting. Germany and Egypt are the organizers of the conference, which is also intended to set the course for the COP27 world climate conference in early November in the Egyptian coastal town of Sharm el Sheikh.
“What worries me most is our inability to work together as a multilateral society in the face of this global crisis,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a video message. Instead of taking responsibility, states continued to point the finger at others. “We can’t go on like this,” Guterres warned. In order to keep the agreed climate goals alive and to create climate-resilient communities, one must restore trust and take action together. Guterres expects the G7 and G20 countries to take a leadership role on this point. “We have a choice. Either we act together or we commit suicide together,” Guterres said.
“We are meeting here in Berlin at a time of year when the consequences of climate change are particularly visible, including in Europe. Countries such as Italy, Portugal and Poland are experiencing extreme drought. Harvests are dying, forests are burning, water is becoming scarce. In many In some regions, the soil has dried up meters deep,” said Climate Protection Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens), who represents Austria in Berlin, in a statement to APA. And it is not the first summer that is much too hot. The minister named three topics in the fight against the climate crisis that should be discussed in Berlin. In addition to reducing emissions to achieve the 1.5 degree target, Gewessler also underlined the role of industrialized countries in adapting to climate change. This has become a “question of survival” when islands threaten to sink into the sea. A bilateral meeting is planned with Tina Stege, climate ambassador for the Marshall Islands. In addition, one hears the call of the most vulnerable countries in the world: “They need our help in avoiding, minimizing and repairing damage caused by climate change. Here it is important to continue working together and providing support.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned in Berlin that the response to the Russian attack on Ukraine must not lead to a return of coal energy. “What must not happen to us is slipping into a global renaissance of fossil energy and especially coal,” Scholz said on Monday at the Petersberg Climate Dialogue in Berlin. “No one can be satisfied with the fact that the share of coal-fired power generation is increasing again in our country as a reaction to imminent bottlenecks in the gas supply.” However, this is only a temporary emergency measure. “We have to get out of coal, oil and gas – I almost said: full throttle,” added Scholz.
Source: Nachrichten
