World Climate Conference
Climate summit: Rich countries should pay 1,000 billion
The fight against the climate crisis is about stopping heating the earth with greenhouse gases. But this requires a lot of money. In Baku the sums at stake are almost unimaginable.
At the start of the world climate conference in Azerbaijan, rich countries like Germany are confronted with dizzying demands for money. The 45 poorest developing countries alone expect at least 1,000 billion US dollars per year from the industrialized countries to curb global warming and mitigate its fatal consequences. Climate State Secretary Jennifer Morgan said in Baku that Germany fundamentally accepts responsibility. But all states “that can afford it” would have to pay.
From an EU perspective, China and the rich Gulf states, among others, are obliged to pay climate aid. However, according to decades-old UN logic, they are classified as recipient countries.
Trump’s election victory overshadows negotiations
Almost 200 countries in the ex-Soviet republic will be discussing how to contain the climate crisis and cushion its consequences for two weeks – i.e. more frequent and severe floods like those recently in Spain and West Africa, devastating hurricanes like those on the US coast or health-threatening heat waves like those in southern Europe.
The summit is overshadowed by Donald Trump’s election victory. The US President-elect has already announced that he will withdraw from the central Paris climate agreement and roll back climate protection in his country in order to make oil and gas production easier.
The past ten years were the warmest on record
Right at the start of the mammoth two-week COP29 conference in Azerbaijan, the World Weather Organization declared a “red alert”: The past ten years have been the warmest since records began. UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that the impending climate catastrophe is endangering the health of millions of people, increasing inequalities and shaking the foundations of peace. “The most vulnerable are the most affected.”
“When do you put money on the table?”
Environmental organizations also expect rich industrialized countries to mobilize at least one trillion US dollars annually for developing countries – ten times more than the 100 billion per year currently promised. To finance it, climate activists are proposing wealth taxes on the rich or levies on the production of coal, oil and gas. The head of the Climate Action Network (CAN), Tasneem Essop, criticized the hesitant attitude of donor countries: “Coming to this conference and saying that they don’t have the money is unacceptable.” CAN brings together hundreds of climate organizations worldwide.
German climate activist Luisa Neubauer from Fridays for Future said in Baku: “Most of the world looks at countries like Germany and asks: When are you going to put money on the table?” Oxfam Australia pointed out that the number of people affected by climate disasters in the Pacific alone has increased by an average of 700 percent in the last decade.
The first plenary session on the site around the Olympic Stadium will be followed by speeches from dozens of heads of state and government on Tuesday and Wednesday. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) canceled his trip to the climate conference after his traffic light government ended. Also not there: French President Emmanuel Macron, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Brazilian President Lula da Silva – not to mention US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The warmest year on record
The pressure to act is great: This year, for the first time, the planet has warmed up by more than 1.5 degrees compared to pre-industrial times – according to calculations by the EU climate service, it will probably be the warmest year since weather records began. However, the goal agreed at the Paris Climate Conference in 2015 to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees, if possible, is not yet considered to have been missed, as longer-term average values are decisive for this. But: Even if all of the states’ climate protection plans are actually implemented, the planet is heading for a temperature increase of 2.6 to 3.1 degrees by the turn of the century – which would make significant parts of the world uninhabitable.
dpa
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
