Guterres calls for the "climate emergency" to be declared

December 12, 2020, 7:15 p.m.

Update: December 12, 2020, 7:18 p.m.

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New York/London (dpa) There is no UN climate conference on the fifth anniversary of the Paris climate agreement – this is impossible in the Corona crisis. Alternatively, dozens of heads of state will speak at a digital mini-summit. What is that supposed to help?

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UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on all countries in the world to declare the “climate emergency”.

On the day five years after the historic agreement on the Paris climate agreement, this summit should set an example: Even in the corona pandemic, progress is being made with climate protection.

More than 70 heads of state and government announced concrete new goals in the fight against the climate crisis on Saturday – or at least emphasized verbatim how important this was. Chancellor Angela Merkel promised half a billion for climate projects in poorer countries, EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen was proud to announce the previous day’s agreement on a more ambitious EU climate target.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres wanted to build pressure together with Great Britain, Chile, France and Italy in the Corona year 2020, in which the big UN climate conference had to be canceled. The summit in Glasgow will not take place until the end of 2021 – as a replacement there was a digital, one-day “Climate Ambition Summit” (summit for climate ambition). Only those who, in the opinion of the hosts, had enough to show, were invited.

“The summit has now sent a strong signal that more countries and more companies are ready for courageous climate protection, on which our security and prosperity will depend in the future,” said Guterres. All other states would have to join. In his welcoming speech, he called on all countries in the world to declare a “climate emergency” – as the EU Parliament did for the European Union a year ago.

Guterres never tires of emphasizing that all the promises are far from being enough, and certainly not what the states are really doing so far to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. He warned that we are still moving in the direction of 3 degrees warming in this century, it is 1.2 degrees warmer than before industrialization. The consequences were catastrophic. They have long been visible: droughts, heat waves, devastating forest fires, cyclones, floods, melting ice around the poles and on mountains.

2020 should actually be the year in which all the states of the Paris Agreement deliver new and improved national climate protection plans before the climate summit in Glasgow. This should happen every five years in the future, in between there is an inventory that makes it clear whether the plans are enough. Corona has delayed the schedule a little. But more than 40 states used the summit to announce new plans, praised Guterres.

A few examples of the promises: Barbados and the Maldives do not want to emit greenhouse gases anymore by 2030, Pakistan does not want to build any new coal-fired power plants. China, the country with the highest greenhouse gas emissions in the world, wants to decouple its growth more strongly from its emissions, expand green electricity and – this has been known for a long time – start reducing CO2 emissions before 2030.

Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson, host of the next major summit, proudly reaffirmed its commitment to reducing emissions by 68 percent by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. Von der Leyen promoted the EU’s new 55 percent target. And Apple CEO Tim Cook also got the opportunity to advertise his company’s sustainability and climate goals.

But the summit was not a pure feel-good event. Small, poorer countries, such as Ethiopia, Vanuatu and Fiji, particularly affected by climate change, demanded additional and simplified financial support. And they reminded them that it was the industrialized countries that had a primary responsibility – the Pacific islands were already feeling the effects of rising sea levels.

The young climate activist Selina Neirok Leem from the Marshall Islands, who was already prominent in Paris in 2015, addressed the heads of state directly: “I am part of the anger and disappointment of my young comrades-in-arms with you, the top one percent of the world, because with Due to your massive influence, you failed in your great tasks, ”she said.

Chancellor Merkel (CDU) referred to the German coal phase-out and other measures, but above all to further financial support from Germany for poorer countries in terms of climate protection. Germany is one of the largest donors – but the aid organization Bread for the World was disappointed: the Chancellor remained vague and should have made commitments for the period after 2025, criticized climate expert Sabine Minninger. In addition, the announced discounted loans are not gifts.

In addition to states like Australia or Brazil, which are seen as a brake on the climate negotiations, the USA was also missing – they have not been part of the climate agreement since the beginning of November. President-elect Joe Biden took the opportunity to remotely reaffirm that he would rejoin on the first day of his term in office. In addition, representatives from states and cities in the USA spoke up, emphasizing that even under President Donald Trump, the commitment would continue below the federal level.