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“If we don’t change course, we could be heading for a catastrophic temperature rise of more than three degrees this century,” Guterres said. It is already 1.2 degrees warmer than before industrialization. The consequences were catastrophic. They have been visible for a long time: droughts, heat waves, devastating wildfires, hurricanes, floods, melting ice around the poles and in the mountains.
The UN secretary general wanted to generate pressure with Great Britain, Chile, France and Italy in the year Corona 2020, in which the great UN climate conference had to be canceled. The Glasgow summit will not take place until the end of 2021 – as a replacement there was a one-day digital “Climate Ambition Summit” (summit for climate ambition). Only those who, in the opinion of the hosts, had enough to show, were invited.
2020 should actually be the year when all Paris Agreement states deliver new and improved national climate protection plans ahead of the Glasgow climate summit. This should happen every five years in the future, in the middle is an inventory that makes it clear whether the plans are sufficient. Corona has delayed the schedule a bit. But more than 40 states used the summit to announce new plans, Guterres praised.
Some examples of the promises: Barbados and Maldives no longer want to emit greenhouse gases by 2030, Pakistan does not want to build new coal-fired power plants. China, the country with the highest greenhouse gas emissions in the world, wants to more strongly decouple its growth from emissions, expand green electricity, and, this has long been known, start reducing CO2 emissions before 2030.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, host of the next big summit, reiterated his commitment to cut emissions by 68 percent by 2030 compared to 1990 levels.
The head of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, was able to announce yesterday’s agreement on a more ambitious EU climate target. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has pledged € 500 million for climate projects in poorer countries.
Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) proudly referred to the ambitious Austrian goals: climate neutrality by 2040, the use of renewable energy for domestic electricity generation by 2030 and the five-fold increase in the Austrian contribution to the Green Fund for Climate (GCF) to 130 million euros by 2023. Kurz also called for joint efforts to “get out of the current crisis” in a healthier, stronger and more innovative way.
Apple CEO Tim Cook also had the opportunity to publicize his company’s sustainability and climate goals. But the summit was not just a feel-good event. Small and poorer countries such as Ethiopia, Vanuatu and Fiji, particularly affected by climate change, demanded additional and streamlined financial support. And they reminded them that it was the industrialized countries that had the main responsibility: the islands of the Pacific were already feeling the effects of rising sea levels.
The young climate activist Selina Neirok Leem from the Marshall Islands, who was already featured in Paris in 2015, spoke directly to the heads of state: “I am part of the anger and disappointment of my young comrades in arms with you, the one Highest percent in the world, because with Due to his enormous influence, he failed in his great tasks, “he said.
In addition to states like Australia or Brazil, which are seen as a brake on climate negotiations, the United States was also absent: they have not been part of the climate agreement since early November. President-elect Joe Biden took the opportunity to remotely reiterate his willingness to rejoin on the first day of his term. Additionally, representatives from US states and cities spoke out, emphasizing that even under President Donald Trump, the engagement would continue below the federal level.
Climate activist Greta Thunberg was tough on the climate summit. “At the Climate Ambition Summit, leaders celebrate their shameless loopholes, empty words, inadequate long-term goals and the theft of current and future living conditions, and call it ‘ambition,'” the Swede wrote on Twitter on Saturday. . “There are no climate leaders. The only ones who can change that are you and me. Together,” Thunberg said. Other climate protection activists also voiced criticism of the announcements made by more than 70 heads of state and government.
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