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Berlin (dpa) - Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) has appealed to the international community to act quickly and in solidarity against climate change.
At the start of the ministerial talks as part of the 12th Petersberg Climate Dialogue, Merkel campaigned for a stronger international anchoring of CO2 pricing as a steering instrument and for further climate aid for poorer countries from 2025. Climate protectors reacted with disappointment because the Chancellor did not make any new commitments for poorer countries.
"In the interest of future generations around the world, it is important that we act quickly and decisively to limit the dramatic consequences of global warming," said the Chancellor at the event, which is online for the second time due to the corona pandemic was to be followed.
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Until Friday, around 40 line ministers will be discussing the implementation of the goals of the Paris Climate Protection Agreement from 2015 on a virtual basis. The talks are intended to set the course for the world climate conference COP26, which is scheduled for November in Glasgow.
Among other things, the focus is on supporting poorer countries in adapting to climate change.
The results of the talks are to be announced on Friday afternoon.
The Chancellor, who initiated the Petersberg Dialogue in 2010, emphasized that Germany was working flat out to further develop its climate goals.
To implement the new ambitions announced by the federal government the day before, the coal phase-out and the expansion of renewable energies are decisive.
The CO2 price is also an important steering instrument and should be introduced worldwide.
On Wednesday, the federal government announced specific goals for a new climate protection law.
The plans that the Federal Constitutional Court had made necessary by judgment include a climate-neutral Germany by 2045, a greenhouse gas reduction of 65 percent by 2030 compared to 1990 and new climate targets after 2030.
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Merkel emphasized that in addition to an ambitious national approach, international solidarity also played a key role for more climate protection.
In Copenhagen in 2009, the industrialized countries promised to mobilize 100 billion US dollars annually from public and private sources for climate protection in developing countries by 2020.
This goal has also been continued until 2025.
However, the OECD figures from 2018 showed that commitments were not always kept.
Germany “exceeded” its share of four billion euros in 2019 with 4.3 billion, said the Chancellor.
But now it is a matter of continuing the international efforts.
At COP26, the industrialized countries would have to set new financing targets from 2025.
Other high-ranking participants such as the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called for courageous action.
Climate protection should not become another victim of the pandemic, appealed to Johnson, who will also host the upcoming COP26.
The world is now faced with the decision to either face climate change together or go under together, said Johnson.
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UN Secretary General António Guterres said the success of COP26 depends on progress in providing more money, according to the United Nations.
"I call on the heads of state and government of the G7 to take the lead together with other industrialized countries in order to make substantial commitments on climate finance for the next five years."
In an initial reaction to the Chancellor's speech, climate protectors expressed their disappointment.
Jan Kowalzig, climate expert at Oxfam Germany, considered it a serious failure that the Chancellor had not made any new commitments for poorer countries.
Germany must double its climate aid by 2025, he demanded.
In contrast, Merkel received some encouragement from the FDP for the push for a global CO2 price.
It is an important signal that the Chancellor has emphasized the importance of market-based instruments for climate protection, said the climate policy spokesman for the FDP parliamentary group, Lukas Köhler.
However, the grand coalition has so far failed to seriously advocate an international carbon price.
That must be made up for in the coming legislative period.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210506-99-496522 / 3