After the climate conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, Minister of Climate Protection Leonore Gewessler (Greens) was disappointed with the mini-compromise reached there. On the crucial point – binding commitments to reduce climate-damaging exhaust gases – “no significant progress has been made”. All in all, however, the minister remains optimistic about the fight against climate change.
The main outcome of the summit, the establishment of a fund for climate-related damage, is an important “sign of support”, Gewessler stressed in the Ö1 interview on Monday after her return from COP27, where she was involved in the negotiations. The fund, which is being set up on the proposal of the European Commission, could provide a basis of confidence for the next climate summit in Dubai.
‘Can’t pay us out of the crisis’
However, the fund is not an acknowledgment that the climate goals cannot be achieved and that we only have to deal with the consequences, the minister emphasized. “We will not be able to pay our way out of this crisis,” said Gewessler. If no progress is made on climate protection, the damage would be catastrophic. “No fund can mitigate that.” You have to implement climate protection at home, here you have started a ‘race to catch up’ in the EU, for example with the phasing out of combustion engines from 2035.
It was already clear to the summit that the EU wanted to help here, Gewessler replied, pointing out that the European Union had let itself be duped here. In any case, unanswered questions remain: for example, it is unclear whether countries such as China, which are considered emerging countries but still emit a lot of CO2, will contribute to the fund.
“Where we were last year”
Minister Gewessler is disappointed that the final statement at the summit makes no mention of phasing out oil and gas – when this is crucial to halting global warming. Here you are “where we were last year”, she said in the Ö1 “Morgenjournal”. However, she welcomes the fact that 80 countries were in favor of expressly including the exit in the final statement – including the US and Norway, which are themselves major exporters of oil and gas. You can build on that for the next climate conference.
Gewessler remains emphatically optimistic The 1.5 degree target is “not dead,” she affirmed. Every tenth of a degree matters whether certain parts of Africa are still habitable. It still pays to go to the next climate conference in 2023. Because this is “the only way” for international compromise on climate protection.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
