Fight against climate change is a moral obligation – Germany
The fight against climate change is a moral obligation for the current generation who would hand over to the next generation, Dr Barbara Hendricks, Federal Environment Minister of Germany said on Monday.
Speaking at the opening of the sixth Petersberg Climate Dialogue in Berlin, Dr Hendricks said climate action is not a luxury but an obligation and that there is the need to establish a fair means of climate funding that would be fair to the poor and vulnerable countries.
“We need a fair means of climate funding that must be fair to the poor and vulnerable countries,” she said, adding, climate funding would be one of the important issues of discussions at the dialogue.
The theme for the three-day meeting is: “Reaching for the Paris outcome.”
The Petersberg Climate Dialogue which is being co-hosted by the French Foreign Minister, Laurent Fabius is aimed at identifying the remaining challenges of climate change and bringing concrete possibilities for action to light, ahead to the UN Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP21) scheduled for Paris in December.
The Dialogue would strengthen political momentum ahead of the Paris conference and also make a concrete contribution to UN climate negotiations.
Some of the countries represented at the Dialogue, are The Gambia, Angola, Sudan, South Africa, Brazil, China, Japan, United States, United Kingdom, Turkey, Sweden, France, Italy, Philippines, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Peru and India.
Dr Hendricks said all countries need to reach an understanding in Paris to help the vulnerable countries to mitigate and adapt to climate change saying, the industralised countries had to take the lead while other countries follow.
She said Germany had already taken the lead in the reduction of emissions by reducing its dependence on nuclear and fossil energy into the use of more renewable energy and presently more than 25 per cent of energy resources in the country are from renewable sources like solar and wind which feed into the national grid.
She said with Germany setting the pace in renewable energy, most states are following suit and the US and China have committed themselves to decreasing emissions.
The German Environment Minister said as the world prepared to meet in Paris in December to further discuss climate change, there is the need for long term objectives, “a clear signal of where we are heading the governments have to agree on low carbon climate path in Paris. We need to achieve a target of keeping global warming below the agreed two degrees Celsius limit”.
“We need largely a carbon free world economy, we have to agree where we are going,” he added.
Fabius, said the Dialogue would focus on the preparation of COP21 and would discuss national climate targets as set out by countries.
“We have to be very ambitious because global warming which I call climate disturbances is speeding up. So we have to be very ambitious,” he said.
Source: GNA