Shortly before the start of the United Nations Climate Summit in Katowice, Poland, tens of thousands of people demonstrated for better climate protection in Brussels. About 65,000 people moved, according to the police through the Belgian capital. They called for stronger measures to limit carbon dioxide emissions at national, European and global level.
At the World Climate Change Conference in Poland, the far-reaching decisions of the 2015 Paris Climate Conference will be complemented by clear rules on implementation and review. In Paris, it had been decided to limit global warming to below 2 degrees, and possibly even to 1.5 degrees. Meanwhile, the displeasure of many people about the perceived as too hesitant climate protection. Shortly before the opening of the conference in Poland, thousands of people demonstrated in Brussels and in Berlin and Cologne for an energy turnaround. In Slovakia, twelve Greenpeace activists, who had climbed the coal-mining tower on Wednesday, continued to be detained.
In essence, efforts to prevent the planet from overheating are about stopping the release of greenhouse gases as soon as possible and completely. The burning of coal, oil and gas, which releases carbon dioxide, is the focus here. In addition, other sources of greenhouse gases – such as livestock and industrial production – must be stuffed and ultimately carbon dioxide from the air should be siphoned off, for example by afforestation of forests or CO2 storage underground. But there are also some reservations about possible negative economic and social consequences of an abrupt energy turnaround, but most experts warn that climate change is too slow.
The climate diplomats met in Katowice on Sunday for a first plenary session. The official opening is this Monday. „Over the next two weeks, we need to be creative and flexible in order to use the time wisely and deliver the agreements we all strive for,“ said Poland’s Vice Environment Minister Michal Kurtyka, President of the Polish Presidency two-week conference took over.
„We will not save the climate in Germany“
Bread for the world demanded more support for the poorest sections of the population. „Nobody should be left alone in the climate crisis,“ said Sabine Minninger, climate representative of the Protestant relief organization. Development Minister Gerd Müller expressed himself similarly. „Climate policy means investing in developing and emerging countries. Africa, Brazil, India and China: Climate protection decides decisively there, „said the CSU politician to the editorial network Germany. „We will not save the climate in Germany.“
According to the organizers, a total of 36,000 participants took part in the demonstrations in Berlin and Cologne under the motto „Stop coal – Climate protection now“. „The federal government has abandoned the 2020 climate target, although it could still achieve it through determined action,“ said the organizers, an alliance of environmental organizations and such as BUND, Nabu and Greenpeace. In Cologne, people also demonstrated for the preservation of the Hambach forest, which wants to cut down the energy company RWE for lignite mining.
