In the fight against the corona crisis, states are putting together one emergency package after the other. The warning is growing louder not to forget the climate crisis. It is not just the usual suspects who speak up.
Berlin (dpa) - Get out of the corona crisis - and help the climate: In business and politics, the call is getting louder to align billions of aid programs with climate protection goals. Ministers from around 30 countries began talks on Monday, at the invitation of the German government, on how the struggle against the pandemic could be linked to that against global warming.
At the start of the Petersberg climate dialogue, around 70 companies, including steel and chemical groups, called for economic and investment programs to be "systematically oriented to climate-friendliness". Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze (SPD) welcomed the companies' appeal: "They are also not the usual suspects," she said. Signed by Thyssenkrupp, Salzgitter, Covestro and Wacker Chemie, among others. At the same time, the industry association BDI demanded that the intermediate goals for 2030 be "put to the test".
Schulze hopes that the Corona crisis will even increase people's willingness to protect the climate and the environment: "At the moment, many people around the world are feeling what the crisis feels like," she said. "I therefore trust that in the future more people will be willing to do more against the long-term environmental risks that otherwise threaten us - the climate crisis and the destruction of ecosystems." You are just learning how important it is to listen to science.
The Petersberg Climate Dialogue will take place for the first time this year as a video conference. Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres want to join the participants on Tuesday. These include countries with high CO2 emissions such as China or Japan, but also countries such as the Marshal Islands or Ethiopia that are particularly affected by the effects of climate change. As a rule, there are no concrete results, it is about informal exchange.
The corona crisis has pushed climate change from the top spot on the political agenda. The climate crisis is not gone, even if attention is currently focused on the pandemic, warned Schulze. "Unlike fighting the corona virus, we already know the vaccines against the climate crisis. They are available, they are affordable and they make our lives better." These include energy from the wind and sun, electromobility, recycling, energy-self-sufficient buildings or resilient agriculture.
On the other hand, there are also numerous demands to postpone environmental and climate plans in the crisis. The BDI called for "globally comparable ambitions in climate protection" for the restart of the global economy after the Corona crisis - translated that would mean that the EU and Germany would have to slow down their efforts. AfD chief Jörg Meuthen calls for a departure from the climate protection plans of the European Union.
In contrast, the President of the German Weather Service (DWD), Gerhard Adrian, of the German Press Agency said: "It would be bad if climate protection was put on hold by the fight against the virus." Climate change is advancing no matter what else happens. CO2, methane and nitrous oxide emissions would have to be reduced. "If the economic system has to change for this, stimulus programs in the Corona crisis would of course be an opportunity to combine the two."
Federal Environment Ministry on the Petersberg Climate Dialogue
