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US President Biden:
"
We really have no choice
"
Photo: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / AFP
US President Joe Biden has called on the world community to become more involved in the fight against climate change.
"
We have to act - all of us,
"
said Biden at the start of a virtual climate summit organized by the USA.
In the fight against global warming, quick action is needed:
“
We really have no choice.
«
“The signs are obvious.
The science is undeniable.
The cost of doing nothing keeps getting higher, ”Biden said.
He advocated seeing economic opportunities in climate protection measures: the energy transition, the expansion of electromobility and infrastructure measures offer the opportunity to create millions of well-paid jobs.
The
British Prime Minister
Boris Johnson
concurred with this view in his speech.
Britain has shown that it is possible to reduce emissions and still achieve significant economic growth.
On Tuesday, Johnson announced that it would reduce emissions of climate-damaging greenhouse gases in Great Britain by 78 percent by 2035 compared to the level in the 1990s.
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also
announced more ambitious goals for his country. By 2030, the emissions level should be 40 to 45 percent below the 2005 level, said Trudeau. Canada's greenhouse gas emissions are expected to be reduced to net zero by 2050. It will not be easy, but it will be inevitable, said Trudeau.
French President Emmanuel Macron
urged internationally regulated trading in emissions certificates.
China's head of state and party leader
Xi Jinping announced
that his country's coal consumption would be reduced from 2025 onwards.
China will "strictly control" coal-fired power plants, said Xi.
During the current five-year plan until 2025, the increase in climate-damaging coal consumption should be "strictly limited" and "gradually reduced" until 2030 during the following plan.
Warming already now at 1.2 degrees
According to experts, much more has to be done by 2030 if global warming is to remain well below two degrees, as agreed by almost 200 countries in Paris in 2015.
The earth has already warmed up by around 1.2 degrees compared to pre-industrial times.
China is the world's most populous country and the largest consumer of coal and carbon dioxide.
While the government has repeatedly reaffirmed its goals in the fight against climate change, critics criticize a further expansion of coal energy at the local level and an increase in coal production.
The country bases its energy supply around 60 percent on coal.
asa / fek / AFP / dpa