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President Emmanuel Macron speaks during the “One Planet Summit” in the Elysee Palace
Photo: Ludovic Marin / dpa
At the “One Planet Summit” climate and species protection summit, heads of state and government from all over the world discuss intensified efforts to save the environment.
France is taking the first step.
At the virtual meeting in Paris on Monday, host President Emmanuel Macron promoted a project in Africa that is to be funded with billions in investments: the great Green Wall.
For this purpose, thousands of kilometers of trees are to be planted like a green ribbon in the Sahel region - from Dakar to Djibouti.
This should stop the spread of the Sahara and thus the desertification and also protect the region from famine and drought.
The project has been planned for many years but has progressed slowly so far.
The Sahel zone in Africa is particularly affected by climate change.
Macron did not name a specific investment amount.
In advance, it was said from Élysée circles that around ten billion euros should come together for the initiative by 2030.
At the event in Paris, Prince Charles also called on companies from all over the world to invest and presented his "Terra Carta" project, with which he wants to bring prosperity in harmony with nature, people and the planet in the coming decade, according to the British heir apparent , who was connected as a guest speaker via video.
With the initiative, the Prince of Wales wants to collect 7.3 billion pounds (around 8.1 billion euros) for green projects by 2022.
Start of international species protection this year
Companies like Astrazeneca and HSBC, but also BP and Heathrow Airport have announced their support.
Only executives from all areas and from all over the world are able to stimulate changes on the scale necessary for the transformation of the global economy, said the 72-year-old.
The heir to the throne has been publicly committed to protecting the climate for decades.
The “One Planet Summit” was launched by France, the World Bank and the United Nations - so far there have been meetings in Paris 2017, New York 2018 and Nairobi 2019. The aim is to accelerate the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement and to invest more to promote climate protection and environmental protection.
The summit should actually have taken place in the summer in the southern French port city of Marseille, but was postponed due to Corona.
Paris sees the "One Planet Summit" now as the prelude to international meetings on ecological issues that will take place this year.
In addition to the climate summit in Glasgow in November, especially the UN biodiversity summit in Kunming, southern China, in autumn.
Representatives from almost 200 countries are to set new species protection goals there.
In the afternoon, other heads of state and government as well as top executives from international organizations should speak.
Among them are Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Prince Charles, UN Secretary General António Guterres and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Due to the Covid 19 pandemic, they are mainly switched on via video.
The main topics on the conference agenda are biodiversity and the protection of ecosystems.
The previous international efforts to protect species are considered to have failed.
According to a report published in 2019 by the UN Advisory Board on Biodiversity, one million species on earth are threatened with extinction.
Germany has to dig much deeper into its pockets
The Chancellor is expected to announce Germany's accession to the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People (HAC).
Together with more than 50 other governments, Germany wants to protect at least 30 percent of the earth by 2030.
This global goal is then to be adopted in Kunming as part of the new UN biodiversity strategy for 2030.
A protection of 30 percent has long been recommended by scientists for climate and species protection.
The EU Environment Council already adopted this goal in October as a cornerstone of the European biodiversity strategy for 2030.
Environmentalists are also hoping for the move and at the same time emphasize that the financing needs to be improved.
"With the commitment to the 30 percent target, Germany must now dig much deeper into its pockets in order to support the implementation of this ambitious goal while recognizing and supporting the rights of indigenous peoples," said Georg Schwede, European head of Campaign for Nature.
He called for at least a doubling of the current international financial contributions to the protection of biodiversity.
In addition, at least 30 percent of German funding for international climate protection would have to flow into so-called "nature based solutions".
The protection and restoration of tropical forests and coastal ecosystems should benefit from this in particular.
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joe / dpa / AFP