Schneider: overcoming conflicts
Ten days of negotiation at the UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn brought little progress. German Environment Minister Schneider appeals for the pace to be stepped up.
Bonn (dpa) - Germany’s Environment and Climate Action Minister Carsten Schneider (photo) has criticised the outcome of the UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn. “The outcome in Bonn does not reflect the seriousness of the situation,” said Schneider. He said that the old lines of conflict still dominated to too great an extent: North versus South, the drivers of the energy transition versus those who wish to delay the phaseout of fossil fuels. “However, we can only tackle global warming by working together. So it is important for us to leave the old conflicts behind us,” appealed the minister. He explained that all states needed to submit new and better climate action plans before this year ends in order to close the big gap to the 1.5-degree threshold.
The ten-day negotiations in Bonn, involving more than 5,000 delegates, had drawn to a close on Thursday without achieving any significant progress. “I’m not going to sugar coat it - we have a lot more to do before we meet again in Belem,” UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell said, looking ahead to the next UN Climate Change Conference that will be taking place in November in Brazil. Environmental organisations expressed their disappointment at the sluggish pace of the negotiations.