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The World Climate Conference began in Scotland on Sunday. Greta Thunberg was meanwhile under police protection when she arrived. News ticker.
- The UN world climate conference COP26 begins on Sunday (October 31st) in Glasgow.
- Luisa Neubauer demands a lot more speed (see update from October 31st, 8:30 a.m.) and the Greens * hope for impetus for the coalition negotiations (see update from October 31, 9:40 a.m.).
- The Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg defended more radical forms of protest at the start of the climate summit (see update from October 31, 12.50 p.m.).
- This news ticker is continuously updated.
Update from October 31, 6.15 p.m.: At the beginning of the UN World Climate Conference, the focus was on Germany. The devastating floods in Germany in July have been prominently mentioned as an example of the consequences of climate change. “The floods in Germany and Belgium would not have been possible without the influence of climate change,” said the Secretary General of the World Weather Organization (WMO), Petteri Taalas, at a press conference on Sunday. This also applies to the summer heat waves in western Canada and the USA.
Taalas compared the state of the climate to athletes using banned substances. The climate is “like doped” by people’s greenhouse gases – climatic events are intensified as a result. The effects of these developments have become particularly visible in Germany. In mid-July, storms with unusually heavy rainfall in Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia triggered a disaster. Around 190 people were killed.
UN World Climate Conference: Train chaos when arriving – participants cannot travel
Update from October 31, 3:30 p.m .: Serious disruptions in train traffic through England made it impossible for many participants to travel to the UN climate conference COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, on Sunday. The train operator Avanti West Coast advised against traveling and asked passengers not to travel until this Monday. The tickets remained valid, it was said.
Journalist Jim Pickard was also affected by the Financial Times. He tweeted that his train to Glasgow had stopped south of the English city of Milton Keynes because of a fallen tree – “that feels like a metaphor for the climate talks”. After two hours of waiting, we went back to London.
The alternative train route to Scotland along the east coast was also damaged. Just the day before, Avanti had celebrated the arrival of the “climate train” in Glasgow with numerous activists on board, including the most famous climate demonstrator Greta Thunberg.
Climate conference in Glasgow has begun: Thunberg defends more radical protests – “Anger people”
Update from October 31, 12.50 p.m .: In an interview with the BBC, Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg defended more radical forms of protest. “To be clear: As long as nobody is injured (…), you sometimes have to annoy some people,” said the 18-year-old at the start of the UN climate summit in Glasgow. “The school strike movement would never have become so well known if there had been no friction, if some people hadn’t been pissed off,” Thunberg emphasized.
In Great Britain, climate activists who are calling for comprehensive insulation of houses have recently blocked important motorways and thus triggered traffic jams. The government obtained injunctions against the group Insulate Britain and sharply criticized the actions of the demonstrators.
Thunberg arrived in Glasgow on Saturday. Numerous climate activists who also traveled by train to the Scottish city welcomed the 18-year-old enthusiastically. Police officers had to shield Thunberg. According to her own statements, she was not officially invited to COP26. In Glasgow she wants to lead a climate protest.
Start of the world climate summit in Glasgow: “The world is still a long way from being on a 1.5 degree course”
Update from October 31, 12.20 p.m .: The World Climate Conference officially started in Glasgow, Scotland, with some delay. Under the chairmanship of Great Britain, government representatives from around 200 countries will be negotiating for two weeks from this Sunday on a more ambitious global climate policy. The event is organized by the United Nations. The official opening ceremony, the start of which was delayed by about an hour, began with a minute’s silence for the victims of the corona pandemic.
“In Glasgow, the world community can and must finally clarify the outstanding questions about the rules of international cooperation in climate protection. If that succeeds, then Glasgow can initiate a new phase of international climate cooperation, ”said the acting Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze (SPD) at the start of the conference. Now it has to be a matter of focusing on the concrete implementation of the climate goals. “This is urgently needed: the world is still a long way from being on a 1.5 degree course,” said Schulze. What is meant is the primary goal of the signatory states to keep global warming as low as possible below 1.5 degrees compared to the pre-industrial era. The states had reached a binding agreement on this at the decisive world climate conference in Paris six years ago.
UN Climate Change Conference: “COP26 is the moment of truth for the world”
Update from October 31, 10 a.m .: Immediately before the start of the UN Climate Change Conference COP26 in Glasgow, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson once again urged the world community to fight climate change. “COP26 is the moment of truth for the world,” said Johnson according to a statement on Saturday evening. “The question that everyone is asking is whether we will seize the opportunity or let it pass.” Johnson wants to fly to Glasgow from the G20 summit in Rome on Sunday evening. He hopes that the heads of state and government will travel to the Scottish city with decisive measures in their luggage.
World Climate Conference in Glasgow: Greens hope for impetus for coalition negotiations in Germany
Update from October 31, 9:40 a.m .: The Greens hope for impulses from the World Climate Conference in Glasgow for the coalition negotiations in Berlin. “The COP can give tailwind to the coalition negotiations,” said Green climate expert Lisa Badum in the newspapers of the Editorial network Germany. “In Germany, too, more ambitious climate protection measures are needed,” she added.
The green climate expert Oliver Krischer also called for “action to be taken quickly and appropriate measures to be taken for more climate protection”. The success of the world climate conference in Glasgow depends on the extent to which it succeeds in achieving new, more ambitious and reliable climate commitments, especially from the major emitters, he told the newspapers of Funke media group. “Germany must act as a role model in this regard.” In addition, the donor community must make more money available for climate finance and close the funding gap at COP26.
“Where are the governments that are ending this fraud?” Climate activists Neubauer calls for speed
Update from October 31, 8:30 a.m .: Before the start of the World Climate Conference in Glasgow this Sunday, climate activist Luisa Neubauer is calling for significantly more speed and ambition in the fight against the impending climate catastrophe. None of the rich industrial nations, including Germany, are currently keeping their commitments to climate protection, she told the German Press Agency in Berlin. “They all knowingly rob the global South and the younger generations of their prospects. Where are the governments that are ending this scam? ”Asked the 25-year-old from Fridays For Future.
Six years have passed since the historic Paris climate protection agreement in 2015 – and emissions of climate-damaging greenhouse gases are now higher than ever, she denounced. “This can not continue like that. This conference must be the moment when this trend is reversed. ”The activist, who is also a member of the Greens, announced that she will travel to Glasgow with hundreds of supporters from Fridays for Future and other movements“ to take responsibility for real Demand change ”.
Climate conference in Glasgow: fear of failure grows
First report from October 30th, 7.30 p.m .: Glasgow – climate frustration and demonstrations on the one hand – dampening expectations on the other. The UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) from October 31st in Glasgow is for some the last, all-important point to limit the rise in global warming to below two degrees – or even less.
For Germany, Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze is taking part in the World Climate Conference. She dampened expectations of COP26 * in advance and told the SWR in advance: “That China is no longer financing coal-fired power plants abroad” is a strong signal because a relevant amount of CO2 will be saved in the process. It is therefore important to develop further such goals and to stay in contact with countries that have not yet done much for climate protection *.
UN Climate Change Conference: Fear of failure is growing
“If we stop trying, the consequences will be dramatic,” said EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen Augsburger Allgemeine. As with many other political voices, the fear can be heard that the climate conference in Glasgow could fail. Host Boris Johnson also made a drastic comparison with the Roman Empire and warned against a “loss of civilization” *. Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon expressed similar concerns.
“If the world community is serious about the 1.5-degree target, nice ambitions must turn into clear and feasible measures,” said David Sassoli, President of the European Parliament. The G20 countries, which are responsible for 80 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, are playing a pioneering role. “We have to see that each of them follows the example of the EU and pledges to achieve climate neutrality by 2050.”
Warning voices also from German industry: The industry was “worried” that the “urgently needed global leap for climate protection will again fail”, said the president of the BDI industry association, Siegfried Russwurm. He also warned against “going it alone nationally”. A global problem like climate change can only be solved globally.
Climate conference in Glasgow: These protests are planned by climate activists
Thousands of demonstrators are expected in Glasgow at the same time as the conference. Activists who come to Glasgow on foot, including people from Germany, are expected to arrive on Saturday. A Spanish group took the ferry to Portsmouth in the south of England and hiked through Great Britain for 30 days from there. The first actions have already taken place.
Climate activists have “set fire to” George Square with an art installation made of artificial flames, smoke, banners and giant fire extinguishers to greet the heads of state and government for the UN climate conference COP26 in Glasgow
An “opening ceremony” for the group Extinction Rebellion was planned in the city center. Members of Ocean Rebellion already lay half-naked under fishing nets near the River Clyde as “dead sea people” on Saturday lunchtime to draw attention to the dangers of marine life such as dolphins, sharks and whales. (dpa / kat) *Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.
List of rubric lists: © Kirsty O’connor
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