Activists say Germany must ‘deliver’ at COP29 climate talks

Climate activists say Germany must take the lead at the COP29 UN Climate Conference in Baku, despite the domestic government crisis gripping politics in the country.

“We are looking to Germany and the EU and appealing to them to fulfil their responsibility,” said Fridays for Future activist Luisa Neubauer in Baku.

“Our appeal is also not to be distracted now and to not be persuaded that democracies cannot deliver,” she said, adding that there was a global leadership “vacuum” following the election of Donald Trump as next US president.

A core issue at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) is how industrialized countries will support poorer countries in the future with investments in climate protection and adaptation, but also in overcoming climate damage.

One controversial point is how much of this will be paid out of taxpayer money. Germany has repeatedly emphasized that it hopes for a great deal of private investment.

German Climate State Secretary Jennifer Morgan said it was “absolutely unrealistic for us to now provide trillions of dollars from the public budgets of industrialized countries.”

She added that the amount of money Germany would spend in future was a matter for the country’s next government. Elections are expected on February 23, after the ruling coalition of Chancellor Olaf Scholz collapsed last week.

“Relying on private funds, which is what industrialized countries are doing now, may work for climate protection,” said Sabine Minninger of Bread for the World, an advocacy group, “because there is money to be made here.

“But private funds will not flow into adaptation and the management of climate-related damage. That is not a ‘business case,’ it is taking responsibility for what you have destroyed,” she added.

Source: Dpa