Dhe Left Chairwoman Susanne Hennig-Wellsow calls for a “radical climate policy” in view of the new report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). “The report says the most favorable scenario, meeting the 1.5-degree target, is unrealistic. I say the most favorable scenario is necessary, ”said Hennig-Wellsow WELT. “Only if we act now will the extent of climate change and its consequences be realistically manageable. With this goal in mind: only radical climate policy is realistic climate policy. “
Radical climate policy requires a comprehensive restructuring of production and energy generation and accompanying measures that people can safely take with them. “The financing of the renovation must be shouldered by the strong. Realistic climate policy must be socially fair, ”demanded the left leader. Because climate change hits the poorest hardest.
“Now even the last conservative has to understand: We can no longer wait for the market. We now have to achieve the climate change, ”said Hennig-Wellsow. “We now have to tackle the turnaround in traffic with a massive expansion of public transport, start now by gradually shutting down the dirtiest coal-fired power plants and replacing them with renewables so that we can get out of coal-fired electricity entirely by 2035.” All ministers would have to “now Sit down on your pants and do whatever is sensible and possible ”. The general election and the summer break should not be an excuse not to do what is now possible.
The AfD environmental politician Karsten Hilse criticized the political influence exerted on the report: The paper reads no differently than the working papers that are sent out in the German Ministry of the Environment. “It will be used by our politicians and leading media to put people in fear and panic of the impending end of the world and to make them submissive to social upheavals”, said the environmental policy spokesman for the AfD parliamentary group Hilse. “Like all previous reports, this one will have zero impact on the ‘developing countries’ such as China and India, which are responsible for 60 percent of total emissions, and their economic policies. Like all the other signatories, you are not bound by the Paris Agreement to anything. The self-commitments of the EU and the model student Germany are self-chosen. “
“The alarm bells are deafening”
UN Secretary General António Guterres called the politicians to account: “The alarm bells are deafening and the evidence is irrefutable,” he said. The greenhouse gases are suffocating the planet and putting billions of people at risk.
“The viability of our society depends on leaders in politics, business and civil society agreeing to support policies, measures and investments that limit the temperature rise to 1.5 degrees,” said Guterres. The solutions would be on the table. “The report has to be the death knell for coal and other fossil fuels before they destroy our planet.” The rich countries and development banks would have to make more money available for adaptation to climate change in poorer countries. The promise to raise $ 100 billion a year for climate protection and adaptation must be fulfilled.
“If we join forces now, we can avert the disaster,” said Guterres. There is no longer any room for delays or excuses. Answers would have to be provided at the World Climate Conference in Glasgow in November (COP26).
Greta Thunberg is not surprised
The leading climate activist Greta Thunberg was not surprised. “There are no real surprises in the new IPCC report. It confirms what we already know from thousands of previous studies and reports – that we are in an emergency, ”wrote the Swede on Monday morning on Twitter and Instagram. It is a solid but cautious summary of the current state of knowledge.
“It is up to us to be courageous and make decisions based on the scientific evidence provided in these reports,” Thunberg continued. The 18-year-old added the worst effects of climate change. “But not if we carry on like today, and not without treating the crisis like a crisis.”
The Green Chancellor candidate Annalena Baerbock tweeted: “We have no more time to lose. No Sunday speeches help against the climate crisis, only effective climate protection: a faster and more massive expansion of renewables and the commitment to be the first industrial nation to become climate-neutral. “
“We are calling for the election programs to be renegotiated. All election programs must conform to 1.5 degrees, ”said Fridays For Future spokeswoman Luisa Neubauer. “We are just a few weeks away from the general election in one of the main causes of the climate crisis – and none of the parties has an appropriate response to the drastic nature of the situation. Compliance with the Paris Agreement has so far failed not because of physics, but because of political will. “
Greenpeace criticizes hesitant governments
The environmental organization Greenpeace accused governments and companies of acting too hesitantly in terms of climate protection. “The shocking thing about this report is that everything alarming was foreseen – and yet governments and corporations are still moving at a snail’s pace when it comes to climate protection,” said Greenpeace climate expert Christoph Thies. The report, along with the latest pictures of fires and floods, must “shake up politics,” he warned.
Thies called it “an enormous social challenge” to limit global heating to 1.5 degrees. “But the consequences of an unchecked climate crisis confront the world with much greater challenges that hit the poor first.” As examples, Thies cited more and more fires, more frequent floods and droughts – these would cost human lives, destroy natural habitats and cause economic damage.
“Every government, including the coming German federal government, must stop the consumption of fossil fuels as quickly as possible and protect forests, moors and oceans as natural CO2 sinks,” the Greenpeace expert appealed with a view to the federal election in September.
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