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For more ambition and greater solidarity in the climate crisis – Foreign Minister Baerbock at COP28 in Dubai
Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and State Secretary Jennifer Morgan, Special Envoy for International Climate Action, at the Climate Change Conference in Dubai, © Sebastian Rau/photothek.de
At the 28th Climate Change Conference in Dubai, which runs until 12 December, the international community is negotiating concrete steps for tackling the climate crisis. Foreign Minister Baerbock will now take over as Germany’s chief negotiator in the final phase. Find out more here.
For the German Government, containing the climate crisis is an absolute priority. At the 28th Climate Change Conference, COP28, in the United Arab Emirates, it is working to drive forward international climate action by means of concrete agreements.
State Secretary Jennifer Morgan, Special Envoy for International Climate Action, has been involved in the climate negotiations at COP28 from day one on behalf of the German Government. She has been working for months to ensure that we are well positioned for the negotiations with our partners around the world.
The Federal Chancellor was present at the start of the conference, and other cabinet ministers have been representing Germany at the negotiating table. On Thursday, 7 December, the baton is being passed on in Dubai. Foreign Minister Baerbock will take over as Germany’s chief negotiator in the final phase of the Climate Change Conference.
We urgently need to clearly correct our course. We will fight hard for this in Dubai and turn even the tiniest of cogs where necessary during the negotiations.
– Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock
Solidarity for more climate action
On its first day, COP28 got straight down to business. Germany and the host nation, the United Arab Emirates, announced that they would each contribute 100 million US dollars to the loss and damage fund – making them its very first donors. Other countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Italy and Denmark, as well as the EU followed suit, taking the total in the Fund to over 700 million euro.
Unlike all the other Climate Change Conferences, COP28 has got off to a good start. We launched the fund for climate loss and damage on the very first day. We have been working towards this for a year and a half. Persistent climate diplomacy which leads the way and forges alliances pays off.
– Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock
International solidarity with the states hardest hit by the climate crisis is one of the German Government’s key focuses. For that reason, it lobbied very hard at last year’s COP27 in Egypt for the establishment of the climate loss and damage fund as a way for the international community to provide support for tackling the climate crisis in a spirit of solidarity. This will only succeed if all the states that are major CO2 emitters and can afford to do so make a financial contribution to the fund. While in Dubai, Foreign Minister Baerbock will be urging states to step up and negotiating to that end.
Shifting from fossil fuels to renewables – worldwide
The goal has long been clear: global warming must be limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius. COP28 will see the first global stocktaking on where we currently stand with regard to climate protection. Unfortunately, it is already evident that we are not on the right track. The countries’ climate goals and their implementation to date are not sufficient.
During the climate negotiations in Dubai, Foreign Minister Baerbock, as the German Government’s chief negotiator, will work with the European Union to urge states to gradually phase out fossil fuels and expand renewable energies. Specifically, we will call for at least the tripling of renewable energies worldwide and the doubling of energy efficiency by 2030.
If we go about this in the right way, we will not only bolster climate action but also restore trust in a world in which multilateralism gets results. For all of us.
– Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock