Climate protection does not exclude nature conservation
Environment ministers meeting
Sommaruga and her colleagues emphasize unity on climate protection
The compatibility of climate protection and nature conservation was the focus of the informal talks between the environment ministers of the five German-speaking countries. They traveled to Basel for two days at the invitation of Federal Councilor Simonetta Sommaruga (SP).
Published: 37 minutes ago
At a point de press on Friday, the ministers emphasized their good cross-border understanding. UVEK head Simonetta Sommaruga led her colleagues Steffi Lemke from Germany, Leonore Gewessler from Austria, Sabine Monauni from the Principality of Liechtenstein and Joëlle Welfring from Luxembourg to the Basel ports and the Rhine.
Among other things, this meeting was about agreements with regard to the climate summit in November in Egypt. Sommaruga emphasized that they would work to stick to the 1.5 degree target from the Paris Agreement. Furthermore, the German-speaking countries, as donor nations, would have to deal with the demanding expectations of the developing countries.
An important topic of the meeting were the conflicts of interest between climate protection and nature or landscape protection, said Sommaruga in agreement with her colleagues who are responsible for the environment and, in some cases, also for energy. The undisputedly necessary expansion of hydroelectric power, photovoltaics and wind energy Tanger landscapes. However, everyone agrees that these conflicts can be resolved.
German Environment Minister Steffi Lemke said that the current drought clearly shows that climate protection and nature conservation are inextricably linked. To compensate for the expansion of renewable energy production, other areas would have to be renatured.
All ministers spoke of “very inspiring and fruitful” talks. Like her colleagues from Liechtenstein and Luxembourg, the Austrian Minister Leonore Gewessler also found words of praise for the guest canton of Basel-Stadt, which played a pioneering role worthy of being named. Gewessler specifically mentioned the ban on gas and oil heating in the canton from 2035.
When asked by a journalist, the ministers from Austria and Luxembourg were very critical of the EU’s intention to classify gas and nuclear energy as sustainable. Gewessler said that a lawsuit would be examined before the European Court of Justice, while her German colleague remained silent.
The informal meetings of the environment ministers of Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg usually take place annually. Because of the Covid 19 pandemic, there was a two-year break.
(SDA)