WWF: COP27 closes a lost year for climate protection
Climate conference in Sharm El Sheikh will go down in history as the moment when the 1.5 degree target was abandoned
This climate conference will go down in history as the moment the world abandoned the 1.5 degree target. The emission reductions decided at the climate conference are not enough to reduce global CO2 emissions by half by 2030. The existing national climate plans are also not ambitious enough. So we continue to sleepwalk into the climate crisis
Thomas Zehetner, WWF Austria
Vienna/Sharm El Sheikh (OTS) – WWF Austria is disappointed with the result of this year’s world climate conference COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh. “This climate conference will go down in history as the moment the world abandoned the 1.5 degree target. The emission reductions decided at the climate conference are not enough to reduce global CO2 emissions by half by 2030. The existing national climate plans are also not ambitious enough. So we continue to sleepwalk into the climate crisis
“, criticizes WWF climate spokesman Thomas Zehetner. The only bright spot is the fund for financing losses and damages, but essential details have remained open.
The COP27 thus closes a lost year for international climate policy, which is increasingly caught up in power-political disputes. “The final text lacks ambition and urgency. Another missed opportunity to pave the way for phasing out all fossil fuels, i.e. coal, oil and gas. This speaks to all the scientific findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. We need progress in international climate policy. What we got here is a standstill,” criticizes Zehetner.
Many countries came to the climate conference empty-handed. “For more than two weeks, the conference gave the impression that we were living on two planets at the same time: on our real planet, where the effects of global warming are increasingly being felt, and at the same time on a negotiating planet, where roadmaps are at stake , workshops and committees. These two planets are moving further and further apart – as if they were in different universes,” said WWF climate spokesman Thomas Zehetner.
The biggest step forward at this climate conference is the agreement on the urgently needed fund to finance climate-related losses and damage. This was a central demand of the countries particularly affected by the effects of the climate crisis. A positive aspect is that the EU has moved towards the countries of the Global South and has taken a single step towards more climate justice. “Without more intensive continuation in combating the causes of the climate crisis, however, this agreement will only combat the symptoms. Otherwise, if we don’t reduce our emissions, this fund will become the “fund for the end of the world,” warns WWF climate spokesman Thomas Zehetner.
The WWF also sees the Austrian federal government as having a duty to finally do its homework on climate protection. “Austria has criminally neglected its climate protection policy for many years. Therefore & now finally the big construction sites are being tackled – from the much too high energy and land consumption to the increase in greenhouse gases in road traffic to environmentally harmful subsidies. Billions are still flowing in the wrong direction every year, instead of going into energy efficiency and environmentally friendly renewables,” says Zehetner.
Questions & contact:
Mag. Nikolai Moser, Head of Communications at WWF Austria
+43 664 883 92 489, nikolai.moser@wwf.at