Already in 1941, one of the UN's fathers, Franklin D. Roosevelt, called attention to the fact that peace was much more than the absence of war. He defined peace as freedom of speech, freedom of religious belief, freedom from want and freedom from fear.
Today we must admit that these freedoms are neither recognised everywhere in the world, nor even within reach. However, it is clear that there cannot be a comprehensive peace in this century if we do not take up the fight against climate change as the central challenge of our time.
Germany is therefore going ahead with determination. We have set ourselves ambitious national climate targets to be reached by 2050. By 2020 we intend to reduce emissions by 40 percent compared to 1990 levels. To meet this great challenge, we must increase our efforts even further. I will therefore present an additional set of measures before the conference in Lima. At EU level we are working hard to see that an ambitious climate and energy package for 2030 is adopted in October.
As we are here at the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Summit, I would like to point out that we also aim at formalizing our domestic efforts internationally. This is why we plan to ratify the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol in early 2015. In addition to this we intend to cancel our Kyoto Protocol emission rights to the extent to which we over-achieve our target under European legislation in the non-emission-trading-sector.
At the Paris 2015 summit we must adopt a new climate agreement containing effective steps towards keeping global warming below 2 degrees Celsius. It is therefore very important that by the beginning of 2015 all major CO2 emitters present ambitious national contributions for the period after 2020 on a comparable basis.
Our goal is an agreement with fixed reduction commitments that are binding for all countries. For this to succeed, the richest countries must stand by the poorer countries as partners. Germany will contribute up to 750 million euros - around one billion US dollars - to the initial financing of the Green Climate Fund. Seeing as many countries as possible contribute to a substantial initial funding before the conference in Lima would send an important signal to developing countries.
I would also like to encourage a discussion about long-term goals beyond the next commitment period. By mid-century we must almost completely decarbonise global energy production. All plans to build new coal-fired power plants must be subjected to critical review. In the field of climate and development cooperation we will no longer provide any funding for the construction of new plants. Moreover, we will finance the modernisation of coal-fired power plants currently in operation only to a limited extent and in accordance with clearly defined criteria. Germany's government is thus joining the initiative launched by several banks and industrialised countries.
Many initiatives have been launched at this summit - we are participating in the areas forest conservation, renewable energies, urban development and carbon pricing, for example - and deeds must now follow. We hope that the Secretary-General will continue to support this.
Now let's roll up our sleeves and get to work!
To fight illegal coca plantations and conflict actors’ income sources, Colombia’s president wants to loosen the ban on aerial glyphosate spraying. However, considering the dynamics of organised crime, the use of toxic herbicides will not only fail to achieve its aim, it will have many adverse effects for the environment and human health, fundamentally undermining ways to reach peace in the country. International cooperation and national policy-makers need to account for this peace spoiler.
As India grapples with the worsening impacts of climate change, the need to strengthen its adaptation efforts has become more significant than ever. Climate diplomacy and mainstreaming climate adaptation into the most vulnerable sectors could provide some solutions to overcoming barriers, such as the lack of sustainable funding.
“Climate Security risks will materialise in very different ways and forms, whether we talk about Lake Chad or about the Arctic, Bangladesh and the Small Island Developing States,” said the EU’s Ambassador to the United Nations in New York, Joao Vale de Almeida, in his opening remarks. “But for the EU, there is no doubt, as underlined in 2016 in our Global Strategy, and reaffirmed by the 28 Ministers of Foreign Affairs, that climate change is a major threat to the security of the EU and to global peace and security more generally,” he said.
The challenges facing the international community are growing while the willingness to cooperate seems to be waning. Foreign policy must help bridge this gap. One way to accomplish this is by pushing forward a major achievement of multilateralism: the 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals. At a side event during the 2019 High-Level Political Forum, diplomats and policy experts discussed the role of foreign policy in the global sustainability architecture.