Hinrichs: "We are being taken for a ride"

The disaster fund launched at the start of the World Climate Conference is "groundbreaking", "phenomenal" and "historic". This is what those who worked on it say. Carla Hinrichs from the "Last Generation" considers this to be window dressing.

The World Climate Conference, which opened last Thursday in Dubai, got off to a positive start: the countries agreed on a disaster fund to finance climate damage. Germany paid 100 million dollars, as did the United Arab Emirates, and other countries followed suit. The President of the COP28 conference, Sultan Al-Jaber, was full of praise: it was "historic" and "phenomenal" that this decision had been made at the beginning of the conference. Federal Development Minister Svenja Schulz from the SPD was also enthusiastic and spoke of a "ground-breaking decision". The one hundred million euros, around 0.2 per thousand of the federal budget, will primarily benefit developing countries that are suffering from the climate policies of the world's major nations.

Climate activist Carla Hinrichs from the "Last Generation" is not very happy with the fund. On ARD's "Hart aber fair", she clearly voices her displeasure. "We are being taken for a ride," she says: "We are being taken for a ride by this conference, we are also being taken for a ride by the international community, but especially by our own government, by its decision-makers, who are still trying to sell us that this is the big coup if you put 100 million - a hundred million - into the fund." For comparison: according to a study commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Economics, the floods in the Ahr valley caused damage of more than 40 billion euros.

Climate change is a global problem

Climate change is a global problem that must be tackled by national governments, says the President of the IFO Institute, Clemens Fuest. The task of the World Climate Conference in Dubai is to take stock of what has been achieved so far. One thing is already clear: greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced by 43 percent by 2030 compared to 2019. The current conference aims to achieve this. However, according to a UN report on the status of national climate efforts, the current national climate plans of the almost 200 participating countries have only led to a reduction in global emissions of just two percent.

There is certainly still a lot to be done. Peter Altmaier from the CDU, whose Ministry of Economic Affairs was largely responsible for the 2021 Climate Protection Act, which was criticized by the Federal Constitutional Court, is also aware of this. For him, it has been clear for thirty years that humans are contributing to climate change: "We have a legal and moral duty to ensure that it (climate change) remains within a framework that is compatible with this planet." A lot has already happened, says Altmeyer: "We have reduced CO2 emissions by 40 percent since 1990, but not fast enough, and not equally in all parts of the world."

This could mean that the targets agreed at the 2015 World Climate Conference in Paris will not be achieved. ARD weather expert Sven Plöger explains that global warming should not exceed 1.5 degrees compared to the pre-industrial era before 1900. "If we were to apply all the adjustments we have made so far, we would have a chance of achieving 2.1 degrees." However, the UN report on the World Climate Conference takes a different view. It predicts global warming of 2.5 to 2.9 degrees if all climate commitments are met. Nevertheless, Plöger appeals not to give up hope of a solution to climate change.

Altmaier praises national measures

As far as the national fight against climate change is concerned, Altmaier's record during his time in government as Environment and Economics Minister is impressive. "We will see which others were more successful than us."

The deputy parliamentary group leader of the Greens, Julia Verlinden, seems to have an idea. "We have massively reduced the climate protection gap left by the coalition," she says. CO2 emissions have been significantly reduced, renewables have been massively expanded and the heating transition has been launched. Following the ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court, solutions are now being discussed. Verlinden is also aware that the financing of some government projects is on the brink.

Court: government fails to meet climate targets

But the federal government is facing new trouble: last week, the Higher Administrative Court of Berlin-Brandenburg declared its climate protection policy unlawful on several points. Now the coalition government is to present an immediate program for more climate protection in transport and buildings. The federal government has announced an appeal.