Germanwatch: Climate summit slowly puts world on course towards Paris climate targets

- but lack of support for Global South becomes huge hurdle

Emissions targets, some of them significantly improved, show effectiveness of Paris Agreement / But too few commitments for financing climate protection and adaptation to climate change in poorer countries / Chancellor Merkel must swiftly launch international process for additional climate financing

Berlin/Bonn (Dec. 12, 2020). The development and environmental organization Germanwatch draws a mixed balance of the UN special climate summit: It welcomes the higher climate targets announced today by many countries, but criticizes the lack of longer-term pledges on climate financing. At the virtual special summit to mark the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement, countries were asked to present their improved pledges to act on the global climate crisis. In doing so, a number of countries from both North and South presented significantly improved emissions targets - including Colombia, Jamaica and the EU. However, there were hardly any announcements on more support for climate protection and adaptation to the consequences of climate change in countries of the global South.

"It is very disappointing that almost nothing was heard today about how the necessary money for climate protection and adaptation in the Global South will finally come together," says David Eckstein, climate finance expert at Germanwatch. "Many of the poorest countries and those most affected by climate change showed courage today and committed to more ambitious climate action, even though they have been hit hard economically by the Corona crisis. The rich countries must not now leave the poorest and most vulnerable out in the cold - neither in the implementation of their climate protection pledges nor in coping with the already inevitable consequences of climate change," Eckstein continued.

The 500 million euros announced by Germany are only a small ray of hope. "The German government's announcement is only a drop in the ocean. It would have been more effective if the Chancellor had pledged to double Germany's total climate finance to at least 8 billion euros a year over the next five years. But at least the Chancellor has announced that she will start an international process for additional climate finance - this must now begin quickly."

2020 will again be one of the warmest years since records began. Extreme weather events are increasing in number and severity. They are hitting people in the Global South doubly hard in the midst of a pandemic. "At the UN Adaptation Summit in January, countries must urgently clarify what ambitious climate adaptation measures mean for them. And there must also finally be negotiations on aid to cope with the damage and losses that are already unavoidable. The industrialized nations also bear the main responsibility for this," says Rixa Schwarz, head of the International Climate Policy team at Germanwatch.

Targets of the Paris Agreement are coming into sight - but speed is not yet enough
In addition to many smaller countries in the Global South, several major emitters from both North and South today unveiled improved climate targets by 2030 or climate neutrality targets by mid-century. "Today has shown how effective the Paris Agreement is. And the global climate movement has also grown strongly and is playing a big part in pushing governments around the world towards more ambitious climate action," Schwarz said. "The temperature targets of the Paris Agreement are slowly coming into view. But to achieve them, the short- and medium-term policy instruments, as well as the pace, need to be significantly increased. The long-term climate neutrality targets are only achievable if governments start drastically cutting emissions now with concrete action." (more info under the PM at "Note for editors")

A number of major emitters - such as Australia, Brazil and Saudi Arabia - were not represented today and have little time left to implement the Paris Agreement's stipulation that they submit a re-submission of their climate targets to the United Nations in 2020. Rixa Schwarz: "The pressure on these countries has increased massively today due to the newly submitted emissions targets of many other countries." International support for fossil technologies is already falling away for many countries, she said. The UK, for example, became the first country to announce the exclusion of development and export finance for gas, oil and coal. "The exclusion of taxpayer-funded gas, oil and coal projects abroad is long overdue. The German government, as a shareholder in KfW and various multilateral development banks, must follow the UK's example as soon as possible with exclusion from all fossil fuel financing."

Note to editors: A new analysis by the Climate Action Tracker shows that if all climate neutrality targets, including the US neutrality target announced by Joe Biden, were implemented, global warming could be stabilised at around 2.1°C. This would require the implementation of a number of policy instruments in the short and medium term. However, this still lacks the short- and medium-term policy instruments to implement the targets. Based on current climate policies, warming of about 2.9°C is still expected: www.climateactiontracker.org/publications/global-update-paris-agreement-turning-point

Further information:
- Climate Protection Index 2021 by Germanwatch and NewClimate Institute: www.ccpi.org
- Germanwatch on the new EU climate target: www.germanwatch.org/de/19695