The aim of the climate summit is not negotiation, but action, said UN Secretary General António Guterres. The German delegation announced the allocation of 250 million euros to save tropical forests.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres, at the opening of the climate summit in New York on Monday, September 23, warned against the imminent adverse effects of climate change. “If we do not change our way of life urgently, we will endanger life itself,” he stressed.
“Nature around the world is striking back with fury,” Guterres said, and recalled that the past five years, and July 2019 in particular, have been the hottest period on record. “Our heated earth is shrilling: ‘Stop,'” he continued. Glaciers are melting, the extent of deserts is increasing, drought is leading to wildfires, heat waves are getting worse, natural disasters are becoming more frequent, the UN secretary general noted, and stressed that the goal of the summit is not to negotiate, because you can’t negotiate with nature, but to act.
195 countries of the world present their plans on climate protection
Representatives of 195 countries of the world take part in the climate summit. They are presenting their climate protection plans for the coming years related to the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement. Its main goal is to prevent a global temperature increase in the current century above 2 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels. As of September 2019, 186 countries have joined the agreement.
The conference brings together world leaders, members of governments, finance, business, and civil society.
Donald Trump and Greta Thunberg at the UN summit
Even U.S. President Donald Trump showed up in the room where the U.N. climate summit is taking place, even though he had previously said he had no intention of attending the conference.
Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg, who spearheaded the broad youth climate movement Fridays For Future, made an angry speech in front of the crowd. She accused older generations of failing to make decisions to prevent a global climate catastrophe. “We are on the brink of mass death, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales and perpetual economic growth,” Tunberg stressed.
Speaking shortly after the Swedish girl, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she had heard the call of younger generations. In a short address, she reiterated the willingness of the government she leads to take the necessary decisions to save the climate.
Germany will allocate 250 million euros to save rainforests
German Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development Gerd Müller and World Bank President David Melpas agreed at the climate summit to implement the ProGreen Program for saving the Amazonian and African rainforests and fighting illegal logging. Within its framework, Germany intends to invest 200 million euros, and in total it is to raise one billion dollars.
Berlin will also give 20 million euros to support indigenous people in need of forest protection and 30 million euros to the Central African Forest Initiative. Protecting forests is necessary for “the survival of all of us,” Merkel said at a summit meeting on fires in the Amazon rainforest.