COP29 Revue
We are optimistic, well prepared and full of anticipation for the coming winter, while the COP29 participants will no doubt leave Baku tired and largely frustrated after the extra time.
Sebastian: After 32 hours of renegotiations, the organisers are celebrating the final paper. As announced, COP29 focussed on the financing of adaptation measures for countries affected by climate change. 300 billion euros are to be made available annually by 2035 to combat and prevent climate damage, primarily from industrialised countries. What sounds like a lot, representatives of developing countries see "not just as a failure, but as a fraud" Climate scientist Niklas Hoehne considers the results to be "clearly too little", while Mojib Latif even denies the COP any general effectiveness. So little to no progress is being made, because annual greenhouse gas emissions are still rising. The former euphoria of COP21 in Paris in 2015, when the ambitious 2-degree target was announced, has now been followed by widespread disillusionment. How do we continue to deal with climate change emotionally and rationally? "Imperfect advocacy" is an approach cultivated by POW, for example, which means that despite our personal imperfect climate behaviour, we must stand up for climate protection, especially at a political and activist level.
Climate change is a problem that the global community has never had to solve before. Global, immediate and radical action is needed to avert damage that always lies somewhere in the future and can hardly ever be identified as a clear consequence of climate change, and never as the fault of an individual. The measures that would have to be taken, and it has to be said, would cost growth, which is at odds with the capitalist system, and consequently prosperity, which nobody is happy to accept. Climate justice is the next dilemma. How can developing countries be denied the benefits of fossil fuels on which the prosperity of industrialised countries is based? A "correct" emotional and rational attitude towards climate change certainly involves both disillusionment and the honest admission that the global community is not on the right path and is not yet able to outline it credibly.
Lea: I agree with Sebastian's assessment and would like to add: There are voices calling for an end to the COP process in view of the frustrating COP. There are also those who say that would be exactly the wrong thing to do. The agreement is more than inadequate, but one has been reached, despite the election results in the USA, the oil-loving host country and everything else that is going wrong. The agreement itself is therefore a sign that there is more than national self-interest and that "the process" - the arduous negotiations, the struggle for compromises - somehow still offers hope.
It is also becoming increasingly clear that "the market" has recognised the benefits of renewable energies, far from any morality, especially the market in China. This year, as in the past, we heard from colleagues who were there that the COP is a chaotic, stressful event that is mainly about chance meetings. High-ranking ministers from various countries may want a briefing on climate change in the Alps or the melting of global ice masses at short notice, you meet leaders of international climate organisations and because no one else has found the room, an exciting conversation develops, etc.
Is it worth it? Who knows...
