At Cop28, our best tool to tackle the climate crisis is solidarity

People arrive at the venue of the Cop28 in Dubai on Wednesday. AFP

A farmer in the Niger whose fields have dried up due to the heat.

A father in Palau who does not know whether his house will still be standing when his children are grown up – or whether the rising sea levels will swallow up his village.

Mayors in Spain, Germany or Lithuania who have to find a way to protect their towns and cities from a water shortage and ever more dangerous floods.

Regardless of which country you look at in the world, one crisis is evident everywhere: the climate crisis.

This crisis is the greatest security challenge of our age. It affects us all – with varying degrees of severity but with the same relentlessness.

What gives me hope is that we have the knowledge, the technology as well as the instruments to contain the climate crisis together. What we need is political will.

In 2015, the international community showed this will and paved the way for a new, climate-neutral world by adopting the Paris Agreement. Nearly 170 countries set themselves ambitious climate targets back then. The expansion of renewable energies has accelerated dramatically.

However, when we come together for the Climate Change Conference in Dubai, we will also know that we find ourselves in a race against time – and we have been too slow to date.

The forthcoming Cop is a huge opportunity to pick up the pace, an opportunity which we should seize together by forming alliances among countries at the forefront of climate action. For in Dubai we will be carrying out the Global Stocktake agreed in Paris for the first time. This will allow us to review our progress towards reaching the targets set in Paris and to determine where we have to step things up.

A child stands in his family's yard as a wildfire burns nearby, in the village of Agios Charalampos near Athens, in July 2023. Europe saw record temperatures amid a relentless heatwave and wildfires that scorched vast regions of the Northern Hemisphere, forcing the evacuation of 1,200 children close to a Greek seaside resort. Health authorities sounded alarms from North America to Europe and Asia, urging people to stay hydrated and shelter from the burning sun, in a stark reminder of the effects of global warming. AFP

A resident uses a buoy to move through a flooded house after heavy rains in Bago township, in Myanmar's Bago region, in October. Floods sparked by record rain hit parts of southern Myanmar, inundating roads and fields and sending residents fleeing for higher ground. AFP

Ali Hakim, an Iraqi Marsh Arab man, Iooks at the remains of a buffalo that died due to drought and the salinity of the water at the Basra marshes, Iraq. Reuters

Iris Hsueh, left, and her fiance Ian Ciou pose for a pre-wedding photo in front of a rubbish heap in Puli Township, Taiwan. The couple chose the site for their photoshoot because the environment-conscious bride said she wanted to discourage guests and the public from generating waste. AFP

Residents of a riverside community in Amazonas state, Brazil, carry food and containers of drinking water distributed by the state's humanitarian aid action, amid a continuing drought and high temperatures that affect the region of the Solimoes River. AP

The edge of Larsen C Ice Shelf, left, and the western edge of iceberg A68 in the distance over the Antarctic in November 2017. The iceberg detached from the ice shelf in July 2017, becoming one of the largest in recorded history to split off from Antarctica. AFP

A man walks past construction vehicles submerged in debris caused by flash floods after a lake burst in Rangpo, India, in October. Reuters

A mobile home swept by floodwaters in Steinhatchee, Florida, in August 2023, after Hurricane Idalia made landfall. Idalia slammed into north-west Florida as an 'extremely dangerous' Category 3 storm, buffeting coastal communities as officials warned of 'catastrophic' flooding in parts of the southern US state. AFP

A floating solar farm, built on the site of a former coal mine since filled with water, in Huainan, China. The installation by Sungrow Power Supply Co covers the size of more than 400 football pitches and generates power for more than 100,000 homes. Getty Images

A handprint of glue left behind by an activist from the group Last Generation (Letzte Generation), after they were removed by police, is visible on the asphalt following a blockade at an intersection in Berlin, Germany, in September. Last Generation is continuing its disruptive protests in an effort to put pressure on politicians to stop the burning of fossil fuels. Getty Images

No country should have to decide between development and climate action

Germany believes that three points are key here.

First of all, we should hugely ramp up the global energy transition by 2030. For every tonne of CO2 a country emits harms us all. According to the International Panel on Climate Change, we have to work together to decrease global emissions by at least 43 per cent in the course of this decade. Every percentage point reduction in greenhouse gases means fewer droughts, fewer floods and fewer lives lost.

In the EU, we have set a course for climate neutrality by 2050 with the Green Deal. In Germany, we have pledged by law to become climate neutral by 2045.

However, the energy transition is a global task.

That is why we are working to ensure that a joint agreement is reached at Cop28 on tripling renewable energies, doubling energy efficiency and gradually phasing out fossil fuels.

By doing this, we also want to make it clear that the transition towards an energy system largely free of fossil fuels has begun.

Secondly, our best tool for tackling the climate crisis is solidarity. That is why we are standing shoulder-to-shoulder with those who have played the smallest role in bringing about the climate crisis but are now being hit hardest.

Three years earlier than announced, Germany has increased its annual contribution to climate finance to more than €6 billion ($6.6 billion) from its budget funds. In so doing, we are playing our part in the industrialised countries’ pledge to make available €100 billion for climate finance – and we are confident that this pledge will be fulfilled by the end of this year.

We know that the climate crisis is already having effects which can no longer be reversed. That is why we are also pressing ahead with adaptation to climate change and providing special support for developing countries. The contributions of all donors for adaptation should be doubled to $40 billion by 2025 at the latest. Germany intends to play its part in reaching this target.

At the last Climate Change Conference, we agreed to establish a loss and damage fund, and we recently fleshed it out in Abu Dhabi. Our task now is to confirm this agreement at Cop28 and to fill the fund with money. To achieve this, it is key that the funds go first and foremost to the most vulnerable states and that all states with the means to do so contribute to the fund. Naturally, this includes the industrialised countries. However, it also includes those states that have earned a lot of money with fossil fuels or have enjoyed high growth rates in the last few years. We all have an obligation.

That is why, thirdly, we want to invest in our partnerships at Cop28. We know that the conditions necessary for a successful energy transition and climate action are different in each country. And that the radical change which the green transformation will entail can only work if it is socially just. We will support our partners to this end.

We can all benefit because every investment in solar panels, in green hydrogen or in heat insulation technologies is an opportunity for growth, new jobs and a secure energy supply. For this reason, we are expanding climate, energy and development partnerships. They will enable both sides to learn from each other and will benefit both sides.

After all, no country should have to decide between development and climate action. Every society has its own path to follow.

It is important that we all have the same goal: a climate-neutral and resilient future in which our children can live in security and prosperity. During the coming days in Dubai, we will have an opportunity to set out on this journey together.

We should seize this opportunity.