Paris has produced a “decisive signal for converting the economy from coal, oil and gas to clean energy, not only in the rich countries,” comments Zeit Online. Taz – die tageszeitung calls the agreement “revolutionary” and “a small miracle.”
However, “the discrepancy between the goals agreed on in Paris and the countries’ actual climate policies is huge,” a representative of BUND / Friends of the Earth Germany told Zeit Online. Current pledges are projected to fail to limit global warming to under 2 degrees Celsius.
The “Climate Vulnerable Forum,” a group of small island states, African countries, and vulnerable developing countries, successfully pressed for the inclusion of a more ambitious goal to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees, as Tagesspiegel explains.
To Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, the goal is in line the science. But if Germany supports the 1.5-degree target, then the country will need to revise and adjust its climate protection plans immediately (see Zeit Online).
The economist Nicholas Stern compares Germany to India: On the one hand, there is a massive development of renewable energies; on the other hand, carbon dioxide emissions are rising because of coal (see Tagesspiegel).
To work towards the Paris goals, “nearly all individual governments need to enhance their 2025 or 2030 contributions,” researchers with the Climate Action Tracker conclude.
In traditional German media, the Paris Agreement remained a marginal issue: Saturday evening, the national public television station ARD broadcast only a short three-and-a-half-minute news report on the summit, followed by three hours of quiz shows, according to a media critique published in taz. In many Sunday newspapers, other topics – such as football and Christmas – seemed to rank higher than the climate summit.
Online, however, the discussion was alive and kicking, with follow-up stories such as “Could Trump stop the climate agreement if he became president?” making headlines on Sunday evening.
For the Climate News Mosaic – Live-Blog