Thursday July 22, 2021
“The pace must be increased”
Merkel admits failings in climate protection
Chancellor Merkel said at her last summer press conference that she was personally committed to climate protection with “very, very much energy”. But she also states that “not enough has happened”. You have to get faster.
Shortly before the end of her term in office, Chancellor Angela Merkel admitted failings and disappointments in climate protection policy. Measured against the goal of limiting the global rise in climate to two degrees, “not enough happened” during her chancellorship, said the CDU politician at her summer press conference in Berlin. “That’s why the pace has to be increased.”
Merkel also emphasized her personal commitment to the fight against global warming. “I am of the opinion that I have put a lot of effort into protecting the climate,” she said. “And yet I am sufficiently equipped with a scientific understanding to see that the objective conditions require that one cannot continue at that pace, but has to get faster.”
The Chancellor pointed out that there was great resistance to efficient climate protection around the world – for example when the Kyoto Protocol was implemented in 1997. “I experienced a lot of disappointments at the time,” said Merkel. You have “used a lot of energy in my political life to find majorities so that we could at least go this way”. This “actually shaped my entire political work”.
“Exertion” to cope with the flood
Merkel also swore Germany to a joint effort to cope with the storm disaster in the west of the country. “We will need patience to repair all of this damage,” she said. There was terrible devastation from the floods, Germany mourned 170 deaths.
The aim is to jointly finance the flood damage, said the Chancellor. The federal government has made an amount of 200 million euros available for emergency aid. Over the next few days and weeks, the Prime Ministers of the federal states will be talking about how a joint development fund will be organized.
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