Federal Development Minister Svenja Schulze (SPD) is calling for more aid for poor countries suffering from the consequences of climate change. More states would have to participate in the planned protective shield, said Schulze, who is traveling to the world climate conference in Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt this Saturday, the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”.
“Even more industrialized countries have to come along,” she demanded, “or big polluters like China.” Together with the group of 20 particularly endangered countries, Schulze wants to launch the “Global Protective Shield against Climate Risks” at the beginning of the second week of negotiations on Monday. The new financial pot is intended to provide quick aid to those suffering from climate-related disasters.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) presented the protective shield a few days ago at the climate conference. The office for this is to be set up in Frankfurt am Main, Germany is providing 170 million euros as start-up financing. It is unclear which other countries are participating with how much money. The countries particularly hard hit by disasters such as hurricanes, droughts or floods organized a few years ago in the V20, which now includes 58 countries in Africa, Asia, the Pacific and Latin America.
Put countries on the path to climate neutrality
The protective shield should help to gain credibility with developing countries. “You build trust by doing what you say,” said Schulze. At the same time, the SPD politician defended the plans of some developing countries to develop new gas deposits. “No one has yet been able to explain to me what it would be better to buy expensive gas from Russia than to get it out of the ground yourself,” said Schulze. “The attitude of just saying, it’s okay for us, but not for you – that’s borderline.” Rather, one would like to support states in making their way to climate neutrality.
Around 45,000 participants are registered at the conference in Sharm el Sheikh. At the beginning of the week, more than 100 heads of state and government arrived. On Friday, before the world climate conference, US President Joe Biden promised to comply with the United States’ declared climate protection target and to fight against global warming with determination. The conference runs until the end of next week.
