AP – With the world reeling from the economic fallout of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, senior officials from 40 countries met yesterday in Berlin for heart-to-heart talks on how to stay focussed on fighting climate change and addressing its impact.
Organisers have billed the two-day gathering as an opportunity to rebuild trust between rich and poor nations ahead of this year’s United Nations (UN) climate summit in Egypt, after technical talks last month achieved little progress on key issues such as climate aid for developing countries.
“Many of the poorest and most vulnerable countries in the world are experiencing severe climate impacts now,” Germany climate envoy Jennifer Morgan told The Associated Press.
“The question is how to support them in both adapting to those impacts and when they experience real losses and damages. We must also show more solidarity.”
Developing countries are still waiting for rich nations to provide USD100 billion in climate aid each year, a target they were meant to reach by 2020.
Big polluters, however, have also long resisted the idea that they should pay for the destruction their greenhouse gas emissions are causing around the world.
The closed-doors talks in Berlin kicks off with experts delivering a presentation on the issue of “loss and damage ” to ministers, who will then break into small groups to discuss and listen to each other in the hope of building trust ahead of November’s UN summit in Sharm el-Sheikh.
The meeting in Berlin comes as scientists say the extreme heat slamming large parts of the northern hemisphere in the past few weeks could become the new normal in summer if global warming continues.
China was taking part in the Berlin meeting. Russia was not invited.
