Germany’s climate policy hurts the Philippines – Philippine Senator

The announcement by Germany’s would-be grand coalition partners CDU/CSU and SPD to water down the country’s national 2020 climate target “has shocked many climate activists in the Philippines”, Philippine Senator Loren Legarda writes in a guest article for the Tagesspiegel. The coalition agreement states the target is to be reached as fast as possible "without setting a new deadline or proposing concrete measures,” Legarda says, adding that Germany would be wise to reconsider “what kind of signal this sends out to the world”. It puts the progress made in the fight against climate change in jeopardy and threatens the livelihood of many people, she argues. Germany’s insistence on putting the tight 1.5-degrees target into the Paris Agreement “was one of the rare occasions that sparked hope”, but this hope will turn into desperation “if the most affluent countries, which are also the greatest climate polluters, don’t live up their promises,” Legarda says. The Philippines, she argues, “is determined to implement” the Paris Agreement, “but we do so in the conviction that other signatories also do their part.”

Find the article in German here.

Find background in the CLEW articles Germany's coalition negotiators agree treaty, promise coal exit date and Reactions to Germany's coalition agreement, and the factsheet Climate, energy and transport in Germany's coalition agreement.