Fight against climate change will fail if it neglects states' economic interests – econ min

The economic interests of all states need to be accounted for in the fight against climate change, as moral reasons won’t be enough to motivate a successful green transition, German economy minister Robert Habeck said at the Munich Security Conference. The Green minister called for greater international cooperation and more common rules to strengthen trust. He added industrialised nations must realise they can no longer make profits at the expense of others. “Climate action will only be successful if it is in the interest of the respective country, and I mean the economic interest,” he said, adding that “we will only achieve the Paris climate targets and bring about global stability if we work together.”

Foreign minister Annalena Baerbock, also a Green politician, said at the conference that while reaching ambitious climate targets will be expensive, a failure to do so would come at far greater expense, and cost countless human lives. Baerbock called for new financing options for loss and damage, particularly for developing nations, as they generally lack money to adapt to the climate crisis. A reform of the World Bank is necessary so that it can focus its business model more strongly on climate finance, the minister said. Three times more people are displaced by the climate crisis than by wars, Baerbock said, adding: “The climate crisis is thus the greatest security threat of our time.”

While Russia’s war in Ukraine was the central topic of the Munich Security Conference, climate change was also part of the agenda. International Energy Agency (IEA) head Fatih Birol highlighted the importance of robust energy policies and resource security for industrial transformation during the opening session of the conference.