German Environment Minister Carsten Schneider criticized the weak results of this month's International Climate Conference in Bonn, Germany, on Friday, saying the results were not just about the seriousness of the situation.
The 10-day negotiations, which involved more than 5,000 delegates, are part of preparations for the UN Climate Change Conference to be held in Brazil in November this year. Negotiations ended Thursday with no significant progress.
Schneider lamented that old conflict lines, such as the conflict between the north and the South and the energy transition drivers of fossil fuel blockers, remain dominant.
“But if we work together, we can only grasp global warming. That's why we need to leave the old conflict behind,” Schneider said.
He urged all countries to propose new, improved climate plans this year to address the significant gap in the 1.5-degree limit.
Compared with pre-industrial levels, signators of the 2015 Paris Agreement promised to limit global warming to less than two degrees Celsius, preferably 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Environmental groups expressed disappointment at the slow pace of negotiations in Bonn.
“I don't want to wear sugar–we have a lot to do before we meet again in Bellem,” said Simon Stiell, the UN's climate chief.
