Environment Minister Ohisalo on Egypt’s badly stalled climate negotiations: “We’re going way overboard”

Environment Minister Ohisalo on Egypts badly stalled climate negotiations Were

Climate negotiations in Egypt continue. The meeting was originally supposed to end today, Friday. They are trying to find a consensus on paying for climate damage and whether the 1.5 degree goal will be adhered to.

Elisa Kallunki,

Hanna Eskonen

The UN climate negotiations in Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh are continuing until Saturday.

– We are going well overtime. There’s no way we’ll get it ready tonight, says the Minister of Environment and Climate, who is participating in the meeting Maria Ohisalo (green).

According to Ohisalo, a lot of work is still being done in the negotiations to reach solutions. According to him, it would be very difficult for the EU countries to leave the climate meeting in Egypt so that the results would be weaker than the discussions of the previous climate negotiations.

– We should achieve something more than what the countries achieved in Glagow, not fall short of them, says Maria Ohisalo.

The argument about paying for climate damage continues

At the climate conference in Egypt, a solution has been sought as to whether Western countries will pay for the damages caused by climate change in developing countries.

The EU unexpectedly announced last night that it supports the disputed fund, from which Western countries would compensate developing countries for the damages caused by the climate crisis. In the past, the EU’s position has been that there are already enough financing channels.

However, all countries should commit to work to combat climate change, Ohisalo emphasizes.

– It cannot be the case that we commit ourselves only to financing damages and losses, but do not do our best to combat climate change.

The EU wants all big countries that cause a lot of emissions to agree to pay in the fund. In addition to Western countries, this also applies to, for example, China.

– From the EU’s point of view, we consider it important that especially the biggest emitters also genuinely work not only in reducing emissions but also in the financial side. China’s response has so far not been very broad. Maybe we will hear more about this, says Maria Ohisalo.

Ohisalo: 1.5 degrees is being adhered to, but that alone is not enough

In the UN climate talks, an agreement has also been sought once again on whether the countries of the world will adhere to the fact that the climate would not warm by more than one and a half degrees. The countries of the world have agreed in the Paris climate agreement in 2015 that global warming will be kept below two degrees, but the goal is to strive for below one and a half degrees.

Current emission reduction promises lead to global warming of about 2.6 degrees.

According to Maria Ohisalo, there would be no giving up in Egypt to get one and a half degrees recorded in the final conclusion.

– Yes, it is adhered to, but it is still not enough on its own. Of course, there must also be records of how to get there. One big question is whether we are only talking about, for example, phasing out coal, or whether we are gradually phasing out all fossil fuels. It’s a hurry, says Ohisalo.

According to him, the EU is also working to talk more broadly about the green transition, the transition to more renewable and cleaner energy sources.

The Egyptian meeting is also valuable for the reason that the countries of the world are negotiating solutions to the climate crisis at such times, Ohisalo states.

– Russia’s brutal attack on Ukraine continues, the energy and food crisis weigh on. Above all, in times like this, in the midst of such crises, it is important that states discuss the climate crisis, which has not disappeared anywhere.

More about:

These two questions of life and death will be twisted to the last meter at the climate conference

The EU turned its back at the last minute and is now supporting the controversial fund from which poor countries are paid for the damages caused by the climate crisis

Egypt’s climate meeting is badly stalled – poor countries are fighting to compensate for the damage, and the 1.5 degree target is feared to be slipping out of control

Analysis: Egypt’s climate meeting is different than before – a fractious dispute is bubbling underneath, but it’s not about reducing emissions

Such problems will follow if the Earth warms by two degrees and not just one and a half degrees

yl-01