“I still have hope”

Until Friday, the 27th UN Climate Change Conference, or COP 27 for short, will take place in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, with Ambassador Franz Perrez (55) at the head of the Swiss delegation.

SonntagsBlick: At COP 27, the rich industrialized countries are negotiating with other countries about compensation payments for the consequences of climate change. How do you experience the debate?
Franz Perrez: Major emerging countries such as China, Brazil and Saudi Arabia want to shift all responsibility onto the industrialized countries. But it is too easy to say that the traditional industrialized countries are to blame for everything. China today has the highest CO2 emissions in the world. Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Korea are among the richest countries. Officially, however, they are still classified as developing countries. They must also contribute to supporting the poorest of the poor.

The rules for the implementation of the Paris Agreement were to be clarified at the conference, but the 1.5-degree target has since been removed from the agenda.
I still have hope. If we manage to keep up the pressure on the COP, the target of 1.5 degrees will remain achievable. To do this, we need to work with the poorest and most affected countries. Important are a clear action plan and concrete decisions to phase out coal and subsidies for fossil fuels.

Until now, many words have rarely been followed by deeds…
We are not where we should be. This is frustrating. And yet we see progress. For Paris, the world is heading for four degrees or more, with today’s measures it will be around 2.5 degrees if all announcements are implemented, then 1.8. We are not yet at 1.5, but these are important progress.