COP28 will be starting in less than six months, and our negotiations are getting underway today in Bonn so that we can pave a road that will lead us to where we want to be in Dubai. Over the next two weeks, we will work together with the EU on building a broad coalition for an ambitious global climate policy, enabling us to take ground-breaking decisions in Dubai that will constitute a giant leap forward towards a climate-friendly, sustainable and therefore better world.

The IPCC Report that was issued in March made it painfully clear that we are not doing enough, and that the global community is sleepwalking toward an abyss. Bonn will now be hosting the first round of negotiations since that publication, and we must make sure the urgency of the Report is reflected in these negotiations. We must wake up, and we need to correct our course so that we can get onto the 1.5 degree pathway. Seven years ago, we came together on the Paris Agreement, and we now have seven years left to halve global emissions and thereby prevent the worst effects of the climate crisis.

The first Global Stocktake that will be conducted this year at COP28 is a golden opportunity to take decisive steps – we need a clear roadmap that will get us away from fossil fuels and dramatically accelerate the deployment of renewables. We are therefore advocating for a global renewables target. At the same time, we must show solidarity with the most vulnerable members of the global community who are hit hardest by the climate crisis, which is why we are pressing for swift operationalisation of the loss and damage finance mechanisms, to which all those who can afford to and who share substantial responsibility for the climate crisis should contribute.