What does Ursula von der Leyen want to advance?

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen

The EU sees itself as a pioneer and provider of ideas when it comes to climate protection.

(Photo: Reuters)

Brussels The World Climate Conference begins on Monday in Glasgow with a meeting at the highest level. In addition to the major negotiations related to meeting the climate target, a number of new initiatives are also announced. At a press conference this Thursday, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen anticipated some of them.

Together with US President Joe Biden, she wants to make a commitment to reduce methane emissions by 30 percent. The target should be achieved by 2030 and be based on 2020 emissions. The initiative, led by the EU and the USA, already has 60 members. More could be added before the COP.

  • Reducing methane emissions is the “lowest hanging fruit” in climate protection, says von der Leyen. One tonne of methane contributes 80 times as much to climate change as one tonne of CO2. Methane is produced when burning coal and oil, but also when rubbish rots and in animal husbandry. It is said to have contributed around half of global warming to date.
  • Von der Leyen promised 100 billion euros for an initiative to protect forests, especially in Central Africa. Forests are the best allies in the fight against climate change.
  • Together with Microsoft founder Bill Gates, von der Leyen wants to present an initiative that promotes innovations that can help against climate change. She cited clean hydrogen, sustainable aviation fuel, CO2 capture, CO2 storage and energy storage solutions as examples. There are already procedures for all of this. The money from the EU budget and the Gates Foundation is intended to help make these technologies cheaper and more mature for the mass market. Gates also advertised investments in nuclear power in the Handelsblatt. Obviously, that shouldn’t be part of the cooperation with the EU.
  • In an alliance with the USA, Great Britain, Germany and France, the EU wants to advance the coal phase-out in South Africa. The country is to be converted to renewable energies with the help, with particular attention being paid to making the restructuring of the supply socially just. The focus is not only on South Africa itself, but also on other emerging countries. The project should be able to serve other countries as a blueprint for their own climate protection efforts.

The UN climate conference is scheduled for two weeks. The focus is on new stipulations by the states on climate protection measures, the financing of climate protection measures and climate adaptation measures in poorer countries as well as the implementation of rules for international climate protection that have not yet been applied.

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On Monday and Tuesday, leaders from around the world will meet in Glasgow. Some of them see each other earlier at the G20 meeting in Rome. The conference will continue on Wednesday at the expert level. The EU alone is planning more than 150 side events on the fringes of the COP.

More: Ten countries and even more problems: Which countries want to be climate neutral by when

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