Petersberg Climate Dialogue leans toward rapid carbon reduction

After the discussions for a better adaptation to climate change and the need to implement climate finance, the second day of the Petersberg Climate Dialogue leaned towards the energy transition for a rapid reduction of carbon emissions.

"I believe that developed countries have repeatedly demonstrated their commitment to meeting their responsibilities due to climate change, and at the same time, the different issues must be addressed in an equitable manner, whether it is mitigation, adaptation or loss and damage and finance," said Sameh Shoukry, Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Germany is once again committed to limiting the use of fossil fuels.

"We will not deviate one inch from our climate targets. On the contrary, we will move even faster away from fossil fuels and massively increase our ambitions in the development of renewable energies, but especially in energy efficiency," said Sound Annalena Baerbock, German minister of foreign affairs.

Africa will not be spared by this energy transition, it could be an opportunity even if the continent represents only 4% of carbon emissions.

"We are talking about the sun, we are talking about wind and we are talking about hydrogen and green hydrogen. Africa can industrialize with clean energy, but Africa can also potentially export the surplus energy it will produce. Africa has a deep deposit of energy. The development will or will not be done according to the energy transition that Africa will have started or not," said Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification UNCCD.

However, this transition to renewable energy cannot be done without the DRC. The country holds tons of strategic minerals used for batteries that store solar energy or in the automotive industry, in addition to its hydraulic potential.

"The energy transition cannot be done without the DRC. Why not? Because the DRC has the raw material. It has the solutions for the energy transition. We have the water resources capable of giving us hydroelectric energy. We have coltan, cobalt and lithium. So we have everything that allows us to reach the objective of mitigating the global temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius. But we are faced with this dilemma because we have to our ways of life to serve humanity. As much as Germany needs the alternative to find solutions to these dilemmas, the Democratic Republic of Congo needs the alternative to find solutions," said Eve Bazaiba Masudi, the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development.

The Petersberg dialogue, which has just ended here in Berlin on Tuesday, has paved the way for the pre-Cop 27 summits. Another COP27 meeting is expected in September in the DRC and will involve experts who will discuss climate emergencies and solutions for the preservation of biodiversity in the Congo Basin, which is the lung of the planet. Ruth Lago, Africanews, Berlin.