Baerbock warns of the “catastrophic consequences” of climate change

Just before the start of the COP27 world climate conference in Egypt, Germany has called curbing global warming its top priority. “Humanity is heading towards an abyss, warming above 2.5 degrees, with devastating consequences for our lives on the only planet we have,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbach (41, Greens) said on Sunday. The world has “all the tools needed to contain the climate crisis and stay on track to 1.5 degrees”.

40,000 participants are expected at the conference, which starts on Sunday and will be held on the African continent for the first time since 2016. At COP27, representatives from nearly 200 countries gathered in Sharm El Sheikh for two weeks of talks on how to step up the fight against global warming. Timing is of the essence, as the past seven years have been the warmest since weather records began. Extreme weather events in countries such as Pakistan, Nigeria and Somalia have recently shown the enormous damage and deadly destructive power of climate change.