AFP UK

The United Nations chief called Friday for the world to redouble its renewable energy efforts to avert a climate emergency and address global energy poverty.

“Today, we face a moment of truth,” said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who described the mandate as a “double imperative -– to end energy poverty and to limit climate change.

“And we have an answer that will fulfil both imperatives,” Guterres said. “Affordable, renewable and sustainable energy for all.”

The comments came as governments and the private sector pledged to spend more than $400 billion at a high-level summit that called for an acceleration of efforts to avert catastrophic climate change and simultaneously bring electricity to more of the 760 million people around the world who currently lack it.

The “energy compact” lists commitments from more than 35 governments and several large companies, including TotalEnergies, Schneider Electric and Google. 

The aim is to revamp the global energy system, which accounts for about 75 percent of total greenhouse gases, according to the United Nations.

Jennifer Layke, global energy director at the World Resources Institute, said the pledges serve “transparency purposes” and enable NGOs to hold companies and governments accountable. 

But “to deliver on climate, we still have a long way to go to get to the level of transformation on the energy transition that is required,” she said.

– Ending fossil fuel subsidies –

The spending pledges, many of which have been announced previously, include projects to expand electricity access in developing countries, boost clean cooking technologies and improve energy efficiency as part of a drive to decarbonize the energy system.

Guterres noted there has been some progress, with renewable energy now comprising 29 percent of global electricity generation. 

“But it’s not nearly fast enough,” Guterres said. “We are still a long way from being able to provide affordable and clean energy for all.”

He said the world must reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45 percent in 2030 from 2010 levels to limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees.  

He called for a quadrupling of solar and wind capacity by that time, part of a push to triple investments on renewable energy and energy efficiency to $5 trillion per-year.

And Guterres called on authorities to phase out subsidies on fossil fuel production and “put a price on carbon.”

An IMF study published Friday estimated that direct and indirect subsidies of fossil fuels added up to $5.9 trillion, about 6.8 percent of global GDP in 2020.

“Underpricing fossil fuel undermines domestic and global environmental objectives, hurting people and hurting the planet,” said IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva. 

“It is also a badly targeted policy that predominantly benefits higher-income households and deprives governments of precious fiscal resources.”

“Raising fuel prices is, of course, very challenging,” Georgieva said, adding, “but doing nothing will pose far greater challenges.”

Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Germans to elect her would-be successor Armin Laschet for the sake of German stability, in a strong pitch for her party as candidates made their final bid for support hours ahead of Sunday’s vote.

As hundreds of thousands of climate activists led by Greta Thunberg descended on streets across Germany to demand change and more protection for the environment, the outgoing Merkel acknowledged global warming was a major challenge.

But she said that protection was best achieved “not with bans and commands” but with technological progress, as she reminded voters that it mattered who led Europe’s biggest power.

In a strong appeal to a predominantly older electorate, Merkel said: “To keep Germany stable, Armin Laschet must become chancellor, and the CDU and CSU must be the strongest force.”

The candidate of Merkel’s CDU-CSU alliance, Laschet, 60, has been trailing his Social Democrat challenger Olaf Scholz in the race for the chancellery.

But final polls place Scholz’s SPD at 25 percent and Laschet’s conservatives at 22 percent, putting the gap between them well within the margin of error, making the vote one of the most unpredictable in recent years.

The Greens, polling in the mid-teens, were in third place, with a clear likelihood of being part of Germany’s next coalition government as a junior partner.

In the race for votes, Scholz, Germany’s current finance minister, said it was time for a “fresh start for Germany” after 16 years of Merkel at the top.

“We need a change of government and we want an SPD-led government,” he said.

– ‘Not enough’ –

But even the change promised by Scholz or the Greens was not enough, Thunberg told cheering Fridays for Future youth supporters outside the Reichstag parliament building, stressing that they needed to hold Germany’s political leaders to account past election day.

“It is clearer than ever that no political party is doing close to enough… not even their proposed commitments are close to being in line with what would be needed to fulfil the Paris Agreement” on curbing climate change, she said.

“Yes, we must vote, you must vote, but remember that voting only will not be enough. We must keep going into the streets.”

Organisers said the rallies had drawn 620,000 people to more than 470 cities and towns across the country.

“Climate is an important issue and if this continues things are going to get worse and worse,” 14-year-old Louise Herr told AFP at the Berlin protest.

Luisa Neubauer, the head of Fridays for Future’s German chapter, said the country, one of the world’s top emitters of greenhouse gases, had an outsize responsibility to set an example, with time running out to reverse destructive trends.

“That is why we are calling this the election of a century,” Neubauer told AFP.

The protest movement also hit out at Scholz, after he sent a tweet in support of Friday’s marches.

“We don’t want to spoil the good mood — but we are striking against YOUR government today, Olaf,” they wrote, referring to the SPD, which has been a junior coalition partner in three out of four Merkel governments.

– ‘Tailwinds’ –

Around 60.4 million Germans are called to the polls on Sunday and most voters have cited climate protection among their top priorities.

While younger voters are leaning Green, under-30s only make up around 15 percent of the electorate while the above-60s make up 38 percent.

All three leading parties have said they aim to implement a climate protection agenda if elected, with the Greens presenting the most ambitious package of measures.

Greens chancellor candidate Annalena Baerbock, who joined one of the Fridays for Future rallies in Cologne, told Die Welt newspaper that she hoped the protests would give her party “tailwinds” heading into the vote. 

“The next government has to be a climate government — that will only work with a strong Green party,” she said.

Their central demand is to limit the warming of the Earth to a maximum of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) as laid out in the 2015 Paris climate accord.

But critics have labelled the Greens a “prohibition party” that will drive up petrol, electricity and air ticket prices.

The ecologist party has advocated stopping coal energy usage by 2030 instead of the current 2038, and wants production of combustion engine cars to end from the same year.

It has slammed Merkel’s right-left government of paying only lip service to environmental protection, while seeking to maintain status quo.

Hitting out against the transformation demanded by the Greens, Laschet on Friday instead appealed to the workers in Germany’s vital industries.

Germany must “still have a strong automobile industry, a steel industry, a chemical industry in 20 years,” he said.

“The world’s climate is not served if companies relocate, they will produce elsewhere under worse social conditions, under worse environmental conditions,” Laschet warned.

Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Germans to elect her would-be successor for the sake of German stability, in a strong pitch for her party as candidates made their final bid for support hours ahead of Sunday’s vote.

As hundreds of thousands of climate activists led by Greta Thunberg descended on streets across Germany to demand change and more protection for the environment, the outgoing Merkel acknowledged global warming as a major challenge in coming years.

But she said that protection was best achieved “not with bans and commands” but with technological progress, as she reminded voters that it mattered who led Europe’s biggest power.

In a strong appeal to a predominantly older electorate, Merkel said: “To keep Germany stable, Armin Laschet must become chancellor, and the CDU and CSU must be the strongest force.”

The candidate of Merkel’s CDU-CSU alliance, Laschet, 60, has been trailing his Social Democrat challenger Olaf Scholz in the race for the chancellery.

But final polls put the gap between them within the margin of error, making the vote one of the most unpredictable in recent years. The Greens, polling in the mid teens, were in third place, with a clear likelihood of being part of Germany’s next coalition government as a junior partner.

In the race for votes, Scholz, Germany’s current finance minister, said it was time for a “fresh start for Germany” after 16 years of Merkel at the top.

“We need a change of government and we want an SPD-led goverment,” he said.

– ‘Not enough’ –

But even the change promised by Scholz or the Greens was not enough, Thunberg told cheering Fridays for Future youth supporters outside the Reichstag parliament building, stressing that they needed to hold Germany’s political leaders to account past election day.

“It is clearer than ever that no political party is doing close to enough… not even their proposed commitments are close to being in line with what would be needed to fulfil the Paris Agreement” on curbing climate change, she said.

“Yes, we must vote, you must vote, but remember that voting only will not be enough. We must keep going into the streets.”

Organisers said the rallies had drawn 620,000 people to more than 470 cities in towns across the country.

“Climate is an important issue and if this continues things are going to get worse and worse,” 14-year-old Louise Herr, who turned up at the Berlin protest, told AFP.

The head of Fridays for Future’s German chapter said the country, one of the world’s top emitters of greenhouse gases, had an outsize responsibility to set an example, with time running out to reverse destructive trends.

“That is why we are calling this the election of a century,” Luisa Neubauer told AFP.

– ‘Need a fresh start’ –

All three leading parties have said they aim to implement a climate protection agenda if elected, with the Greens presenting the most ambitious package of measures.

Greens chancellor candidate Annalena Baerbock, who joined one of the Fridays for Future rallies in Cologne, told Die Welt newspaper that she hoped the protests would give her party “tailwinds” heading into the vote. 

“The next government has to be a climate government — that will only work with a strong Green party.”

Their central demand is to limit the warming of the Earth to a maximum of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) as laid out in the 2015 Paris climate accord.

Despite Merkel’s vocal support of climate protection measures, Germany has repeatedly failed to meet its emission reduction targets under the pact.

In a landmark ruling in April, Germany’s constitutional court found the government’s plans to curb CO2 emissions “insufficient” and placed an “unfair burden” on future generations. 

Around 60.4 million Germans are called to the polls on Sunday and most voters have cited climate protection among their top priorities.

Hundreds of thousands of climate activists, including Greta Thunberg, rallied in cities across Germany Friday ahead of weekend elections as frontrunner Olaf Scholz called for a “change of government” after 16 years of Angela Merkel at the top.

Speaking at a rally in front of the Reichstag parliament building in the run-up to Sunday’s poll, Thunberg told cheering Fridays for Future youth supporters that they needed to hold Germany’s political leaders to account past election day.

“It is clearer than ever that no political party is doing close to enough… not even their proposed commitments are close to being in line with what would be needed to fulfil the Paris Agreement” on curbing climate change, she said.

“Yes, we must vote, you must vote, but remember that voting only will not be enough. We must keep going into the streets.”

Organisers said the rallies had drawn 620,000 people to more than 470 cities in towns across the country.

The head of Fridays for Future’s German chapter said the country, one of the world’s top emitters of greenhouse gases, had an outsize responsibility to set an example, with time running out to reverse destructive trends.

“That is why we are calling this the election of a century,” Luisa Neubauer told AFP.

– ‘Need a fresh start’ –

The race has boiled down to a two-way contest between Social Democrat (SPD) Scholz, the centrist finance minister, and Armin Laschet from Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats.

Polls give Scholz a small lead of about 25 percent over Laschet at around 22 percent, with the candidate from the ecologist Greens, Annalena Baerbock, trailing in the mid-teens.

“We need a fresh start for Germany and we need a change of government and we want an SPD-led government,” Scholz, also vice chancellor under Merkel, told supporters in the western city of Cologne.

All three leading parties have said they aim to implement a climate protection agenda if elected, with the Greens presenting the most ambitious package of measures.

Baerbock, who joined one of the Fridays for Future rallies in Cologne, told Die Welt newspaper that she hoped the protests would give her party “tailwinds” heading into the vote. 

“The next government has to be a climate government — that will only work with a strong Green party.”

More than 400 “climate strikes” were taking place across Germany on Friday. Thousands gathered on the lawn there from late morning bearing signs reading “Climate now, homework later”, “It’s our future” and simply “Vote”.

“Climate is an important issue and if this continues things are going to get worse and worse,” 14-year-old Louise Herr told AFP.

The German protests are part of a global climate strike in more than 1,000 communities around the world, Fridays for Future said.

Their central demand is to limit the warming of the Earth to a maximum of 1.5 degrees Celsius as laid out in the 2015 Paris climate accord.

Despite Merkel’s vocal support of climate protection measures, Germany has repeatedly failed to meet its emission reduction targets under the pact.

In a landmark ruling in April, Germany’s constitutional court found the government’s plans to curb CO2 emissions “insufficient” and placed an “unfair burden” on future generations. 

– Greens as junior partner? –

In September 2019, the Fridays for Future climate movement drew huge crowds in cities and towns around the world, including 1.4 million protesters in Germany, according to organisers.

Around 60.4 million Germans are called to the polls on Sunday and most voters cite climate protection among their top priorities.

Despite environmental pledges from all parties, the Fridays for Future activists have said the Greens’ official programme falls short of what is needed to keep the temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The Greens want to end coal energy use by 2030 instead of the planned 2038 and end the production of combustion engine cars the same year.

While the party is expected to fall far short of its ambition to win Sunday’s election and place Baerbock in the chancellery, polls indicate it has a good chance of joining a ruling coalition as a junior partner under Scholz or Laschet.

dlc-burs/hmn/dl

The United Nations chief called Friday for the world to redouble its renewable energy efforts to avert a climate emergency and address global energy poverty.

“Today, we face a moment of truth,” said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who described the mandate as a “double imperative -– to end energy poverty and to limit climate change.

“And we have an answer that will fulfil both imperatives,” Guterres said. “Affordable, renewable and sustainable energy for all.”

The comments came as governments and the private sector pledged to spend more than $400 billion at a high-level summit that called for an acceleration of efforts to avert catastrophic climate change.

The spending commitments, many of which have been announced previously, include projects to expand electricity access in developing countries, boost clean cooking technologies, and improve energy efficiency as part of a drive to decarbonize the energy system.

The UN says some 760 million people around the world currently lack access to electricity. Guterres said the world should aim to cut that number in half by 2025.

Guterres noted there has been some progress, with renewable energy now comprising 29 percent of global electricity generation. 

“But it’s not nearly fast enough,” Guterres said. “We are still a long way from being able to provide affordable and clean energy for all.”

Guterres said the world must reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45 percent in 2030 from 2010 levels to limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees.  

He called for a quadrupling of solar and wind capacity by that time, part of a push to triple investments on renewable energy and energy efficiency to $5 trillion per year.

And Guterres called on authorities to phase out subsidies on fossil fuel production and “put a price on carbon.”

British police arrested 39 people Friday after dozens of climate protesters temporarily blocked access to the port of Dover, Europe’s busiest ferry hub, demanding the government step up action insulating homes.

The civil disobedience demonstration is the latest by Insulate Britain, a new group whose activists have repeatedly blocked traffic on London’s busy M25 orbital motorway.

Police in Kent, southeast England, said the 39 people were detained on suspicion of causing a public nuisance and obstructing a highway, after officers were alerted to people blocking roads near the port on Friday morning.

Insulate Britain said that more than 40 activists had obstructed the approaches to the eastern and western docks at Dover.

The port, which sits on the Channel coast less than 30 miles (50 kilometres) from France, handles around 17 percent of Britain’s goods trade.

Traffic was brought to a standstill, but officials said the port itself remained open. 

Kent police chief superintendent Simon Thompson said his officers were working with other forces, prosecutors and partner agencies “to gather evidence and ensure there are consequences for those who break the law”.

Insulate Britain earlier apologised for the disruption but said it was “the only way to keep the issue of insulation on the agenda”.

“We are blocking Dover this morning to highlight that fuel poverty is killing people in Dover and across the UK,” a spokesperson said.

“We must tell the truth about the urgent horror of the Climate Emergency. Change at the necessary speed and scale requires economic disruption. We wish it wasn’t true, but it is.”

Mirroring the disruptive tactics adopted by the global Extinction Rebellion grouping in recent years, Insulate Britain has blocked motorway traffic five times since mid-September.

On Wednesday, the government won a court injunction over the M25 protests, meaning activists could be imprisoned if they block Britain’s busiest motorway.

Political leaders including interior minister Priti Patel and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps have decried their tactics, warning they risk lives.

The protests come as Britain prepares to host the UN climate change conference COP26 in Glasgow in November, with hopes of firmer commitments to prevent runaway global warming.

Tens of thousands of climate activists, including Greta Thunberg, rallied in cities across Germany Friday ahead of the weekend general election to crank up the pressure on the candidates to succeed Angela Merkel.

Speaking at a rally in front of the Reichstag parliament building in the run-up to Sunday’s poll, Thunberg told cheering Fridays for Future youth supporters that they needed to hold Germany’s political leaders to account past election day.

“It is clearer than ever that no political party is doing close to enough… not even their proposed commitments are close to being in line with what would be needed to fulfil the Paris Agreement” on curbing climate change, she said.

“Yes, we must vote, you must vote, but remember that voting only will not be enough. We must keep going into the streets.”

The head of Fridays for Future’s German chapter said the country, one of the world’s top emitters of greenhouse gases, had an outsize responsibility to set an example, with time running out to reverse destructive trends.

“That is why we are calling this the election of a century,” Luisa Neubauer told AFP.

The race has boiled down to a two-way contest between Social Democrat Olaf Scholz, the centrist finance minister, and Armin Laschet from Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats. 

Both were set to address crowds later Friday, in Cologne and Munich respectively.

Polls give Scholz a small lead of about 25 percent over Laschet at around 22 percent, with the candidate from the ecologist Greens, Annalena Baerbock, trailing in the mid-teens.

All three leading parties have said they aim to implement a climate protection agenda if elected, with the Greens presenting the most ambitious package of measures.

Despite the urgency of the climate for a majority of Germans, particularly in the aftermath of deadly summer floods in western Germany, the relatively inexperienced Baerbock has failed to garner widespread support among voters.

Baerbock, who joined one of the Fridays for Future rallies in Cologne, told Die Welt newspaper that she hoped the protests would give her party “tailwinds” heading into the vote. 

“The next government has to be a climate government — that will only work with a strong Green party.”

– ‘Unfair burden’ –

More than 400 “climate strikes” were taking place across Germany on Friday, with the Swedish Thunberg, who inspired the two-year-old movement, due to speak outside the Reichstag parliament building in Berlin.

Thousands gathered on the lawn there from late morning bearing signs reading “Climate now, homework later”, “It’s our future” and simply “Vote”.

“Climate is an important issue and if this continues things are going to get worse and worse,” 14-year-old Louise Herr told AFP.

The German protests are part of a global climate strike in more than 1,000 communities around the world, Fridays for Future said.

Their central demand is to limit the warming of the Earth to a maximum of 1.5 degrees Celsius as laid out in the 2015 Paris climate accord.

Despite Merkel’s vocal support of climate protection measures, Germany has repeatedly failed to meet its emission reduction targets under the pact.

In a landmark ruling in April, Germany’s constitutional court found the government’s plans to curb CO2 emissions “insufficient” and placed an “unfair burden” on future generations. 

– Greens as junior partner? –

In September 2019, the Fridays for Future climate movement drew huge crowds in cities and towns around the world, including 1.4 million protesters in Germany, according to organisers.

Around 60.4 million Germans are called to the polls on Sunday and most voters cite climate protection among their top priorities.

Despite environmental pledges from all parties, the Fridays for Future activists have said the Greens’ official programme falls short of what is needed to stick to the 1.5 degree Celsius temperature rise.

The Greens want to end coal energy use by 2030 instead of the planned 2038 and end the production of combustion engine cars the same year.

While the party is expected to fall far short of its ambition to win Sunday’s election and place Baerbock in the chancellery, polls indicate it has a good chance of joining a ruling coalition as a junior partner under Scholz or Laschet.

dlc-burs/hmn/jv

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg told thousands of demonstrators in Berlin ahead of Germany’s general election on Sunday that “no political party” was doing even nearly enough to fight the climate crisis.

Speaking at a rally on Friday in front of the Reichstag parliament building, Thunberg told cheering supporters they needed to keep up the pressure on Germany’s political leaders past election day.

“It is clearer than ever that no political party is doing close to enough. But it’s even worse than that. Not even their proposed commitments are close to being in line with what would be needed to fulfil the Paris Agreement” on curbing climate change, she said.

“Yes, we must vote, you must vote, but remember that voting only will not be enough. We must keep going into the streets.”

As Germany’s top parties were set to hold final rallies, the Fridays for Future youth movement said it was holding strikes in more than 400 German cities and towns.

At the largest event in Berlin, Thunberg said the political class was failing younger generations.

“We need to become climate activists and demand real change because remember: change is now not only possible, it is also urgently necessary,” she said.

“When enough people demand change, then change will come on election day.”

The race has boiled down to a two-way contest between Social Democrat Olaf Scholz, the centrist finance minister, and Armin Laschet from Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats. They were set to address crowds later Friday, in Cologne and Munich respectively.

Polls give Scholz a small lead with about 26 percent over Laschet at 22 percent. The candidate from the ecologist Greens, Annalena Baerbock, trails in the mid-teens.

Thunberg stopped short of endorsing the Green party, whose programme Fridays for Future activists argue falls short of what is needed to effectively curb global warming.

Candidates to succeed Chancellor Angela Merkel in Germany’s weekend election were hitting the hustings Friday in a last-ditch bid for votes in a tight race, as tens of thousands of activists including Greta Thunberg rallied to demand climate action.

As Germany’s top parties were set to hold final rallies ahead of Sunday’s vote, the Fridays for Future youth marches made the case that the political class has let down the younger generation.

“The political parties haven’t taken the climate catastrophe seriously enough,” Luisa Neubauer, who runs the group’s German chapter, told AFP.

She said Germany, as one of the world’s top emitters of greenhouse gases, had an outsize responsibility to set an example, with time running out to reverse destructive trends.

“That is why we are calling this the election of a century,” she said.

The race has boiled down to a two-way contest between Social Democrat Olaf Scholz, the centrist finance minister, and Armin Laschet from Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats. Both were set to address crowds later Friday, in Cologne and Munich respectively.

Polls give Scholz a small lead of about 26 percent over Laschet at around 22 percent, with the candidate from the ecologist Greens, Annalena Baerbock, trailing in the mid-teens.

Despite the urgency of the climate issue for a majority of Germans, particularly in the aftermath of deadly floods in western Germany in July, this has failed to translate into strong support for the relatively inexperienced Baerbock.

Baerbock, who joined one of the Fridays for Future rallies in Cologne, told Die Welt newspaper that she hoped the protests would give her party “tailwinds” heading into the vote. “The next government has to be a climate government — that will only work with a strong Green party.”

– ‘Unfair burden’ –

More than 400 “climate strikes” were taking place across Germany, with the Swedish Thunberg, who inspired the two-year-old movement, due to speak outside the Reichstag parliament building in Berlin.

Thousands gathered on the lawn there from late morning bearing signs reading “Climate now, homework later”, “It’s our future” and simply “Vote”.

“Climate is an important issue and if this continues things are going to get worse and worse,” 14-year-old pupil Louise Herr told AFP.

The German protests are part of a global climate strike in more than 1,000 communities around the world, Fridays for Future said.

Their central demand is to limit the warming of the Earth to a maximum of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) as laid out in the 2015 Paris climate accord.

Despite Merkel’s vocal support of climate protection measures, Germany has repeatedly failed to meet its emission reduction targets under the pact.

In a landmark ruling in April, Germany’s constitutional court found the government’s plans to curb CO2 emissions “insufficient” and placed an “unfair burden” on future generations. 

– Greens as junior partner? –

In September 2019, the Fridays for Future climate movement drew huge crowds in cities and towns around the world including 1.4 million protesters in Germany, according to organisers.

“The climate crisis cannot be solved through party politics alone,” Thunberg told reporters ahead of her appearance in Berlin.

“We can’t just vote for change, we also have to be active democratic citizens and go out on the streets and demand action.”

Around 60.4 million Germans are called to the polls on Sunday and most voters cite climate protection among their top priorities.

All three leading parties have said they aim to implement a climate protection agenda if elected, with the Greens presenting the most ambitious package of measures.

However, the Fridays for Future activists have said even the Greens’ official programme falls short of what is needed to stick to the 1.5 degree Celsius temperature rise.

The Greens want to end coal energy use by 2030 instead of the planned 2038 and end the production of combustion engine cars the same year.

While the party is expected to fall far short of its ambition to win Sunday’s election and place Baerbock in the chancellery, polls indicate it has a good chance of joining a ruling coalition as a junior partner under Scholz or Laschet.

dlc-burs/hmn/dl

Tens of thousands of climate activists including Greta Thunberg began descending on German cities Friday to crank up the pressure on candidates competing to succeed Angela Merkel at this weekend’s general election.

As Germany’s top parties hold final rallies ahead of Sunday’s vote, the Fridays for Future youth marches will make the case that the political class has let down the younger generation.

“The political parties haven’t taken the climate catastrophe seriously enough,” Luisa Neubauer, who runs the group’s German chapter, told AFP.

She said Germany, as one of the world’s top emitters of greenhouse gases, had an outsize responsibility to set an example, with time running out to reverse destructive trends.

“That is why we are calling this the election of a century,” she said.

The race has boiled down to a two-way contest between Social Democrat Olaf Scholz, the moderate finance minister, and Armin Laschet from Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats.

Polls give Scholz a small lead of about 26 percent over Laschet at around 22 percent, with the candidate from the ecologist Greens, Annalena Baerbock, trailing in the mid-teens.

Despite the urgency of the climate issue for a majority of Germans, particularly in the aftermath of deadly floods in western Germany in July, this has failed to translate into strong support for the relatively inexperienced Baerbock.

She told Die Welt newspaper that she hoped Friday’s rally would give her party “tailwinds” heading into the vote. “The next government has to be a climate government — that will only work with a strong Green party.”   

– ‘Unfair burden’ –

More than 400 “climate strikes” are planned across Germany, with the Swedish Thunberg, who inspired the movement, expected to speak outside the Reichstag parliament building.

Gathering under the banners “We are young and need the world!” and “Everything for the climate”, the activists will argue the “climate crisis is this century’s biggest problem”.

The German protests will be part of a global climate strike in more than 1,000 communities around the world, Fridays for Future said.

Their central demand is to limit the warming of the Earth to a maximum of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) as laid out in the 2015 Paris climate accord.

The Paris agreement set a goal of reducing global warming by two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels with an aspiration to go further and cap the rise to 1.5 Celsius.

Despite Merkel’s vocal support of climate protection measures, Germany has repeatedly failed to meet its emission reduction targets under the pact.

In a landmark ruling in April, Germany’s constitutional court found the government’s plans to curb CO2 emissions “insufficient” to meet the targets of the Paris agreement and placed an “unfair burden” on future generations. 

The Fridays for Future movement launched global school strikes more than two years ago arguing that time was running out to stop irreversible damage from the warming of the planet. 

– Greens as junior partner? –

In September 2019, it drew huge crowds in cities and towns around the world including 1.4 million protesters in Germany, according to organisers.

“The climate crisis cannot be solved through party politics alone,” Thunberg told reporters ahead of her appearance in Berlin.

“We can’t just vote for change we also have to be active democratic citizens and go out on the streets and demand action.”

Around 60.4 million Germans are called to the polls on Sunday and most voters cite climate protection among their top priorities.

All three leading parties have said they aim to implement a climate protection agenda if elected, with the Greens presenting the most ambitious package of measures.

However, the Fridays for Future activists have said even the Greens’ official programme falls short of what is needed to stick to the 1.5 degree Celsius temperature rise.

The Greens want to end coal energy use by 2030 instead of the current 2038 and end the production of combustion engine cars the same year.

While the party is expected to fall far short of its ambition to win the election Sunday and place Baerbock in the chancellery, polls indicate it has a good chance of joining a ruling coalition as a junior partner under Scholz or Laschet.

dlc-burs/hmn/jm