Switzerland optimistic about COP30 climate meeting

Cop30: Switzerland commits to ambitious climate targets Keystone-SDA

Despite the delicate geopolitical context, the Swiss government is optimistic about the upcoming 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Brazil, which opens on November 10.

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“The fact that so many countries are cooperating despite all the difficulties is already a success,” Swiss Ambassador for the Environment and Head of International Affairs Felix Wertli told Keystone-ATS news agency.

Ten years ago, the international community reached an agreement on climate change in Paris. In ten days’ time, representatives of almost 200 states will meet again, this time in Belém (Brazil), to negotiate the implementation and evolution of this agreement.

Switzerland will work to ensure that all countries submit new ambitious reduction targets for greenhouse gas emissions, particularly those currently responsible for releasing large quantities of CO2 into the atmosphere, Wertli said.

The Paris Agreement commits almost all states in the world to take measures to limit global warming to well below two degrees Celsius, if possible, to 1.5 degrees compared to the pre-industrial era. To achieve this goal, countries must reinforce their national targets every five years.

Updated climate targets

These updated targets will be the focus of this year’s negotiations. “This is about countries taking stock of what they have achieved so far under the Paris Agreement and identifying what efforts are needed to close the gap to the 1.5 degree Celsius target,” the ambassador explained.

Switzerland presented its new targets in January. By 2035 it plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 65% compared to 1990 and by 59% on average over the period 2031-2035. These targets are to be achieved primarily through national measures.

According to Wertli, the Swiss delegation will also strive to strengthen international investment in climate protection and to involve the private sector more closely. Adaptation to climate change will also be one of the central themes of the discussions in Belém. Countries want to introduce internationally comparable indicators to measure progress in this field.

Between progress and urgency to act

“In many countries, climate is no longer as high a priority as it was a few years ago,” Wertli admitted. “It is a big challenge. However, since the United States withdrew from the Paris Agreement at the beginning of Donald Trump’s second presidential term, no other country has followed suit – an encouraging sign, according to the climate ambassador.

“We are currently not on track to meet the 1.5 degree Celsius target,” he admitted. “But significant progress has been made in the last ten years. In 2015 we were on course for a warming of four degrees; today we are between 2.3 and 2.8 degrees,” he added.

The head of the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications, Albert Rösti, will also attend COP30: he will take part in a meeting of environment ministers scheduled during the second week of the conference.

Translated from Italian by DeepL/jdp

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