A new government will be elected in Germany on September 26th of this year. Chancellor Merkel is retiring and this election is generally seen as a directional decision for the republic’s further path. This applies in particular to concrete measures in the area of climate protection and social policy.
“All people, young and old, should be able to have a joyful and livable life on this planet. In order to achieve this, the climate movement must send a clear signal shortly before the election and bring people from all parts of society onto the streets, “says the call for the demonstration.
The previous coalition of Christian Democrats and Social Democrats has failed miserably in this area, according to many scientists, organizations, economists and the general public. In recent years there has been a lot of talk about climate protection, but little concrete has been done. Measures were often postponed far into the future and merely announced as a goal.
This year, the Green Party, with its own candidate for Chancellor Baerbock, stands for the first time with what appears to be great popular support. After Ms. Baerbock’s nomination, it was ahead of the forecast as the strongest party, but lost in voter surveys in the weeks that followed. They see the latest forecasts in third place.
The Friday for Future movement, the Green Party and many other NGOs and organizations now see the need to mobilize a broad public two days before the election and to make the climate goals a central question of the election decision. For this reason, large city demonstrations took place today with well over six hundred thousand participants all over Germany, in more than 400 cities. According to the organizers, there were 100,000 participants in Berlin alone. Among them was Greta Thunberg, who gave a speech.
Many speakers at the event pointed out that the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), with the contribution of Working Group I: Scientific Foundations, indicated that:
“It is clear that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land. There have been widespread and rapid changes in the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere and biosphere. ”
Climate change is scientifically verifiable and can clearly be traced back to our way of life and it is remarkable that the previous five reports, which also made very clear statements, were largely ignored by politicians. Without implementing the measures proposed in it, the interests of large companies and other branches of the economy were once again pursued.
One hopes, of course, that after the elections in Germany the new government will have understood which measures are unavoidable and which have to be implemented in the short term.
In Germany, the climate changes that can already be observed today, such as heat, floods and drought as well as strong winds, have led many to rethink. Surveys among the population show that climate change is perceived as a priority issue to be dealt with by politicians.
Since the Club of Rome report 40 years ago, science has been warning of climate change.
We are certainly not facing an information deficit. The facts are on the table. However, it is a behavior that can be observed again and again by people and not just governments, never to take preventive action. Too often the principle of hope applies. So far there have been no measures in any area that effectively and conclusively prevented a foreseeable problem. This also applies, for example, to the problem of antibiotic resistance, where the basic scientific facts and the measures to be taken have been repeatedly pointed out and deepened by experts and the WHO since the mid-1970s, without them being translated into effective and extensive measures by politicians. The influence of the pharmaceutical industry, the agricultural lobby and the veterinary sector are simply too great as major taxpayers.
Today’s politics is of course in the field of tension between the state of scientific knowledge as the objective basis for its actions, the economy of a country, the economic interests and the social impact of the measures taken on the population. However, when making political decisions, the economic interests of business and industries, pushed by lobbyists, are always placed in the foreground. For this reason, large parts of the population were not specifically informed by the politicians about the foreseeable climate changes and the resulting consequences. Educated and enlightened citizens demand concrete measures, which are in in contrast to the monetary objectives of the economy and are therefore undesirable.
Both have to change after the election in Germany, at least for this country. We need a new form of society that puts people and not industry in the foreground. Since man is a part of nature and thus of the environment, the preservation of the natural foundations of life must be the top priority of the actions of the governments elected by the people.
Specifically, the following measures must therefore be implemented by the new government.
Phasing out the use of fossil fuels such as oil, coal and gas
Pricing of CO2 emissions while maintaining social justice
Promotion of renewable energies
End of the arms race and arms trade
Preserving biodiversity
Renaturation of further ecosystems that were destroyed by fires and construction works sealed off
Reorientation and structuring of agriculture with special support for ecological measures.
Promotion of local public transport
And much more.
These measures naturally have a short-term effect on large sections of the population, as they lead to personal restrictions, for example in the area of transport and travel. The economy has to be fundamentally changed and a gigantic restructuring has to take place.
In order to have the population on board with these measures and to support them socially, an education and general discussion about the future of this planet and humanity and their integration into natural habitats and processes must take place.
The permanent growth orientation must be replaced by a vision of the future of the preservation of natural resources and global social balances.
This measure will only take place if a large part of the population becomes involved against the growth interests of large industries, both in parliamentary and extra-parliamentary actions through demonstrations and working groups. Worldwide, and not only on the occasion of the elections in Germany, the pressure on governments to combat climate change and social grievances must be increased.
Let us hope that in at least two days, the course will be set again in the upcoming elections in Germany in this large industrial and agricultural country.
