Political will is needed at many levels, from global summits to local communities

The national emission reduction targets set in the Paris Agreement will raise the global average temperature by 2.8 degrees Celsius. It is not a matter of moving from 20 degrees to 22 degrees during the day, but of averaging. With an average global temperature increase of almost three degrees Celsius, some parts of our planet will suffer from drought, while others will be affected by floods and heavy rainfall.

The UN negotiations at the Bonn climate conference in November set the scene for the implementation of the actions outlined in the Paris Agreement. The framework for reporting and monitoring efforts to reduce emissions was agreed in Bonn. The project will start next year and the rules will be decided at the climate conference in Poland, towards which all eyes are already turning. Another major debate in Bonn was the call from developing countries for further action by wealthy countries before the 2020 Paris agreement is implemented. The issue became more divisive than expected and it was finally decided to review the action in 2018 and 2019, with poorer and more vulnerable countries demanding that paying countries provide a timetable and amounts in advance to allow recipient countries to plan their own climate action. This is problematic in that it makes it difficult for countries to make pledges on behalf of future governments.

The European Union is strongly committed to the fight against climate change and one of its most central objectives is to reduce emissions. It is right and proper that the EU should take a strong lead in the fight against climate change. It is clear that only a coherent European climate and energy policy can achieve sufficient results. Climate change has been known for decades, but the political will to do something about it has only now emerged. With the rise of the Western world and, more recently, China, the world's energy needs continue to grow. Saving energy is a good idea for the time being, until fossil fuels are phased out. But in the future, saving energy will not be enough, as demand and consumption of energy will increase. Ideological decisions and political will are needed, but also realism. The means to zero emission energy production can be found by making a political decision on what is important from a climate policy point of view. Solar and fusion power and the development of storage technologies to support them will be key in the future.

Although the results of the Bonn climate conference are not sufficient, they provide clear guidelines for next year's climate conference in Poland, which will undoubtedly be a difficult one. Countries must be more determined to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. Coal, the most polluting fossil fuel, and its phase-out will certainly be one of the most fundamental issues over the next two years. Finland is a pioneer in both climate change mitigation and adaptation measures. Finland's role should be to set a good example to others and actively promote negotiations. The positive news is that the US decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement has so far not had a major impact and the unity of other countries in climate action is being emphasised. Belly-aching work on climate change is also being done on a large scale at the municipal level, both in the US and globally. Municipalities and local communities have a key role to play in this work. In the US, many states are also committed to reducing emissions. In November, California Governor Jeff Brown discussed the US-European emissions market with EU Climate and Energy Commissioner Miguel Arias Cannete. So much is being done at state level and even Trump cannot ignore the fact that investment in renewable and zero emission energy is a rising trend and the world of fossil energy is history. Stopping climate change will require cooperation at both the global and local community levels.

 Verena Kaun

The author is a passionate federalist and European activist. He is currently working as a parliamentary assistant on climate and energy policy issues.