The outgoing European Commission president has said it would take more than a protest movement to achieve climate goals. Jean-Claude Juncker has also spoken of his Brexit regrets.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/L. Klimkeit
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European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Friday that no matter how hard climate activists fight, implementing their demands is not necessarily feasible.
In an interview with German magazine Der Spiegel, Juncker spoke of his admiration for the youth and their determination to seek change. "But I'm not naive. Much of what is sentimentally recounted is in reality not that easy to achieve," the outgoing president said.
He said he was satisfied with the climate policy assessment of his own commission, whose term is coming to an end.
"I do not really like complacency, but as the European Union, we have made a massive contribution to the Paris Climate Agreement."
The EU wants to cut emissions by 40% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels, and some EU nations are even demanding a reduction of 55%.
'We're running out of time' on climate change
Thousands of protesters hit the streets of Katowice to sound the alarm on climate change. They want world leaders meeting at the nearby climate conference to repeat the historic Paris agreement.
Image: DW/J. Collins
Time is running out
The protesters' symbol was a clock to signal to those meeting at the United Nations climate change conference (COP24) that time is running out if the world is to limit global warming to within 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit). Negotiations at the COP have been tough, with disagreements on financing for developing countries and on how states should report their emissions cuts.
Image: DW/J. Collins
Sending up Bolsonaro
Some marchers made giant puppets, including of Brazil's president elect, Jair Messias Bolsonaro, to protest the leader's climate policies. Bolsonaro has threatened to follow US President Donald Trump and withdraw his country from the Paris climate agreement. Bolsonaro has also talked about loosening protections for the Amazon rainforest — the Earth's green lungs.
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Air pollution woes
About seven million people worldwide die prematurely due to air pollution every year. Poland's air quality is particularly bad because of the country's dependence on coal for electricity and heating. Some protesters decorated pollution masks to make a statement about Poland's coal policy. During the COP, the country's president said there was no intention to phase out coal.
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'Don't nuke the climate'
Some groups, like the International Atomic Energy Agency, are promoting nuclear energy as an alternative to fossil fuels. It would provide a stable and greenhouse gas-emission-free energy source, says the IAEA. A number of protesters turned up to advocate against nuclear, because there is no good way to deal with the radioactive waste it produces and because it is potentially unsafe, they say.
Image: DW/J. Collins
A sustainable Christmas
Sustaina Claus arrived at the climate march with his Christmas elves to preach the message of sustainability. The environmental activist says we need to stop overconsumption if we are to stop climate change and protect the planet's resources. Instead of buying mountains of gifts for your loved ones at Christmas, "you should give the gift of you."
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Activists held at the border
NGOs said a number of environmental campaigners were refused entry at the Polish border or deported from the country, having been deemed a "threat" to national security. Climate Action Network, an umbrella group of climate groups, called the actions worrying. A spokeswoman for Poland's border guards said she could not say whether the refusals were connected to the COP, according to Reuters.
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Cycling for the climate
Climate activist Lander Wantens cycled over 1,000 kilometers from Belgium to Katowice for the protest and to deliver a message to delegates to do more to combat climate change. He hopes that if the negotiators see "four guys from Belgium are crazy enough to bike to the climate summit in Poland in winter, maybe that's a signal that they have to work on an ambitious climate agreement."
Image: DW/J. Collins
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Member states may be in a position to agree later this year on the objective of achieving climate neutrality by 2050.
However, Juncker says it will take more than some activists to make the difference.
"Anyone who pretends that it does not require any special effort, just because there is a movement in this direction among young people now, is very wrong," he said.
Juncker met Greta Thunberg in Brussels, where she delivered a speechImage: picture-alliance/Zuma Press/Le Pictorium Agency/N. Landemard
Thunberg tweeted that she will now not be heading to Chile, but will be returning to Europe somewhat earlier than planned. This is due to the UN climate conference not taking place in Santiago, but in Madrid, due to the civil unrest in the Latin American country.
Uncompromising position, criticizes Johnson
Juncker, who is about to be replaced by German Ursula von der Leyen, also spoke of his regrets over Brexit, saying he wished he had played a greater role in the build-up to the 2016 vote. He even suggested that some of the lies spread during the Leave campaign were done so by current British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
The 64-year-old said of then-Prime Minister David Cameron: "I had a lot of invitations, but Cameron made it clear that he could not use me, that the European Commission was even less popular in the UK than on the continent."
"I decided then not to get involved. Today I think that's a big mistake; so many lies were told — even by the current Prime Minister Boris Johnson."
