Progress that would not have been possible without the Climate Change Conferences

UN Climate Change Conferences are unique. No other event in the world brings together so many stakeholders from all over the globe to solve a common problem. However, with individual exceptions like the conference in Paris in 2015, the outcomes of these conferences often seem far less than what would be necessary to successfully tackle the problem of climate change. But if we look at the broader picture and compare today's world with a world without Climate Change Conferences and internationally coordinated climate policy, there is a massive difference. Unlike at the beginning of the 1990s, there are now technical, economic and social solutions to combat climate change. Germany, for example, has roughly halved its greenhouse gas emissions since 1990. In the same period, there has been economic growth of 30 percent. And even though the international community is still far from on track to avert dangerous climate change, major progress has been achieved in many areas. Acknowledging this fact and building on it can give us the courage to continue resolutely together along the path to net zero in these difficult times.