This year's COP31 world climate conference will take place without Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz after its cancellation. What this says about the federal government and what we can do about it. – A comment from Oliver Lindgren.

In Turkey, more precisely in Antalya, began on MondayUN Climate Change Conference. Since then, over 80,000 people, delegates from over 180 countries, have been crowding through the event rooms - except for Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU).

But why exactly? Steffen Meyer (SPD), as deputy government spokesman, tried to apologize for Merz. He had to take care of other obligations during the period, but thank you for the invitation. However, Steffen Meyer did not go into these obligations in more detail.

One could almost laugh about it, because such a step was actually to be expected and fits in only too well with Chancellor Merz's external image. He doesn't even allow himself to be carried away by such a symbolic act. He dared to do so through the voice of Steffen Meyerto emphasizehow “enormously important” climate protection is for the federal government and also for Merz personally.

The Paris Climate Agreement continues to serve as a guideline for the Federal Government's policy. But a few remaining, mere verbal statements in absentia clearly show that the federal government is neither setting a focus nor engaging in any kind of discussion on the climate issue.

Germany and the climate goals: Wasn't there something to do with the environment?

The federal government ignores the climate consequences

This debate would be more urgent than ever: Germany is warming up about twice as fast as the global average and the consequences of this have long been noticeable for everyone. Acute extreme weather events such as flash floods or the historic low water levels on the Rhine, persistent heat waves and the resulting thousands of corpses in the concrete-covered cities, threatened domestic ecosystems due to the rapid death of forests and oxygen-free dead zones in the Baltic Sea.

But what solutions does the federal government offer? When the water level in the Rhine was low, some countries decided thatThe Sunday driving ban for trucks should be temporarily lifted. A short-term treatment of symptoms did not solve the problem and the truck drivers had to pay for the politicians' failings.

For a long time, Merz only ignored the around 14,000 heat deaths in the summer of this year, until he finally announced vague heat protection measures and, above all, the citizens' personal responsibilityappealed. However, if you delve deeper into the topicbusy, you will find that politicians have simply missed the point for years and preferred to save costs instead of adequately preparing cities like Berlin for such expected heat waves.

The heat wave leaves behind thousands of corpses

Who is to blame for climate change?

We already know this type of appeal: in the spring of this yeardemandedEnvironment Minister Carsten Schneider (SPD) urged citizens to accelerate the use of renewable energy sources because the increase was too slow: “What benefits the climate also strengthens our security and our economic strength,” he said. “Every additional kilowatt hour of renewable energy makes our country less dependent on oil and gas and our energy supply more secure.”

Quite apart from the fact that the focus here is more on war preparations and not climate policy, both Merz and Schneider's rhetoric are well known. Time and again, the role of individual citizens is brought into focus in order to shift responsibility for catastrophic climate developments onto ordinary workers and away from large corporations. This is reminiscent, for example, of the CO₂ footprint calculator that was launched by BP in 2004.

The strategy worked. For over two decades, people were harassed with a shared responsibility that came to nothing, which every government spokesman was happy to take up again and again as soon as it became too sensitive. Now, 22 years later, the majority of people are simply annoyed by the whole issue or have left movements like FFF or Ende Gelaender in frustration. Not even the current Chancellor has to make any more effort at the UN climate conference.

The 1.5 degree target will be missed: time to give up hope?

Stop being annoyed!

But resistance to the current federal government and the excesses of this system is emerging. In the last few weeks, the protests that began in France have spread to many other countries and have also spread to Germany. Under the “Gen Z regulates” initiative, over 120,000 young people were recently on the streets in over 30 cities.

Previously, a media hunt depicted a violent debate about the protests, entire shopping streets were barricaded and the press wanted accountability from the movement: will it be peaceful or like in France? In the end, the police created a large part of these images themselves: escalation, long-lasting cauldrons, pepper spray, tear gas and water cannons. The police violence was so massive that even the state presscouldn't hide, who especially escalated things that evening.

The next big day of protest will be on November 20th, this time with very specific onesdemands. At the top: "Merz has to go: We demand his resignation as Chancellor! We don't need a government that pretends to act in our interest but all the time does exactly the opposite and pushes forward politics in order to fill the pockets of corporations."

“No to compulsory military service! – money for education instead of rearmament!”, “Stop social cuts!”, “Against violence and oppression of women & LGBTI+ people!” and "Against all racism! Stop all deportations & tightening of asylum laws!", the protest movement continues to demand.

Gen Z rules: A step forward

Gen Z also regulates climate policy

But the climate issue also plays an important role in the protests: "Climate justice NOW! The climate collapse is spreading, tipping points are escalating. This has been known for decades, despite mass protests, large corporations continue to make billions in profits by exploiting us and our planet. We demand zero emissions, global climate justice and help for all those affected - locally and globally!"

And that shows a very concrete approach that the Merz government is not able to offer. Because if we join forces, we can build pressure together. Of course they will cause fear again, but this fear is a good sign. It means that they are afraid that we will no longer swallow everything that is served to us.

So if we don't just want to look outraged at the UN climate conference and the absence of the Chancellor, but also want to point out a limit, then it is now, then it is on November 20th. the time has come for it.

The postWorld Climate Conference: The Chancellor doesn't even bother with symbolic politics anymoreappeared firstperspective.