New Delhi [India], September 3 (ANI): Germany’s Minister for Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Carsten Schneider, said last week's devastating flash floods that wreaked havoc in Nepal are a stark reminder of the impact of climate change, asserting that such extreme events are likely to become more frequent.
Speaking to ANI on Wednesday, Schneider described what happened in Nepal as “terrible” and said people had lost their lives and homes due to the impacts of climate change.
“I think we see that this is all due to climate change. It’s due to the fact that people have died because of climate change, and they’ve lost their homes. I would say that these kinds of events are going to occur more and more frequently because of climate change,” Schneider said.
Highlighting the importance of India-Germany cooperation to counter such calamities through climate advocacy, the German minister called New Delhi a “very key partner” for Berlin in addressing climate change and stressed that environmental challenges transcend national borders.
“Environment and climate change are not something that stops at country boundaries; they are something that is global, and it’s very important that India and Germany continue to work together as key partners to ensure that whatever happens is for the good of the world,” he added.
Schneider further said that both countries must work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, limit global temperature rise, and ensure the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement.
“We must work to keep climate change, ensure that it doesn’t happen, that greenhouse gases are reduced, that the Earth’s temperature rise is kept in check, and that the Paris Climate Agreement is actually fulfilled,” he said.
The death toll from the devastating flash floods has reached 1,204, according to an official update released by Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) earlier today, as search and rescue operations continue across the affected areas.
The crisis began after a catastrophic flash flood struck the Tibet-Nepal border on August 26, sending a powerful surge of water, sediment and boulders through the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli river systems and causing widespread destruction.
The German Minister also underlined Berlin’s plans to deepen cooperation with New Delhi across economic and sustainable technology sectors.
“I met with the Commerce Minister and met with the Minister of Power, and we’ve decided that over the next few years we are going to intensify our cooperation, of course, on the economic front, but also as far as sustainable technologies are concerned,” Schneider said.
He specifically pointed to clean technology and efficient use of resources as areas where the two countries could strengthen cooperation.
“Germany is a key country as a key nation in terms of multilateralism, in terms of obviously the values that unite us,” he added. (ANI)
German Environment Minister Schneider links Nepal flash floods to climate change; calls India "key partner" for global climate action
