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Central Europe
December 21, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 14
the end of this century – a seemingly minute difference of 0.5 degrees versus the target – would have disastrous consequences.
Extreme weather, falling crops, and a faster rise of ocean levels, are just some effects with potential to destabilise the current order, shaky as it as already, if Earth becomes too warm.
The IPCC report proved to be one of the major sticking points during COP in Katowice. The US, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Kuwait all blocked “welcoming” the report, which in diplospeak would mean embracing its findings.
Eventually, the summit agreed to a watered down version of referencing the IPCC’s work, “welcoming timely completion” of the report, which critics say ignores its content.
In the dying hours of the talks, Brazil risked derailing the deal by opposing discussion on details of carbon markets. Deferring the discus- sion to 2019 temporarily solved the deadlock.
Given the current crisis of international coopera-
tion as seen in the rule of Donald Trump in the US or by Brexit, the final outcome of the Katowice conference is a step forward for multilateralism that is crucial in addressing climate change.
“Despite all the headwinds, the Paris Agreement has stayed course at COP24, demonstrating the kind of resilience it has been designed for. The decisions made here on the Paris rulebook give us a solid foundation to keep building trust in multilateralism and accelerate the transition all across the world,” Laurence Tubiana, CEO of the European Climate Foundation and key architect of the Paris Agreement, said in reaction.
For Poland itself, the meeting in Katowice further rooted the discussion about the need for an energy transformation in mainstream discourse.
“Five years ago, there was no global climate policy framework, Polish policymakers did not believe in European emission reduction goals, renewables were still seen as uncompetitive, and domestic coal was considered a safe option,” said Aleksand- er Sniegocki, head of the climate and energy programme at Polish think-tank Wise Europa.
Protesters keep up pressure over Hungary’s “slave law”
bne IntelliNews
Anti-government protests continued for the fifth day in Hungary against changes to the labour code and the establishment of new public administrative courts on December 16. Labour unions are planning road blockades across the country in the coming weeks.
On Wednesday, parliament voted to extend the period employers may account overtime for the purpose of calculating wages and rest days from twelve months to three years, and to raise the
upper threshold for annual overtime from 250 to 400 hours.
Critics say the overtime law, dubbed as the "slave law" would essentially eliminate the need for em- ployers to pay extra for overtime work, as the over- time hours could simply be offset later by off-time work. The opposition blocked the house speaker's dais and obstructed proceedings with loud whistling and jeering in an attempt to thwart the vote, leading