Search results

At the climate summit in Glasgow (COP 26), the issue of climate finance is inextricably linked to success or failure. In Glasgow, past failures and shortcomings in climate finance mobilization and delivery must be ruthlessly addressed by presenting an implementation plan for future improvements.

In the run-up to the annual meeting of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) on October 26–28, the Heinrich Böll Foundation presents an analysis of what transparency requirements the AIIB has met following the review of its Environmental and Social Framework for financing. China controls the Bank, but European countries such as Germany and France are shareholders. They have always justified their participation in the AIIB by wanting to enforce high environmental and social standards and more transparency.

CAN – the Climate Action Network - is the largest international civil society network, that has monitored the UN climate negotiations for many years. Whether at national or international level, how can civil society participation be ensured at all in times of pandemic? What does this mean for the capacity for action and strategy of a global network like CAN? A conversation between Tasneem Essop, Executive Director of CAN International and Barbara Unmüßig, President of the Heinrich Böll Foundation

The prospect of a green hydrogen economy comes with significant opportunities and risks. There is a need to both promote and carefully shape the much needed expansion of production, while limiting the end use of green hydrogen.

Gender-based violence, participation in political and social processes and shrinking spaces: How do women's rights activists work under increasingly constrained circumstances in Cambodia?

Women's bodies are always the central target of conservative and fundamentalist ideology and practice. The individual rights are also shaped by social and cultural norms, legal conditions and, more than ever, also determined by reproductive technologies and medical offers. The essay by sociologist Christa Wichterich offers background information and analytical approaches from an international perspective.

Interview with Alicia Baier and Sophie G., who are both activists, on the occasion of International Safe Abortion Day.

Section 218 has been a topic of intense political debate ever since it was first incorporated in the Criminal Code of the German Empire on 15 May 1871. It has always been one of the most controversial paragraphs in German law, both legally and socially. In 1995, a compromise solution was found, but since then nothing more has changed. To find out why that is so, and work out what can be done about it, it’s worth taking a look back at the history of Section 218.

The “marea verde” – the “green tide” – has spread across the whole of Latin America. Can it make waves in Germany too?

Feminist movements that focus exclusively on abortion rights primarily represent the perspective of white, privileged women. Reproductive justice goes further, combining reproductive rights with social justice.

Looking back, now with Information Age lenses, 9/11’s aftermath lessons are full of virtues, yet to be capitalized.

While political and social avenues for free speech are limited and prohibited, Cambodian visual artists find limitless forms of creative expression to critically examine many complex urban, social and environmental concerns.

The twentieth anniversary of 9/11 and the United States’ disastrous pullout from Afghanistan has prompted a reckoning. But it’s not a new one.

Franziska Brantner MdB talks about her hopes that the new German government will reframe its European policy. Its priorities in this process should be the European Green Deal, defending the rule of law and bolstering the EU’s capacity to act.

With the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP 15) to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the global community wants to make a new attempt to halt the rapid and dramatic loss of ecosystems, species and genetic diversity, or biodiversity.

At the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP 15) to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Kunming, China, the course is set for or against the conservation of biodiversity.

The EU and Germany aim to be climate neutral by 2050 and 2045, respectively. The commitment to climate neutrality means that zero-emission alternatives will replace emissions-intensive processes and products. One energy alternative is climate-friendly hydrogen. However, hydrogen is not an all-purpose miracle that solves everything at once.

From 15-17 September 2021, the Budapest Forum gathered local decision-makers from Europe and beyond on how to strengthen sustainable democracies. Combatting the climate crisis including the participation of civil society will be key to sustain democratic liberties for the generations to come, said Dr. Ellen Ueberschär in her keynote on the panel 'People's power vs Climate crisis'.

The German parliamentary election campaign played out on the internet as never before. In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, this was certainly necessary, but it brought with it all the evils we have previously seen in US election campaigns: disinformation campaigns and hate speech were used to discredit candidates, paid political online advertising and foreign influence circumvented basic democratic values.

Germany has voted. The SPD, Greens and FDP come out of the elections as the winners, but take a very different view of the results – depending on their expectations and the pressure they feel upon them to act. By and large, the trend towards a party system in which no single party dominates continues. Constituency seats played a very particular role in these elections. This brief analysis provides an overview of the initial results, with a more comprehensive, empirical analysis to follow in the next few days.

No Single Pathway. Southeast Asian countries’ targets and wish lists toward carbon neutrality are like individual recipes that use different ingredients in various ways, to produce the same dish (hopefully).

Starting from October 2021, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) will begin using a newly revised but still problematic environmental and social framework. This framework contains the right words and appears to tick all the boxes, but it includes too many loopholes and caveats that undermine early disclosure of environmental and social risks.

The internet increasingly enables people in Senegal to express their opinions and be part of democracy – this has become clear in digital initiatives such as Sunu 2012 or #FreeSenegal. Senegalese activist Cheikh Fall explains in an interview how important (pan-African) networking is in this context.