Climate

We need to act now, if we want to keep the planet in a liveable condition under climate change. The Paris Climate Agreement was a step in the right direction. Now ambition has to be raised and wrong approaches to solving the climate crisis have to be prevented. We want to promote real alternatives, advance social-ecologic transformation and hold those accountable whose business model causes climate change. A change of course is possible!

Latest contributions

The Myth of Good Plastic

Essay

Plastic is a material that used to be a symbol of progress and modernity. Now it represents an industry that subordinates everything to profit, even if the world is ruined in the process.

By Barbara Unmüßig

5 years later - Happy Birthday, Paris Agreement?

Analysis

December 12, 2020, will be the 5th anniversary of the adoption of the Paris Climate Agreement. This analysis provides important materials and pursues the questions: Where do we stand in dealing with the climate crisis? What false solutions must be avoided? And how can we push the urgently needed radical course change in pursuit of climate justice?

By Lili Fuhr, Linda Schneider , Liane Schalatek and Lisa Tostado

Während Vizepräsident Joe Biden zuschaut, hält US-Außenminister John Kerry eine Rede zum Start der Partnerschaft "100.000 Strong in the Americas" im US-Außenministerium in Washington, D.C.

"Build Back Greener? "Biden's Plan for America's International Climate Commitment

Commentary

"Build back better" has been Joe Biden’s campaign promise. Climate policy is central to this, both in domestic and foreign policy. Ultimately, it is also a question of whether the Biden government can succeed in regaining lost credibility on the international stage.

By Liane Schalatek

No Limits to Growth? A Societal Transformation Scenario to limit global warming to 1.5°C

Speakers:

Kai Kuhnhenn, Konzeptwerk Neue Ökonomie, Germany
Diana Ürge-Vorsatz, Central European University Budapest and IPCC Working Group III Vice Chair

Facilitation:

Linda Schneider, Heinrich Böll Foundation, Senior Programme Officer International Climate Policy

In our Online Event "No Limits to Growth?" (15 December 2020) we present the „Societal Transfomation Scenario“, a new global mitigation scenario, which challenges not only the notion of perpetual global economic growth but also its compatibility with ambitious climate goals. It shows how through a reduction of production and consumption in the Global North, we can stay below 1.5°C without resorting to high-risk technologies while avoiding temperature overshoot.

With our two speakers we discuss the need for limiting production and consumption, in particular in wealthy countries of the Global North and explore to what extent are pathways of deeper transformation reflected in current work of the IPCC and what we can expect from the upcoming Sixth Assessment Report (AR6).

This event aims to open up the discussion around alternative pathways and future trajectories that are currently not considered in mainstream mitigation scenarios.

COP 25: Climate Conference in Madrid

The 25th Conference of the Parties (COP 25) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will take place under the Presidency of the Government of Chile from 2 to 13 December in Madrid, Spain. A key objective is to complete several matters with respect to the full operationalization of the Paris Agreement which includes a need to increase national ambition. Despite the relocation of the COP the civil society People’s Summit will take place in Santiago de Chile.

A girl speaking at COP25 in front of many young people

Amid Climate Crisis, Will Governments Deliver Ambitious Climate Action in Madrid?

Background

Against the backdrop of increasing climate destruction and mass mobilizations calling for climate leadership, COP-25 must deliver urgent, rights-based climate action.

By Erika Lennon and Sebastien Duyck

Further Articles

Arbeiter:innen auf einer Gingkoplantage in China

“Ecological civilisation” and the conservation of biological diversity – a glance at China ahead of CBD COP 15

Ways out of the plastic crisis:

pdf

Tackling Asia’s Plastic Pollution

COP 2013 - 2018

COP24: Katowice

COP23: Bonn

COP22: Marrakech

COP21: Paris

COP20: Lima

COP19: Warsaw

Events

Our German blog "Klima der Gerechtigkeit" offers current information and commentaries on national as well as international climate and energy policies.

In our blog "Global Energy Transition" global experts write about the international Energiewende.

Smoke and Fumes

Oil industry actors had early knowledge of climate risks and important opportunities to act on those risks, but repeatedly failed to do so. Those failures give raise to potential legal responsibilities under an array of legal theories.

Download

Not A Silver Bullet

Why the focus on insurance to address loss and damage is a distraction from real solutions.

pdf

The Status of Climate Change Litigation: A Global Review (PDF)

Geoengineering

The geoengineering fallacy

Geoengineering

Climate Finance

Green finance and climate finance

The G20 uses the term “Green Finance” as a broad umbrella term that refers to the major shift in financial flows required to support projects that benefit the environment and society by reducing pollution or tackling climate change.

By Motoko Aizawa

This site germanclimatefinance.de is designed to critically evaluate and increase transparency regarding the German government’s contribution to international climate finance.

The Climate Finance Fundamentals look at various aspects of climate change financing. It is meant to give readers unfamiliar with the global discourse about funding for climate action a better understanding of financial flows, the regions and countries they reach, and the climate interventions they target