Publication & Media

The burning of wood for energy is increasing worldwide, putting pressure on forests and ecosystems. This paper analyzes the development in Europe, North America, East Asia, Africa, and South America.

The briefing shows how the scenarios of the IPCC’s 6th Assessment Report (AR6) perpetuate existing inequalities into the future. It explores alternative perspectives that prioritize equitable futures, climate justice, and well-being for all in IPCC AR7.

This report strives to shed light on the various biophysical as well as sociocultural long-term impacts of mining, which can mean massive long-term monetary costs for states and further generations.

In Southern Afghanistan, an urgent crisis is brewing. Water scarcity is driving large-scale displacement and migration, threatening to escalate into a global issue. Decades of drought have depleted traditional water sources, pushing communities to rely on unsustainable groundwater extraction.

This report specifically examines the opportunities that exist for U.S. cities to use mobility data to improve transportation's environmental sustainability, accessibility, and equity.

This strategy paper consid­ers possible ways to use mobility data for improving environmental sustainability and equitable access to transportation in Germany.

Well-designed energy bills are a key tool for consumers in the energy transition. The analysis “‘Clean’ Energy Bills for all citizens in the EU; a subject to an examination” aims at registering the content, structure, and format of the electricity bills in EU27, and examine their contribution to consumers’ empowerment to play an active role in the clean energy transition.

The term "environmental racism" emerged in the 1980s in the USA and articulates the racist effects of unequal distribution of environmental goods and risks. In light of the climate crisis, a new generation of people experiencing racism is asking whether and how climate change impacts reinforce the efficacy of environmental racism.

Fossil fuel development, in particular oil and gas, promised vast riches in the past. Today it is exposing fossil fuel producers and their creditors to a massive stranded asset risk. Technological disruption with the rapid cost-reduction of renewable energy and storage technologies, in conjunction with the inevitability of increased climate action, are at the root of unprecedented uncertainties over the future of the sector. 

Low-income countries (LICs) are suffering from triple distresses: the mortal impact of Covid-19, increasing debt burdens, and climate change impacts. This paper brings the debt-for-adaptation swap into play as an alternative source to restore countries' ability to act and be resilient to climate change.

This paper outlines some viable options for creating an architecture for a Debt-for-Climate Initiative (DCI). This is intended to enable countries to recover from the pandemic.

Sustainable transport and mobility are key to tackle the climate crisis and to achieve the targets of the European Green Deal. However, transport today accounts for nearly 30 percent of the CO₂ emissions within the European Union. How can the EU reduce its transport and mobility emissions while connecting citizens, creating green jobs and leading the innovation in the sector?

The present study, authored by scientists from different backgrounds, makes the eloquent case for such a reflection, pause, and reassessment. The publication is recommended to any reader concerned about our oceans' future.

The Plastic Atlas provides facts and figures about the world of synthetic polymers.  ➢ Download or order now!

In a joint effort, a group of authors from civil society and academia point out that the impacts that plastic and the chemicals in it have on our bodies need to be assessed in the full lifecylce of this enduring an ubiquitous material. You can read the executive summary of their study here.

Climate change mitigation scenarios are important instruments for developing pathways towards a climate-friendly world. This short study shows that neither the use of CDR technologies is as indispensable as shown in the scenarios, nor is an overshoot unavoidable.

Briefing on the details and possible impacts of the Stratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiment - a planned experiment in a form of geoengineering known as Solar Radiation Management (SRM). SRM aims to block or reflect sunlight before it reaches the earth’s atmosphere.

A briefing explaining why Solar Radiation Management (SRM) experiments are a bad idea. SRM describes a set of geoengineering techniques that aim to counter human-made climate change by artificially increasing the reflection of heat from sunlight (solar radiation) back into space. 

The European Energy Atlas shows a clear alternative: It not only provides a compass on the different energy discussions in different Member States but also reveals how a Europeanization of the energy transition will be the more efficient and cost-effective option for all Europeans.

This essay adopts broader conceptual analysis on technology deployment for social change. It looks at how data-driven technologies are currently deployed to solve problems. And makes a case for why we cannot leave the challenges posed by data-driven technologies to technologists.

The massive use of plastics has created an enormous global problem with environmental, economic, social, and health repercussions. The only viable solution to the problem would therefore be to stop plastic waste from entering the oceans in the first place. The authors of this paper propose to launch negotiations on a plastics convention and begin to end this irresponsible disaster.

Species are vanishing at such high speed that researchers are talking in terms of a sixth major mass extinction happening within human history. This introductory publication clarifies the vital development-policy significance of the discussion over biodiversity.

Imagine that by releasing a single fly into the wild you could genetically alter all the flies on the planet. This is the terrifyingly powerful premise behind gene drives: a new and controversial genetic engineering technology that can permanently alter an entire species by releasing one bioengineered individual. Civil society groups are alarmed by this newfound ability to reshape the natural world.