Globalisation and Transformation

The Agenda 2030 is at its half-way point, yet the 17 goals for sustainable development remain a distant proposition. In the following conversation, Imme Scholz discusses the causes and points out how the global community may speed up their realisation.

A new report from the DRGR project analyzes new data on the level and composition of public and private external sovereign debt for emerging markets and developing economies and how this relates to climate vulnerability.

The EU’s half-baked response to the U.S. investment offensive is putting its competitiveness and our future prosperity at risk. Now is the time for deeper European integration and major adjustments to EU treaty law.

Green hydrogen is increasingly heralded as the best alternative to fossil fuels. But to prevent it from becoming another excuse for greenwashing, Western policymakers must work with their counterparts in the Global South to create an economically viable sector with strong environmental and social standards.

As central banks tighten monetary policy, dozens of climate-vulnerable, highly-indebted countries teeter on the edge of a financial abyss. To address the confluence of economic and environmental disasters ravaging the Global South, the international community must provide immediate debt relief in exchange for green investments.

Investing billions in the development of new gas fields in Europe or in Africa is a misguided approach and sends the wrong signals to many countries in the world. Instead, the German government should massively increase its investments in emission-free technologies right now.

In the era of multiple crises a new economic thinking is needed that integrates environmental, social and economic dimensions for the transformation of our economies. A joint, transatlantic project by the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, the ZOE Institute for future-fit economies and Finanzwende Recherche developed a series of analyses and proposals on how to achieve this. The online dossier of our Brussels office offers videos, podcasts and articles related to the publication "Making the great turnaround work - Economic policy for a green and just transition".

Rangelands in dry areas frequently offer perfect conditions for renewable energy projects. However, project developers often do not take the consequences for pastoralist communities into account. A transparent and participatory process is needed that includes pastoralists and respects their right to free, prior and informed consent (FPIC).

In a joint declaration, nine organisations call for binding and ambitious sustainability criteria for the production and trade of green hydrogen.

Within the energy transition, international trade in green hydrogen and its derivatives will play an important role. But what opportunities and risks does this entail for exporting countries in the global South? What framework is needed to ensure that investments and trade develop from the start with sustainability in mind? The Heinrich Böll Foundation and Bread for the World are exploring these questions in a joint project.