Climate Change

Geoengineering – large-scale manipulation of the Earth’s natural systems – is increasingly being presented as a strategy to counteract, dilute or delay climate change. Which international legal norms and agreements would contradict the different measures?

Nowhere in the EU is smog more suffocating than in southern Poland. This year, the polluted Polish mining city Katowice will host the COP24 climate conference. Ahead of that, change is in the air — and on the ground.

While energy giants like Exxon and Shell have drawn fire for their roles in warming the planet, the corporate meat and dairy industries have largely avoided scrutiny.

This year alone, the world has faced unprecedented floods, hurricanes, wildfires, and droughts on virtually every continent. A safe climate future requires ending the age of Big Oil.

Can an economic valuation of nature actually internalise environmental costs?

Southeast Asia is one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change. Anyway the countries are planning to cover lacks in energy demand and supply mainly with coal. However, renewables from solar over biomass to wind have a huge potential in the region.

President Donald Trump declared that he would start measures to withdraw the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement, putting his country back into the “rogue state” category in international climate negotiations. 

All graphs of the Ocean Atlas are published under a Creative Commons License CC BY SA 4.0. and can be continued to be used, processed and published under these conditions. You can find all downloads available in various formats (png, pdf) here.

Many experts contributed their expertise to the Ocean Atlas, particularly scientists working together at the University of Kiel’s Future Ocean Cluster of Excellence to research the development of our oceans. Here's the who is who.

The ocean is far, far away from Springdale, Arkansas. And yet the city is feeling the effects of the rising sea level. Seeking safety, 10,000 inhabitants of the Marshall Islands have made the city their new home.

Without the ocean, climate change would proceed far more quickly. The massive volumes of water in the seas greatly influence the changes occurring in our atmosphere.

The Paris Agreement has set an ambitious goal to prevent global warming from spiraling out of control. But it has also set the stage for what will form the subject of numerous heated debates in the coming years. This external content requires your consent. Please note our privacy policy. Open external content on original site This external content requires your consent. Please note our privacy policy.

The food that we eat plays a big role in the search for solutions to climate change. Agriculture is one of the major contributors of greenhouse gases. But the way we farm our land can also be a big part of the solution. This external content requires your consent. Please note our privacy policy. Open external content on original site This external content requires your consent. Please note our privacy policy.

Emission trading systems aim to put a price on carbon, to save emissions where it is cheapest and benefit the global climate. But the approach has failed so far. In the EU, the price for carbon has dropped to a low, so producers can easily continue polluting. And they are actually making huge profits from the permits they receive. This external content requires your consent. Please note our privacy policy. Open external content on original site This external content requires your consent. Please note our privacy policy.

Dirty dealings protect the powerful and moneyed interests of the oil and gas industry. That is one reason why governments have not been able to meet their emission reduction commitments. Why the battle against climate change and corruption must be fought together.

Can governments and industry be put on trial in climate cases, to ensure the rights of the most vulnerable and future generations? The livelihoods of hundreds of millions could be threatened by unprecedented storms, droughts, floods, and sea-level rise. This external content requires your consent. Please note our privacy policy. Open external content on original site This external content requires your consent. Please note our privacy policy.

Can and should the global climate be regulated by technological means, the so called geoengineering? In our first episode of our podcast "Tipping point" our host took off to hear from experts what these approaches mean for the planet’s environment and society. This external content requires your consent. Please note our privacy policy. Open external content on original site This external content requires your consent. Please note our privacy policy.

Compared to COP21 where the EU had a decisive bridge-building role between developed and developing countries in leading a strong climate coalition, in Marrakesh Europe appeared silent and divided.

Parties to the CBD need to send a strong message to their climate counterparts to find real solutions that work for ecosystems and people instead of offering quick technofixes.

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.