Environmental Policy

The IPCC Special Report on 1.5 opts for a rigorous interpretation of the 1.5 limit on global warming. It has good reasons to do so: "Overshooting" that target risks irreversible impacts and damage for societies and ecosystems, and increases reliance on unproven, high-risk geoengineering technologies.

A new climate agreement intended to ensure “carbon-neutral growth” in international aviation could lead to a massive increase in demand for problematic offsetting projects.

This dossier aims to give a broad overview of exciting new and old pathways towards a climate-just 1.5°C world. Pathways that are grounded in radical, social and environmental justice-based agendas for political change.

On paper, almost every government in the world is committed to reducing greenhouse-gas emissions and keeping global temperatures limited to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. But too many governments, parroting the oil and gas industry's misleading claims, are actually supporting the expansion of fossil fuel production.

Rather than allowing itself to be dragged into Donald Trump’s destructive trade games, the European Union should turn them on their head, by introducing a CO2 levy, including border adjustment. Such a response would help protect the environment and boost the EU's own international clout.

The infrastructure projects needed to forestall catastrophic climate change are rarely attractive investments for the private sector or even most governments. That means development banks have a crucial role to play.

Heating, cooling and transport consume huge amounts of fossil fuels. Converting them to renewable energy poses challenges, but also offers solutions to the problem of variable power generation.

Conventional energy comes from a few large, powerful firms. But for renewable energy sources, it makes sense for the generation capacity to be owned by individuals and communities.

Renewables have moved from being a sideshow to the main act in Europe’s energy theatre. Government support has been key to this – but renewables are increasingly able to stand on their own.

In the EU, an Energy Union is emerging from an array of packages, policies, projects and proposals. They map the shift from conventional energy markets to flexible ones that promote renewables.

Europe is making progress towards its energy transition at a rate few imagined ten years ago. There is still a long way to go, but the continent is now in a position to become the global leader in green energy.

Cities can be a hotbed of innovation. They are big enough to try out new ideas on a large scale, but small enough to brush them aside if they do not work out.

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.

COP 23 was one COP in two zones: The Bula zone was the site of the official negotiations  - with little relevance to what happens in the real world. The Bonn zone hosted dozens of civil society kiosks and hundreds of events searching for real solutions.

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.

The UN climate summit COP 23 will convene from 6 to 17 November 2017 in Bonn, Germany, under the presidency of the government of Fiji. This article provides an overview of key issues at stake and a summary of our expectations for the COP 23.

Germany has been seen as a leader in renewable energy in the European Union, but there is still a long way to go. To revitalize both European and German energy transitions, Rebecca Bertram proposes three strategies for Germany’s new government to put in place at the EU level.

The production of raw materials in Latin America leads to blatant human rights violations and conflicts. Without a strong civil society and the responsibility of European consumers, the settlement of resource-related conflicts becomes impossible.