Landschaftsfoto mit Windrädern am Horizont

Observing. Analysing. Acting.

Germanwatch is an independent development, environmental, and human rights organisation. We advocate sustainable global development based on social equity, respect for nature, and economic stability.

Focus areas

Climate Risk Index 2025

The Climate Risk Index (CRI) ranks countries by the human and economic toll of extreme weather. The latest edition highlights increasing losses and the urgent need for stronger climate resilience and action.
Groundbreaking climate ruling against RWE

Major emitters can be held liable for climate risks
Climate Change Performance Index 2025

The Climate Change Performance Index tracks the climate mitigation performance of 63 countries and the EU, which together account for 90% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
COP29: UN Climate Talks in Baku 2024

The 29^th UN climate talks took place in Baku in November 2024. Germanwatch was on site. Read our background stories, press releases, and blog posts on the climate conference in times of multiple crises.
Securing the Fundamental Rights of Tomorrow

Along with more than 54,000 claimants, we are taking the German government to court. We are demanding a national climate policy that protects fundamental rights and liberties today and in the future.

News

Report | 30.06.2025

Israel’s War Against Gaza: The New German Government’s Verbal Paradigm Shift Must Now Be Followed by Action

We are shocked to see how the current Israeli government has been escalating the war against the Palestinians for 19 months, preparing – as it has been announced – a major expulsion and thus massively disregarding human rights and international law. A Germanwatch statement on the war in Gaza.

Illustration zum Blogbeitrag

International climate co-operation Blog post | 25.06.2025

Eyes on Beijing

China’s course will determine the direction of global climate policy. Europe can still take appropriate diplomatic measures.

Eine Solaranlage in der Wüste von Südafrika

Economy, Finance & Trade Sustainable Finance Blog post | 12.06.2025

Separation is Futile

Climate and development finance are often conceptually separated, even though they are two sides of the same coin. In the third part of our blog series on the Fourth UN Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) in Seville, we explore why the original promise of ‘new and additional’ climate finance has been broken and how we can ensure that Seville does not become a setback in global climate and development policy.

Eine vierstöckige Superyacht, die auf dem Meer schwimmt

Economy, Finance & Trade Sustainable Finance Blog post | 04.06.2025

Love Is in the Air – But so Are Emissions

A reform of the global tax system is urgently needed in order to distribute burdens fairly and to achieve climate and development goals. In the second part of our blog series in the run-up to the Fourth United Nations Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) in Seville, we analyse the extent to which the super-rich and some under-taxed industries in particular are fuelling the climate crisis. Moreover, we show why the issue of tax reforms could be the key to a successful FfD4.

Papst Leo XIV.

Economy, Finance & Trade Sustainable Finance Blog post | 21.05.2025

Restructure Debt, Fund Climate Action

In many countries of the Global South, the debt burden weighs on public budgets and prevents investments to improve climate resilience. On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of Pope Francis’ Laudato si’ encyclical, we analyse in this blog post how closely the climate and debt crises are intertwined. We show that it is now, in the run-up to the Fourth United Nations Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4), that the German government must take responsibility by helping to reshape the international financial architecture.

Report | 08.04.2025

Terms of Reference Consultancy

Capacity Building for Young NGO Representatives in the Global SouthBangladesh is one of the countries most affected by climate change and climate-related loss and damage (L&D) in the world. Bangladesh’s topography and geographic location render it exposed to a number of climate-related hazards – from extreme weather events like floods and cyclones to slow onset climatic processes like sea level rise and salinization.

About us

Germanwatch is an independent development, environmental, and human rights organisation. We advocate sustainable global development based on social equity, respect for nature, and economic stability.

Germanwatch has earned its reputation as a prominent voice of civil society through more than 30 years of advocacy and over 650 successful projects. Our timely interventions have set milestones in climate action and development policies in Germany and Europe.

Publications

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Climate Dealing with the impacts of climate change Policy Brief | 12. June 2025

1,5°C to stay alive

Anthropogenic climate change is causing the average global temperature to rise increasingly faster. In the Paris Agreement, countries agreed to limit average global warming to 1.5°C if possible. Ten years after the Paris Agreement, this paper discusses whether we can still manage to stay below this limit.

Titelseite des Forderungspapiers

EU climate policy and carbon pricing Advocacy Paper | 26. June 2025

5-Point Plan: Implementing the EU Emissions Trading System for Buildings and Transport Effectively and Fairly in Germany

From 2027, the new EU Emissions Trading System (ETS-2) is expected to put a price on CO₂ emissions from the buildings and transport sectors across Europe for the first time. Fuel suppliers will be required to purchase CO₂ certificates to cover emissions in these sectors. In this paper, Germanwatch presents a 5-point plan for an effective and socially just implementation of EU emissions trading in Germany, developed in cooperation with Climate Alliance Germany, Diakonie Deutschland and 12 other partner organisations.

Vorschaubild zum Statement

Corporate Accountability Statement | 19. June 2025

What the Omnibus Package I would mean for the minerals and metals sector

This statement by Germanwatch and thirteen other organizations on the EU Commission's planned Omnibus Package I highlights its potential consequences for the metals sector.

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Press releases

Climate, Dealing with the impacts of climate change | 28.05.2025

Groundbreaking climate ruling against RWE: Major emitters can be held liable for climate risks

Saúl Luciano Lliuya v. RWE: Judges at the Higher Regional Court of Hamm have ruled that German civil law can be used to hold major emitters liable for the effects of climate change — a decision that extends protection to those impacted worldwide.

Climate, Climate Litigation | 19.03.2025

German court on the brink of holding major emitters liable for climate damages

The Higher Regional Court of Hamm has concluded hearings in Peruvian farmer Saúl Luciano Lliuya’s landmark climate case against German energy company RWE, with a decision expected on 14 April.

Climate, Dealing with the impacts of climate change | 13.03.2025

Saúl Luciano Lliuya against RWE: Decisive hearing coming up

Hamm Higher Regional Court (Germany) to hear landmark climate lawsuit on Monday and Wednesday

Climate, Dealing with the impacts of climate change | 12.02.2025

Almost 800,000 deaths and 4.2 trillion US dollars in damage caused by extreme weather events in 30 years

New edition of Climate Risk Index released today: Nearly 800,000 people have been killed worldwide in the past 30 years due to more than 9,400 extreme weather events / Dominica, China, and Honduras have been the countries most affected by floods, storms, and heatwaves since 1993

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