Germanwatch-Blog

From heavy rainfall to rising sea levels, there is no doubt that the climate crisis is having a significant impact on global food security. At the same time, agriculture is contributing to climate change. Food systems will therefore also be discussed at COP29 in Azerbaijan. Germanwatch is calling for this issue to be prioritized and is following the negotiations on site. What should the international community achieve in Baku?

In 2023, six multilateral development banks have reached their self-imposed deadlines for the alignment of their projects with the Paris Agreement. We have analysed 60 of their projects and present the somewhat sobering findings in our blog post – with recommendations for greater transparency.

The 60th session of the Subsidiary Bodies (SBs) took place in Bonn in June 2024. This debrief provides a summary of the key discussions and outcomes from the session across the (negotiation) topics discussed, including the Mitigation Work Programme, Just Transition, Adaptation, Loss and Damage, Climate Finance, Global Stocktake, and Agriculture and Food Security. Additionally, it contextualises these developments within the big picture and offers a perspective on the upcoming expectations for COP29.

It has been frequently noted in the aftermath of the European elections that climate policy issues were less on the election agenda than in 2019. That may be true. But it is also true that a broad electoral majority is in favour of appropriate political responses to the climate crisis: support for more effective measures is polling high in many EU countries and among supporters of almost all (relevant) German parties. This is shown in several EU-wide and national surveys, as well as our own Germanwatch survey, commissioned together with DNR and WWF.

The climate crisis and democracies under pressure – just two of the EU’s many challenges that the two-edged sword of digitalisation both alleviates and aggravates. On the one hand, the production, use, and disposal of data centres and digital devices is causing a sharp rise in greenhouse gas emissions and raw material consumption worldwide. On the other, digitalisation is required to build decentralised renewable energy systems or to transition to a circular economy.

The Just Energy Transition Partnerships model aims to combine the finance, high level political momentum, and institutional framework needed to accelerate the energy transition in emerging economies relevant for global climate action. However, existing JETPs are facing roadblocks. Read our recommendations for the International Partners Group of donor countries.

The current geopolitical context is pushing the Weimar Triangle of France, Germany, and Poland to prioritise defence and security. NGOs, think tanks, and businesses argue that a ‘Green Weimar Triangle’ could not only safeguard achieving the EU climate goals but also address critical issues of economic competitiveness and cohesion.

Deforestation was one of the crucial issues at COP28 in Dubai. The negotiation outcome underscored its importance for the first time with a goal of ending global deforestation by 2030. Notwithstanding, deforestation continues. What exactly was decided at COP28? And where is more action needed?

Scorching heat, heavy rainfalls, raging wildfires, deadly floods, and devastating storms – the manifestations of extreme weather events have become a common phenomenon around the globe. In this blog post we give an overview of the extreme weather events occurring in 2023 and show why it is imperative that nations, communities, and individuals take concerted action to mitigate the root causes of climate change, adapt to its impacts, and work towards a more sustainable and resilient future.