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Germanwatch Blog

From policy to impact, get the expert take on the issues shaping our world.

Fig. 1. Overview of global climate tipping points (Own Illustration, based on PIK 2017).

Dealing with the impacts of climate change Blog post | 16.02.2023

Tipping points and their impact on human security

Climate tipping points are thresholds in the Earth’s climate system. When passed, this system experiences abrupt and typically irreversible changes. In this blog series, we take a look at four of the most treacherous tipping points: the Amazon rainforest, the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, Coral Reefs, and the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. We also provide an overview of their physical nature and their impact on human security, including the important issue of loss and damage, a topic which became a major discussion point at COP27.

Fig. 4. Amazon drought: Big river boat trapped on a sand bank East of Barreirinha, during one of the worst droughts ever recorded in the Amazon in 2005 (Daniel Beltrá / Greenpeace).

Blog post | 16.02.2023

Human security impacts of crossing the Amazon rainforest tipping point

In the first blog post of our tipping points series, we take a look at the Amazon rainforest. It is considered a climate tipping point because it may shift to a savannah or savannah-like environment given enough tree death. We will discuss the effects of deforestation, climate change, and the potential threat that crossing this climate tipping point will have on the region—and indeed elsewhere—and take a deep dive into the human and socio-economic impacts.

Fig. 3. Greenland ice sheet with melting ice flow (magnetix / Shutterstock).

Dealing with the impacts of climate change Blog post | 16.02.2023

How the Atlantic Ocean circulation could reach its switch-off tipping point

In the second blog post of our tipping points series, we take a look at the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation; a phenomenon in the Atlantic Ocean which brings heat from the southern to the northern hemisphere. By discussing how the relative freshening of the waters in the North Atlantic in response to the melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet will change this circulation, we will explain the potential threat that crossing this climate tipping point will have on the global distribution of heat and precipitation. Furthermore, we will take a look at the associated human and socio-economic impacts.

Fig. 1. Coral Bleaching at Magnetic Island in the Great Coral Reef (Victor Huertas / Greenpeace).

Dealing with the impacts of climate change Blog post | 16.02.2023

Coral Reefs could pass their point of no return this decade

In the third blog post of our tipping points series, we take a look at Coral Reefs. Often referred to as rainforests of the sea, coral reefs form some of Earth's most diverse ecosystems. The rapid demise of many of the world’s coral reefs this past decade is one of the clearest indicators that things are going very wrong. We will take a look at the nature of coral reefs, how and why they are now considered a climate tipping point, and consider many of the human and socio-economic impacts we can anticipate in the decades ahead.

Foto von Mohamed Seenen / Climate Visuals

Dealing with the impacts of climate change Blog post | 16.02.2023

West Antarctic Ice Sheet tipping point: a risk for millions in coastal regions

In the last blog post of our tipping points series, we take a look at the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). It is a portion of the continental ice sheet on Antarctica and acts as a gigantic water storage, keeping sea levels static and coastlines intact. A collapse of the entire ice sheet would result in a global mean sea level rise of approximately 3.3 metres, and in the flooding of coastal areas and cities where hundreds of millions of people live. We will discuss the nature of the WAIS, and the effects its collapse will have on global sea level rise, and the socio-economic and human impacts.

©The Marshall Islands are facing the effects of climate change. To support climate transformation at global scale, MDBs need to align their financial flows with the Paris agreement.

Climate finance Blog post | 31.01.2023

The Multilateral Development Banks in the run-up to Paris alignment

Article 2.1c of the Paris Agreement stipulates the goal to align financial flows with climate goals.

Sustainable Finance Blog post | 23.11.2022

A common framework is needed to track progress towards climate goals

A ‘race to the top’ or global crawl? Despite global climate negotiations at COP27 and the G20 inching far too slowly towards the financial transformations we need to tackle climate change, country-level progress is being made. A common framework would help track that progress.

German climate policy and energy transition Blog post | 31.10.2022

German support for gas investments abroad is mostly not compatible with the Paris Agreement

Since 2015, Germanwatch and NewClimate have collaborated in developing criteria to assess the compatibility of investments with global climate goals. This blog summarises some of our ideas and explains to what extent support for fossil fuels abroad jeopardises Germany's climate commitments and the Paris Agreement.

Blogpost

Climate finance Blog post | 31.10.2022

Myth Buster no. 3: Climate action in the agriculture and land use sector undermines food security? - Wrong!

This blog is part of a series debunking ‘myths’ about trade-offs between climate action and development. It is intended for decision-makers, practitioners in multilateral development banks, as well as civil society and the interested public, providing them with evidence to disprove widespread misconceptions about trade-offs climate action and development. It also gives recommendations for how multilateral development banks can contribute to strengthening the link between climate action and development, thus encouraging win-win elements instead of trade-offs.

Blogpost

Climate finance Blog post | 06.10.2022

Myth Buster no. 2: Renewable energies are not reliable enough and their expansion is too slow to ensure access to energy for all? - Wrong!

This blog series aims to debunk ‘myths’ about trade-offs between climate action and development. Addressing political decision-makers, practitioners in multilateral development banks as well as staff of civil society organisations and the interested public, three blog posts will provide them with evidence to refute widespread misconceptions about the effects of climate action on development. They will also include recommendations for multilateral development banks on how to contribute to strengthening the link between climate action and development and thereby highlight win-win opportunities and avoid trade-offs.

Bloggers

Christoph Bals

Chief Policy Officer

Jan Burck

Senior Advisor – Low-Carbon Strategies & Energy, Project Lead Climate Indices (currently absent)

Oldag Caspar

Head of Division – German and European Climate Policy

David Eckstein

Senior Advisor – Climate Finance and Investments

Dr. Anja Carolin Gebel

Policy Advisor – Development Banks and Climate

Julia Grimm

Senior Advisor – Climate Finance and Adaptation

Cornelia Heydenreich

Head of Division – Corporate Accountability

Klaus Milke

Honorary Chairman Germanwatch and Chair of the Foundation for Sustainability

Stefan Rostock

Head of Division – Education for Sustainable Development, Promoter for Climate & Development in North Rhine-Westphalia

Laura Schäfer

Head of Division – International Climate Policy

Rixa Schwarz

Senior Advisor – Climate and Development – India

Dr. Manfred Treber

Special Advisor - Climate Science and Transport

Lutz Weischer

Head of Policy Berlin (currently absent)