Climate Change

Germanwatch is looking for a consultant to conduct a background research on the topic of tipping points in the climate system. The purpose of this research is to gain a broader overview and deeper knowledge on the status quo of scientific findings on particular tipping points and their expected impacts as well as necessary political reactions to this challenge.

Outstanding scientific research is exploring tipping points’ development and dynamics. Lacking, however, is a systematic approach that translates scientific research into concrete recommendations. Also lacking are targeted calls for action for political decision-makers in affected countries and regions, as well as the international community. An early warning system in the form of a regular report could fill this gap.

In its coalition agreement, the German government has set itself the goal of expanding offshore wind energy to 70 GW by 2045. This target is polarising. On the one hand, offshore wind energy has a high number of full load hours and can thus make a reliable contribution to decarbonisation. On the other hand, the expansion of 70 GW of offshore wind energy is very likely to increase the need for grid expansion, raise issues of marine protection and bring challenges such as the timely availability of resources.

This briefing from Climate Action Network International (CAN) and The Loss and Damage Collaboration lays out the expectations of civil society and international loss and damage experts towards the Glasgow Dialogue on Loss & Damage (L&D) finance and makes concrete suggestions for its principles, milestones and deliverables. It does so with the ultimate objective of making the dialogue a results-oriented process through which adequate, new and additional support for the most vulnerable people and countries in addressing L&D is provided.

The climate lawsuit of the Peruvian Andean farmer and mountain guide Saúl Luciano Lliuya against the energy company RWE has entered the decisive phase six and a half years after the lawsuit was filed: After a long delay, especially due to the Corona pandemic, a site visit took place this week in the Andean city of Huaraz. Judges of the Higher Regional Court (OLG) of Hamm (Germany), legal advisors and experts travelled to Peru to examine whether the plaintiff's house is threatened by a possible flood wave from the glacier lake Palcacocha above the city. The entire danger zone in Huaraz actually covers an area where around 50,000 people live.

At the forthcoming G7 Ministerials this week and next, Germany should push for stronger joint efforts to exit international fossil fuel financing. Considering the latest IPCC findings and the urgent need to stop investment in coal, oil and gas, the financial activities of public finance institutions (PFIs) play an important role to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement. This paper analyses the alignment of German and Korean PFIs’ climate and sector strategies with the Paris Agreement and makes recommendations on how their strategies can align with a 1.5°C goal.

This report gives an overview of the climate law situation in each of the following countries: Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, North Macedonia, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom. Some of the participant countries have a climate law, for some it is in the pipeline and for others it is a bottom up push from civil society.

With the war against Ukraine dragging on for over a month now, the vulnerabilities of the G7 and, particularly, of low- and middle-income countries have become increasingly visible. As leading industrialised countries and, historically, major contributors to the climate crisis, the G7 will need to live up to their responsibility to support countries in building resilience to climate impacts and other global crises. In this blog, we outline possibilities for the G7 to address the vulnerabilities in their own countries, and far beyond, to increase resilience against future crises while also supporting other nations.

The leading industrialised countries have a particular responsibility to address the climate crisis – but they failed to meet their former commitments. The German G7 presidency now offers the opportunity to take important steps towards a new paradigm for climate finance. Against that backdrop, this policy brief formulates five key asks to the G7 governments.

On the sixth African Union (AU) and European Union (EU) Summit on February 17-18, 2022, African and European Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) have written a statement for a transformative and equal partnership between Africa and the EU with civil society involvement.