As of July, Spain holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The Spanish Presidency has identified four priorities to focus on during its term. In our policy brief, we highlight specific areas of action within these priorities for the Spanish Presidency to make progress on climate and energy diplomacy.
The 27th UN Climate Conference (COP27) concluded with the groundbreaking agreement to establish a new loss and damage (L&D) fund. This significant development aims to enable vulnerable countries to respond to and recover from climate impacts. The report emphasises that the design and operation of the L&D fund will be significantly influenced by its intended scope. With diverse opinions among stakeholders on the fund's optimal design, the selection process for these recommendations is of paramount importance.
In March 2023 the IDB Group published its “Paris Alignment Implementation Approach: Principles, Methodology, and Technical Guidance” (PAIA). The document is based on the joint MDB framework and lays out how the IDB plans to adapt the framework to its own institutional procedures. This blog post provides an overview on what are promising, concerning and unclear elements in the IDB Group’s general Paris alignment methodology.
Deutschland überarbeitet derzeit seinen Nationalen Energie- und Klimaplan (NECP) für 2030. Darin werden Maßnahmen festgelegt, um die Klimaziele zu erreichen. Doch der Plan wird nicht allein von Politiker:innen bestimmt, sondern auch von der Zivilgesellschaft mitgestaltet. Sylwia Andralojc-Bodych und Charly Heberer von Germanwatch erklären in einem kurzen Video, wo noch Verbesserungspotenzial besteht, damit Deutschland seine Klimaziele tatsächlich erreicht.
The legal report points to existing corporate CO2 reduction obligations that are currently not sufficiently taken into account by many companies. It concludes that the increasing density of corporate reporting obligations in the area of so-called ESG risks (Environment, Social, Governance) already results in implicit climate-related duties of conduct for companies, which require preventive and science-based decision-making, including at management level. The report was commissioned by the Dorothea-Laura-Janina Sick Environmental Foundation, Germanwatch, and Protect the Planet, and is based on an analysis of legal developments in the areas of corporate law, directors’ duties, sustainability due diligence duties, as well as tort law.
