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Germanwatch views a new landmark decision by the German federal government as a crucial but not entirely sufficient signal towards the UN climate negotiations in Lima/Peru. Today, the German federal government decided upon additional emission reduction measures that shall guarantee that Germany reaches its 2020 greenhouse gas reduction goal of 40% below the 1990 level.

The Philippines, Cambodia and India were most affected by extreme weather events in 2013. This is the result of this year’s Global Climate Risk Index, presented by Germanwatch. “We all remember the images of the catastrophic Typhoon Haiyan, which wiped out entire regions and took the lives of more than 6000,” said Sönke Kreft, author of the study and Team Leader for International Climate Policy at Germanwatch. “Climate change must be controlled so that the future will not bring more of these record-breaking catastrophes."

The new edition of the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) was released by Germanwatch and CAN Europe in Warsaw at the UN climate talks today. The results show emissions worldwide have climbed to a new peak and no single country is yet on track to prevent dangerous climate change. "Unexpectedly, for the first time our Index also draws a cautious picture of hope", says Jan Burck, the author of the Index that ranks the climate protection performance of the 58 highest emitters worldwide. "We see positive signals towards a slow down in the increase in global CO2 emissions. And China - the world's biggest emitter - improved its performance in climate protection."

Overshadowed by the ongoing human catastrophe in the Philippines, Germanwatch presented the 9th annual Global Climate Risk Index at the onset of the Climate Summit in Warsaw. “The index shows that the most severe weather related catastrophes in 2012 occurred in Haiti, Philippines and Pakistan”, says Sönke Kreft, Team Leader International Climate Policy at Germanwatch and co-author of the index. „The landfall of Hurricane Sandy in the US dominated international news in October 2012. Yet, it was Haiti - the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere - that suffered the greatest losses from the same event."

In a time of heavily increasing greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel investments, the light at the end of the tunnel cannot yet be seen. The eighth annual Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI), which was published at the Doha climate talks today by Germanwatch and the Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe, ranks the climate protection performance of the 58 highest emitters worldwide. For the first time, the index used deforestation data, which resulted in a rankings drop of countries with high forest emissions such as Brazil and Indonesia. Once again, no country made it into the first three spots on the list due to a lack of ambition to reach the goal of keeping global warming below 2 degree Celsius.

Most damages resulting from weather extremes are often not recognised by international media, unlike Sandy's destruction at the U.S. east coast a few weeks ago. But in 2011, poorer developing countries have been hit much harder in average, according to the new edition of the Germanwatch Global Climate Risk Index. The ranking, which was presented today at the UN climate summit in Doha, concludes that Thailand, Cambodia, Pakistan and El Salvador are on top of those countries that suffered most from extreme weather events in 2011.

140 civil society actors from 22 industrial and emerging states call for a fundamental reform of energy and agricultural policies in order to fight hunger and climate change worldwide. This is a result of the "Dialogue on Transformation" which took place in Bonn last weekend. The participating organisations on the one side urge to the right to development and on the other side also to a form of development that accepts the boundaries of the planet.

The new edition of the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) was released by Germanwatch and CAN-Europe in Durban at the UN climate talks today. Again, none of the 58 highest-emitting countries has done enough to prevent dangerous climate change, leaving ranks one to three open. The next ranks went to three European countries, Sweden, UK and Germany. The countries ranked worst this year are Saudi Arabia, Iran and Kazakhstan. Overall, the ranking was influenced by the worldwide economic crisis. This resulted in higher growth of emissions in emerging economies compared to industrial countries.

While the UN climate summit at Durban has started under the impression of severe local thunderstorms, the climate and development organization Germanwatch publishes its Global Climate Risk Index (CRI) for the seventh time. The index focuses on countries especially affected by weather extremes such as floodings and storms in 2010 and during the past twenty years. The Global Climate Risk Index is based on data collected in the worldwide renowned database at MunichRe.

The climate summit in Cancún agreed on important climate protection packages after a dramatic night session, partly thanks to the sovereign leadership of the Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa. Agreed packages include the protection of rain forests, adaptation to climate change for the most vulnerable countries, technology transfer and a Green Fund for financing the above mentioned measures. For the first time in UN history it was officially accepted by all countries to limit the global temperature rise below two degrees Celsius.