Klimaschutz

On 6 February, the European Commission will propose climate targets for 2040. The current Commission can thereby frame the climate policy of the upcoming years ahead of the EU elections in June. The 2040 targets will be a guiding light for the new Commission and shape the EU's worldwide perception. In this policy brief, Germanwatch is therefore calling for 'An Ambitious EU Climate Target for 2040'.

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.

Just weeks after the new coalition government took office, Germany took over the Presidency of the G7. The G7 Presidency provides the new federal government an opportunity to demonstrate the importance it attaches to international climate policy and ambitious climate protection. The coalition agreement lays out the government’s course. This briefing paper identifies issues on which the new federal government is already sending strong signals, as well as opportunities and gaps.

Despite COVID, climate change and the zero-carbon transition are still high on the agenda of societies, companies and governments in the EU and also Germany. The EU is progressing with its European Green Deal plan in order to significantly accelerate the speed of the economic transition. But can the EU and Germany maintain a high transition speed in the years to come? Or is there a substantial likelihood, other issues may squeeze the climate agenda out of the top priorities, governments and businesses take care of? In his article "Germany's Green Transition: Will It Continue?" Oldag Caspar analyses this question for the leading Russian foreign policy think tank Valdai Club.

This year will be key for future climate policy and especially for sustainable finance in Germany and Europe. Sustainable Finance plays a crucial role in improving climate protection and sustainable growth. To this end, Germanwatch joined forces with the Alliance for Corporate Transparency in order to push towards greater corporate responsibility and disclosure requirements to meet the EU and Paris climate targets. In the second article of our briefing series "Full Disclosure: Monthly Briefing on EU Corporate Transparency Regulation", we aim to shed light on the revision the EU Non-Financial Reporting Directive carried out by the European Commission.

The main objective of the LIFE funded project "UNIFY: Bringing the EU together on Climate Action" is to facilitate the effective and early transition of EU Member States to low-carbon and resilient economies. The consortium partners of the project are focusing on three key policy processes: 1. the National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) 2. the national and long-term climate strategies (Long Term Strategy - LTS) 3. the EU budget (Multiannual Financial Frame - MFF)

Ahead of the 2019 Climate Action Summit (23 September 2019) hosted by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, the network Climate Transparency is calling for concrete climate action from the G20 countries. The Ambition Call directed at Germany calls for progress in three areas.

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.