Publications

While still implementing its initial 2-year-work plan, decided upon at COP20 in Lima 2014, the ExCom is now working on its next 5-year rolling work plan - to be endorsed by COP23 under Fiji presidency in Bonn.

The dimension of civil law in the Loss & Damage debate. How large greenhouse-gas emmiters can be held liable for the consequences of climate change. The example of the first climate lawsuit against an energy company before German courts. This factsheet presents the case of Saúl Luciano LLiuya against RWE and addresses the question of causality.

Since November 2015, Germanwatch has conducted several rounds of stakeholder workshops in Morocco as the first country case of the MENA-SELECT project, investigating the socio-economic impacts, risks and opportunities as well as the potential for conflict of different energy scenarios and power production technologies in Morocco. In this policy paper the approach and the results of the field research are presented.

The world has passed the ‘Trump Test’ on climate. At the G20 Summit in Hamburg, all 19 partners with the exception of the new U.S. Administration stood united in their support for the Paris Agreement and its swift implementation. Jointly developed and accepted by the 19 partners, the Climate and Energy Action Plan for Growth identifies issues that need to be addressed for the implementation of the Paris Agreement and provides a list of G20 action items for future cooperation.

In this special edition of the CCPI 2017, the efforts and performances of the G20 countries are evaluated. The G20 are together responsible for 75% of the global Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG) and are therefore the key for starting a global transformation

In the landmark Paris Climate Agreement, the international community committed to limit global warming to well below 2°C, if not 1.5°C above preindustrial levels. World leaders also committed to foster adaptation and to make all financial flows consistent with climate resilient, low greenhouse gas development. The G20 as group of the leading industrial nations and emerging economies, being responsible for 80% of global greenhouse gas emissions, provides an important platform for joint action towards implementing the Paris Agreement.

To what extent must operators of power plants assume liability for consequences of climate change? This question is at the centre of a lawsuit in which a Peruvian farmer is suing a German energy provider. The plaintiff´s house lies below a glacial lake, the volume of which has increased to a hazardous level in the course of climate change. The power plant operator is requested to partially cover the costs of preventive measures for securing the property of the claimant. The District Court Essen dismissed the case. The decision is appealed. The central legal question is about causality.

The Peruvian farmer and mountain guide Saúl Luciano Lliuya has filed a lawsuit against RWE.

To reach the Paris Agreement climate goal, and stay under 2°C warming, emissions will need to peak in the coming years and be reduced to zero by 2050. China, India and the US play a key role in achieving this target as they emit over 50% of the global CO2 emissions and are by far the largest markets for renewable energies. The Allianz Climate & Energy Monitor Deep Dive aims to inform investors and policy-makers on the scale of investments needed in China, India and the US to be in line with the Paris goals; and what recent developments, especially regarding the leadership change in the US, mean for investing in renewable power in the future.

In the latest publication of the project Middle East North Africa Sustainable ELECtricity Trajectories (MENA-SELECT), the authors Boris Schinke and Jens Klawitter (Germanwatch) together with Maurice Döring (BICC), Nadejda Komendantova (IIASA), Jenan Irshaid (IIASA) and Joanne Bayer (IIASA) develop criteria and indicators for conducting a sustainability assessment of different electricity generation technologies.