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For a climate-friendly and sustainable economy in rural regions that is both resilient and adaptable, ecological and social objectives must be pursued from the outset. This is not a contradiction, but an imperative necessity if structurally weak regions are to be fit for the future and not left behind. In this policy brief, we develop and discuss recommendations for rural regions with comparable contexts that are going through similar bottom-up processes.

In our new briefing, Germanwatch and the sustainable finance think tank Climate & Company analyse the expected reporting and due diligence obligations in the financial sector across a number of key EU regulatory measures on sustainability. In particular, the briefing focuses on potential obligations resulting from the respective regulatory measures that may help to identify and minimise the risk of deforestation.

Germany’s G7 presidency is coming to an end, and the next Leader’s Summit in Hiroshima on May 19-21 is approaching fast. This means that there is little time left for the G7 to make tangible progress on the climate and energy agenda. In our policy brief, we outline the key issues for the G7's climate and energy agenda in Hiroshima and make recommendations on how Japan can advance the agenda in 2023.

The majority of signatories of the Glasgow Statement is still lacking adequate policies which ban finance for the international unabated fossil fuel sector, including their voting behaviour at multilateral development banks. Germanwatch analysed the current status of implementation of the Glasgow Statement and developed recommendations for appropriate policies and well defined exception criteria in order to align with the Paris Agreement and stay below 1,5°.

Several countries are currently in the process of developing strategies for their future energy systems. These often include investments in green hydrogen. Especially for African countries with a great potential for renewable energies, reprocessing them into green hydrogen provides a promising opportunity. Co-authored with the Panafrican Climate Justice Alliance, our fact sheet provides an overview of the benefits and potential risks that the new sector offers to producing countries in Africa.

The EU Commission announced the successful conclusion of negotiations on a regulation for deforestation-free products. Companies will therefore soon have to prove that no forest is cleared for the production of certain agricultural goods and wood products. An important step – but the law also has weaknesses. Germanwatch presents an initial assessment.

The 17th meeting of the Executive Committee (ExCom) of the Warsaw International Mechanism on Loss and Damage (WIM) took place ahead of COP27, where countries then agreed to establish new financing arrangements and a fund for Loss and Damage.
At the ExCom meeting, among other things, the 5-year rolling work plan was adopted, reflections on the working methods of the ExCom were debated and the cooperation with the Subsidiary Body for Implementation in the context of the Glasgow Dialogue was discussed. This report focuses on the latter.

The multi-country projects and programmes financed by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) are of particular interest to African civil society organisations (CSOs) that, through their engagement with GCF processes and financed activities in their countries, have identified several concerns with their implementation.

One of the three main goals of the Paris Agreement is to ‘make finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development’, as stated in Article 2.1c. This long-term goal recognises that, complementary to an increase in finance that supports climate action, there needs to be redirection of finance, both public and private, that locks countries into a future of low emissions and higher resilience. Given that Article 2.1c has yet to be fully operationalised, this case study examines the progress towards implementing it in Germany. It is a first attempt to provide a comprehensive analysis framework for the implementation of Article 2.1c.