Climate

Civil Society engagement in the G20 process is essential to ensure that poor people can have a say in decisions that affect them. Southern voices within the C20 are especially critical to address global development challenges, given that a large share of the world’s poorest populations reside within G20 countries such as India and China.

Most G20 states improved conditions for investments in low-carbon energy over the past year, with several emerging market countries rapidly catching up to the leaders. The rapid development of the renewable energy sector is a crucial success factor for meeting the Paris climate goals. The G20 countries need to roughly double their annual investments in renewable energy to align their power infra-structure with the well below 2°C pathway, fixed at the Paris COP 21 in 2015.

Mexico has been a frontrunner at the UNFCCC and it supports the climate and energy agenda of the German G20 presidency. At the national stage, however, despite considerable progress, not all signs point yet to climate-compatible transformation of the country. In face of the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, strong international climate leadership by the rest of the world to maintain momentum for Mexico’s national energy transformation is required.

The G20 summit in Hamburg is coming up soon. What we expect from the German G20 presidency is clear: the G20 must move forward combating climate change despite the destructive US-position. Ambitious G20 plans for the global energy transition and the implementation of the Paris Agreement are crucial. Due to their economic significance the G20 states must lead by example. Representatives of the international civil society will present the situation in developing and emerging countries and their asks to the G20. In addition, we will report back from the international civil society (Civil20) summit on June 18/19th in Hamburg.

For the first time, Canada has a framework that brings the federal government, most provincial and territorial governments, and all major economic sectors together on a shared path of climate action. This puts Canada into position to join other countries in showing significant international climate leadership. After the recent G7 Summit outcome in Taormina, the upcoming Canadian G7 presidency will be decisive to push climate action forward.

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

The 5th Civil Chamber of the Higher District Court Hamm (Germany) has scheduled an oral hearing for the appeal of Peruvian mountain guide and small farmer Saúl Luciano Lliuya for 13 November (Monday). The public hearing is set to take approximately two hours. The scheduled date lies in the middle of the two-week UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn (Germany, 6 – 17 Nov.), which will likely attract added international attention to the case. The attorney for the claimant, Dr. Roda Verheyen (Hamburg), is pleased by the Higher District Court’s decision. “I am confident that this initial hearing will now be followed by an evidentiary phase."

The African continent and its population suffer from severe energy poverty. The International Energy Agency estimates that the total grid-based power generation capacity in 2012 was only about 158 gigawatt (GW), which is less than total installed capacity in Germany alone. Consequently, the majority of the African population – approximately 622 million out of 922 million people living on the continent – still lacks access to modern energy services. Although the African continent has abundant renewable energy (RE) resources, the potential for the generation of renewable electricity has not been realized yet. Hence, besides the traditional use of solid biomass, the African electricity mix is still dominated by fossil fuels, such as oil, coal, and gas, as well as large hydro power plants. ...

The climate vulnerable forum (CVF), now uniting 49 of the world’s countries most vulnerable to climate change, has again taken centre-stage in the fight against global warming and for an equitable international climate regime. At the recent IMF and World Bank spring meeting in Washington, the finance ministers of the group, the Vulnerable 20 (V20), met with representatives of its “big brother”, the G20, to discuss issues related to climate finance, effective mitigation policies, support for adaptation and resilience and above all: enhanced cooperation.

It was only last year when the group of the 20 leading economies (G20) evoked hopes that it would eventually bring forward serious climate policy and climate finance. The Chinese G20 presidency had put its weight behind important agenda items in this direction and the German government promised that climate will become a priority topic under this year's German G20 presidency. However, since US president Trump took office, mood depressed. Germanwatch works with vehemence at multiple levels to ensure that the blockade strategy of the new republican US government proves to be unsuccessful.