Publications

China's recent international commitments and domestic approaches to mitigating the environmental and social threats associated with global deforestation are plentiful but not sufficient, especially when compared to its peer and competitor, the EU. Our innovative flashcards provide key recommendations on how to strengthen the systematic approach to curate further dialogue and co-operation with stakeholders, especially by highlighting the key ministries' roles in greening the global supply chain. Ultimately, we encourage China to advance its commitment and policy to reduce global deforestation resulting from soft commodity supply chains.

The EU’s strategic raw materials diplomacy and partnerships are on the rise, not just since the EU has adopted the Critical Raw Materials Act to secure the supply for its renewable energy, digitalisation, defence, and space industries. Kazakhstan and the EU have initiated a Critical Raw Materials partnership in 2022. The two Kazakhstani transparency experts Mariya Lobacheva and Tatyana Sedova trace how the partneship was set up without properly informing and consulting with the public.

Multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs) in Germany aim to strengthen corporate due diligence. Their dialogue formats primarily bring together governmental, economic, and civil society actors based in Germany. They therefore tend to exclude, or only selectively involve, stakeholder groups (rights holders) who are (or may be) adversely affected by corporate activities. This paper illustrates the different dimensions of meaningful rights holder engagement in MSIs and highlights best practices developed by different German MSIs, thus showcasing how MSIs can contribute to due diligence implementation, at least in theory.

After the EU election in June 2024, the new Commission will hold the power to demonstrate global climate leadership and reshape its partnership offer. Given the strong historical ties and growing economic relations between Africa and Europe, partnerships with the African continent must remain a focus of the EU. Our policy brief provides five recommendations for reshaping the EU’s partnership offer on energy co-operation.

As countries transition to low-carbon and climate-resilient economies, finance flows will need to shift to support these transitions, in line with the third long-term goal of the Paris Agreement, Article 2.1c. The transition's success will also depend on it considering justice elements, to avoid any potential negative socioeconomic impacts in developing countries. This paper offers an analysis of these policies and regulations, using existing Article 2.1c approaches, as well as an analysis of the ability of these approaches to integrate justice considerations, and an analysis of the finance provided under the JETP in the context of a just transition.

The German government has recently launched its Climate Foreign Policy Strategy. In this context, several questions arise from the Latin American perspective. Our policy brief reflects the results of a round-table with Civil Society Organisations from Latin America.

At the 28th climate negotiations in Dubai, the global community heralded the beginning of the end of the fossil fuel era. In the long term, all signatory states want to phase out coal, oil, and gas. What else was decided? What were the breakthroughs? And which decisions are rather disappointing? The Germanwatch debrief reviews the conference.

We are excited to present the English translation of the Handprint concept ‘Changing structures towards sustainability’. The Handprint is the base of our educational activities at Germanwatch and focuses on the transformative power of political engagement. It helps us gradually transform our society so that everyone can act with sustainability. 

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'.

As countries transition to low-carbon and climate-resilient economies, finance flows will need to shift to support these transitions, in line with the third long-term goal of the Paris Agreement, Article 2.1c. South Africa was the first country to sign a Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP). In this context, South Africa developed a Just Energy Transition Investment Plan (JET IP) laying out a series of policies and regulations the country would implement to achieve its just energy transition. This paper offers an analysis of these policies and regulations, using existing Article 2.1c approaches.