Publications

The first Africa Climate Summit in September 2023 marked a milestone in global climate politics. African countries made clear that they want to actively shape the global climate debate to seize the opportunities of the green transformation and shake the perception of being mere victims of the climate crisis. In this briefing, we highlight the three main topics of the Summit – finance, renewable energy, and resilience – and offer recommendations for German climate foreign policy with regard to African countries in 2024 as the German government is revising its Africa Policy Guidelines.

Published annually since 2005, the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) is an independent monitoring tool for tracking the climate protection performance of 63 countries and the EU. It aims to enhance transparency in international climate politics and enables comparison of climate protection efforts and progress made by individual countries.

We take a look at the geopolitical situation providing the frame for the UN climate talks COP28 in Dubai and identify the most important topics for the negotiations. We also outline what we expect COP28 to deliver, in terms of decisions that mitigate climate change, build resilience and provide finance for the people who need it.

Slow-onset processes like sea level rise or desertification substantially impact people’s lives, but is still often neglected in the climate change context. Three studies conducted by Germanwatch and ENDA in 2021 have responded to these challenges. This fact sheet summarises key findings of the studies, based on recent policy developments and scientific findings. We have included key facts and figures to answer important questions, such as: What are slow-onset processes? What losses and damages do slow-onset processes cause? What approaches and measures are there to address loss and damage due to slow-onset processes?

In this brief, BUND and Germanwatch examine cases of environmental degradation in value chains of European companies, for example impacts of land use, pesticides, or gas and oil operations. We also provide analyses of how proposals for the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive cover these impacts and highlight the pivotal role of the European Parliament in this matter.

India’s transition towards a low-carbon economy is central to achieving global climate goals. How can international cooperation support Indian efforts? In our policy brief, we argue that “True Partnerships” between India and the Global North should put the poeple, equity, and climate action at the core of cooperation, to achieve a transition that is green and just.

The international climate finance architecture is a complex landscape in which multilateral development banks (MDBs) play a prominent role. In addition to bilateral climate finance flows, donor countries provide international climate finance directly to MDBs, as well as to multilateral climate funds such as the Green Climate Fund (GCF), Global Environmental Facility (GEF), Adaptation Fund (AF) and Climate Investment Funds (CIF), which MDBs also tap into for project finance.

Hydrogen has caught significant attention from a wide range of stakeholders in EU Member States. Its potential remains largely untapped as, to date, European national hydrogen strategies typically do not feature sound sectoral targets for the use of hydrogen. The EUKI project 'Greening H2' commissioned a study from Bruegel, a Brussels-based think tank, which investigates the potential for and implications of renewable hydrogen deployment in Germany, Portugal, and Poland. It explores their respective national strategies, summarises core elements, and critically evaluates and places them in the broader EU hydrogen plans.