Publications

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Publication
Based on the Intergroup Dialogue Series on Just Energy Transition

In a series of dialogues with Indonesian civil society organisations (CSOs), Germanwatch and the Habibie Center explored how to integrate social justice aspects into the energy transition debate in Indonesia. This policy brief provides the context for how Indonesian CSOs view the JETP and how they relate to other key socio-economic issues.

Publication
Enabling industrial transformation in Germany

Steering the steel industry towards a climate-neutral future is a major challenge. However, it is also a great opportunity: steel sector is responsible for approximately 30% of industrial greenhouse gas emissions in Germany – and, by extension, for 7% of national emissions. This means that a climate-neutral steel industry will allow us to take a major step closer to meeting the German and international climate targets. This policy paper highlights how we can get there and which technologies will play a key role.

Publication

This report provides an overview of the human rights protection system in Europe, focusing on climate change, before exploring the relationship between climate change impacts and human rights violations. It analyses
human rights-based climate litigation in Europe to date and focuses on specific cases brought or supported by European NGOs to illustrate the many ways in which human rights can be mobilised in court to advance climate action.

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A primer

The emerging polycrisis is challenging governments and institutions around the world. Especially countries in the Global South lack the financial capacity to address the current challenges and simultaneously prepare their nations for the impacts of climate change. The existing international financial architecture has so far been unable to provide the necessary financial resources.There are three major reform proposals that address different institutions within the international financial architecture. This primer introduces the proposals presented and provides an overview of the main institutions and actors involved in the process in Germany.

Publication
A must-have for the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive

The debate on downstream due diligence has never been more topical: The EU currently discusses the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. However, both the Council and various parliamentary groups want to limit the scope of the value chain to which environmental and human rights due diligence obligations should apply. Among other things, the downstream value chain would then be (largely) exempted from corporate due diligence obligations. In this short policy brief, published along with Initiative Lieferkettengesetz, SOMO, SwedWatch, and the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung we demonstrate why downstream due diligence is necessary and how it can be implemented. We also provide key recommendations for the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive.

Publication
Status quo and the way to go

European mining equipment manufacturers are cooperating with and supplying mining projects that are known for human rights abuses and environmental destruction. The lack of legislation requiring companies to address severe human rights and environmental risks in their downstream value chain makes this possible. This study highlights the need for downstream due diligence obligations in the mining equipment sector.

Publication
Due diligence in downstream value chains

This case study of the Andina copper mine in Chile shows how European mining equipment manufacturers maintain close business relationships with the mine, despite the mining activities damaging the surrounding glaciers, massively increasing the water scarcity in the region and local protests against the expansion of the mine. We provide an example of how downstream due diligence obligations of European companies could have been exercised in this case. This is particularly relevant in this sector, where the business relationships between mining equipment manufacturers and their customers involve significant human rights and environmental risks.

Publication
11 Lessons on Germany's Changing Energy Mix

Last year marked a turning point for the EU’s energy policies. The dependency on Russian fossil fuels—gas in particular—had severe consequences for its member states and resulted in an energy supply crisis across the entire EU. We analysed Germany’s changing energy mix along with the Adelphi Institute and present the 11 identified lessons in this policy brief.

Publication

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.

Publication
The coverage of the financial sector across a core set of EU regulatory measures

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.