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South Africa is the only African country in the G20. It is challenged by a slowing, energy intensive economy, an enormous stock of ageing infrastructure in coal and very high inequality. For dealing with these challenges, South Africa needs to change its development strategy. Political momentum within the G20 could help to break the fossil fuel inertia.

Due to heavy rainfall the risks in Huaraz increase, but no considerable damage has happened yet. Hundreds of thousands of people in Peru are hit by floods and landslides which are the result of unusually strong rainfall. Poorer populations in particular are confronted with the consequences of those rainfalls. Many people lost their homes and are now facing an unsecure future.

Weather extremes are about to become the new norm: For the third time in a row, 2016 was the warmest year since the beginning of the weather records. In Asia, unprecedented heat in spring burst temperature records in India, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. A drought in Africa, caused by one of the strongest ever experienced El Nino events, triggered a food crisis with more than 36 million people affected. In Haiti, the devastating impacts of hurricane Matthew left 1.4 million people dependent on humanitarian aid. Repeatedly, developing countries are the most affected. The long-term analysis of Germanwatch’s Climate Risk Index, covering the past 20 years, finds that the ten most impacted countries are exclusively developing countries.

In the latest publication of the project Middle East North Africa Sustainable ELECtricity Trajectories (MENA-SELECT), the authors Boris Schinke and Jens Klawitter (Germanwatch) together with Maurice Döring (BICC), Nadejda Komendantova (IIASA), Jenan Irshaid (IIASA) and Joanne Bayer (IIASA) develop criteria and indicators for conducting a sustainability assessment of different electricity generation technologies.

The Brown to Green Forum discussed with high-level representatives and experts from G20 countries how to increase ambition for climate action in the G20. It explored policy options, opportunities and new coalitions within the G20 and particularly discussed the role of the financial sector to drive the shift from fossil-fuel to low-carbon investments. Climate Transparency further presented a comparison of G20 countries’ climate action.

Ein Bündnis der G20-Staaten mit den am stärksten vom Klimawandel betroffenen Staaten und ihrer Ministergruppe V20 auf Augenhöhe? Das ist möglich und Deutschland sollte einen formalen G20-V20-Dialog auf den Weg bringen – im Interesse des Pariser Klimavertrags. Für viele der vom Klimawandel besonders bedrohten Staaten ist Klimapolitik eine Frage des Überlebens. Deswegen gehen die im Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) zusammengeschlossenen besonders verletzlichen Staaten in den Klimaverhandlungen immer wieder voran. Die G20, die Gruppe der größten Emittenten, sträubt sich hingegen nach wie vor, die notwendigen Maßnahmen zu ergreifen, um den globalen Temperaturanstieg auf 1,5 Grad zu begrenzen.

As development and human rights organisations we participated intensively in the German government’s consultation process for developing the National Action Plan (NAP) for implementing the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: in the government’s steering committee, in the altogether twelve thematic hearings and in the three plenary conferences. In this context, we expected the government to move away from the failed model of purely voluntary self-commitment and legally require German companies to discharge their human rights responsibilities in their activities and business relationships abroad.

The landmark Paris Agreement and the Agenda 2030 provide a new framework for transitioning to a GHG-neutral and climate-resilient future, and towards truly sustainable development. The G20 as a forum of the leading industrial nations and emerging economies provides a platform for joint action towards achieving these global goals. Shifting global investment towards green finance, sustainable infrastructure and the global transition to renewable energy is one of the most urgent tasks ahead, and can only be reached by international cooperation.

Today the mountain guide and small-scale farmer Saúl Luciano Lliuya from Peru filed an appeal against the decision made by the Regional Court Essen (Germany) in his lawsuit against RWE. Together with his attorney Dr. Roda Verheyen (Hamburg), he will continue his efforts before the Higher Regional Court Hamm to compel RWE, as the largest emitter of CO2 in Europe, to contribute to protective measures against the effects of climate change in the Peruvian Andes. These effects threaten major parts of his hometown, Huaraz. The court of first instance had dismissed the “climate suit” in mid-December.

One of the greatest challenges the new government in Argentina is currently facing is the ongoing energy crisis. In response, the South-American nation has started to rapidly expand renewable generation. This strategy also pays off internationally for Argentina, who will take over the G20 presidency from Germany in December 2017.