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A person affected by climate change has made the unprecedented move to launch a claim against a European carbon major, demanding that the company contribute to urgently needed protective measures: Peruvian citizen Saúl Luciano Lliuya, with the help of the renowned environmental lawyer Dr. Roda Verheyen (Hamburg), demands payment for safety works from German utility RWE. Mr Luciano Lliuya’s property as well as large parts of his hometown Huaraz are prone to a so-called glacial lake outburst flood from Lake Palcacocha located upstream from the city.

This document summarizes the outcomes of a working group exercise discussing the perspectives of civil society representatives on renewable energy policy making in Morocco. The working group took place during the "Conférence sur Les Changements Climatiques au Maroc" which was organized by the Heinrich Böll Foundation on the February 10th, 2015 in Rabat.

In 2015 the Adaptation Committee (AC) enters the last year of its work plan. While it will carry out the remaining activities this year, it is now also time to draft a new work plan for the phase 2016-2018. The challenges are multifold: Demands from countries to implement National Adaptation Plans will increase at the same time learning from a first set of adaptation initiatives and programmes will have to be systematically enhanced.

In December 2014 UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon presented a Synthesis Report on the Post-2015 Agenda: "The Road to Dignity by 2030: Ending Poverty, Transforming All Lives and Protecting the Planet". On January 14, 2015 Germanwatch prepared a statement directed to the authors of the report.

Germany currently faces a political challenge towards the transformation of its energy system, known as "Energiewende." Many people associate the "Energiewende" in Germany with the nuclear catastrophe in Fukushima 2011. However, the starting point for the German "Energiewende" is rooted in the increasing environmental awareness and the anti-nuclear movement of the 70s. In the 70s, the term "Energiewende" had already been coined and was used by nuclear opponents, who searched for alternative forms of energy supply...

From December 1st through 12th, the 20th Conference of the Parties (COP 20) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) took place in Lima (Peru). The outcomes of the conference represent a low-ambition consensus. They are a missed opportunity to set the course for an effective as well as ambitious agreement, scheduled to be concluded in Paris in 2015 and to enter into force in 2020. Before and even during the Lima conference, we saw many positive signs pointing towards a new momentum for climate action.

This guide provides climate change negotiators with a synopsis of the key elements in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)’s Biennial Assessment of climate finance flows. This is of relevance not only to the overall landscape of climate finance, but also to the emerging new global agreement on climate change, to be agreed at the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties in Paris in 2015.

Global emissions have reached a new peak, but recent developments indicate a new readiness for action on climate protection. This is the message of the 10th edition of the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI); a ranking of the climate protection performance of the 58 highest emitters worldwide published by Germanwatch and CAN Europe at the UN Climate Conference in Lima today. "We see global trends, indicating promising shifts in some of the most relevant sectors for climate protection", said Jan Burck (Germanwatch), author of the Index.

The Climate Change Performance Index is an instrument supposed to enhance transparency in international climate politics. On the basis of standardised criteria, the index evaluates and compares the climate protection performance of 58 countries that are, together, responsible for more than 90 percent of global energy-related CO2 emissions.

Germanwatch views a new landmark decision by the German federal government as a crucial but not entirely sufficient signal towards the UN climate negotiations in Lima/Peru. Today, the German federal government decided upon additional emission reduction measures that shall guarantee that Germany reaches its 2020 greenhouse gas reduction goal of 40% below the 1990 level.