Deutsche und Europäische Klimapolitik

The G20 collectively are still far removed from demonstrating responsible stewardship in the area of climate protection. Yet individual countries – both traditional industrial nations such as Italy, France and to some extent Germany as well, and emerging economies like Brazil and India – have indicated possible pathways to decarbonization. This is the key insight provided by the G20 Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI), introduced by Germanwatch, the Climate Action Network (CAN) and the NewClimate Institute today. A day ahead of the G20 summit in Hamburg, the member states have highly diverse scores within the ranking.

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.

In the “climate suit” of Peruvian mountain guide and small farmer Saúl Luciano Lliuya against RWE, the regional court in Essen has announced that it will decide on December 15 whether the suit will proceed to the evidentiary phase. Thus it remains unclear whether, for the first time, a German civil court will probe in detail the question to what extent big contributors to climate change must pay for the costs of preventative measures against the risks that others face in the course of global climate change. The claimant Saúl Luciano Lliuya and his attorney Dr. Roda Verheyen (Hamburg) are optimistic. “In an open proceeding, we laid out why our claims are valid and legitimate, and why this is a matter that the regional court must consider”, says attorney Roda Verheyen.

With the historic Paris Agreement having recently entered into force, this year’s Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) 2017 confirms a boost for renewable energy and positive developments in energy efficiency. While these encouraging trends are happening on a global scale, the necessary energy revolution is still happening too slowly. Jan Burck, Germanwatch, key author of the CCPI comments: "The conditions for a global energy revolution have never been better. Due to the falling costs of renewable energy and efficiency technologies, national governments have no more excuses not to enshrine the Paris Agreement into national law."

More than 40 major businesses and trade associations are demanding more climate ambition and a bold implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement in Germany. The companies, from a large variety of sectors, are encouraging the German government to adopt a long-term Decarbonisation Plan with a climate target at the upper end of the current target range of an 80 to 95 per cent reduction in greenhouse gases by 2050. Businesses need interim sector targets for the power, buildings, industry, transport and agriculture sectors, write the signatories, amongst them the construction major Hochtief, the electricity producer EnBW, the retailer Metro and Commerzbank. The declaration was coordinated by the business associations Foundation 2° and B.A.U.M. as well as the development and environment NGO Germanwatch.

The report, “Brown to Green: Assessing the G20 transition to a low-carbon economy” has been produced by Climate Transparency, and written by a range of international experts and was launched at a press conference in Beijing. With climate change high on this year’s G20 agenda, along with green finance, the assessment looks at a range of indicators on climate action, including investment attractiveness, investment in renewable energy, climate policy, the carbon intensity of both the energy and electricity sectors of the G20 economies, of their fossil fuel subsidies and their contributions to climate finance.

The G20 needs to make more effort to move to a green, low-carbon economy, especially in the areas of coal power expansion and climate policy, but is beginning to head in the right direction. This is the key result of a comprehensive assessment of G20 climate action, released in Beijing today ahead of the G20 summit in China this weekend. The report, “Brown to Green: Assessing the G20 transition to a low-carbon economy” has been produced by Climate Transparency, and written by a range of international experts and was launched at a press conference in Beijing.

The Donbas is extremely important now and in upcoming decades for two things: securing peace in Europe and the energy transition from oil, gas and coal to energy efficiency and renewable energy. In order to improve a solution to the current conflict in the Donbas through new economic perspectives, Ukraine and Germany/the EU should urgently and significantly enhance cooperation on the low-carbon transition of the Donbas. The Germanwatch conclusions in detail here.

This study offers an analysis of Germany’s relatively new efforts to integrate climate change into its foreign policy agenda, with a focus on its government players at a national level. It is an initial step towards filling in gaps in understanding and deepening the discussion about Germany’s unique climate diplomacy experience. The author concludes that in some areas, such as the G7, German climate diplomacy has been surprisingly effective, while in other areas it has made less progress, including fostering EU level climate diplomacy and engaging with foreign non-governmental players.

[Unauthorised translation of the German original: http://germanwatch.org/de/11433] The conference in Paris has impressively confirmed the growing international consensus that was last demonstrated at the 2015 G7 summit in Germany. Governments around the world are now serious about taking decisive action well before the end of the century to phase out fossil fuels in accordance with the findings of climate science. We welcome the clear commitment made by large industrial countries to undertake the necessary transformation of their energy systems by the middle of the century. This undertaking is now more feasible than ever thanks to declining costs for renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies.