Journalisten

Today, the Peruvian farmer and mountain guide Saúl Luciano Lliuya is filing a lawsuit against the German utility RWE at the Regional Court in Essen, Germany. The reason: The energy company’s immense emissions threaten his family, his property as well as a large part of his home city of Huaraz. Climate change has caused the glacial lake to quickly grow in size, making it a risk for the Andean city of 120,000.

The G20 make up two thirds of the world population, produce four fifth of the global economic output, and account for three quarters of global Greenhouse gas emissions. The average G20 per capita emissions are nearly 11 tons of CO2e. To keep global warming below 2°C, global per capita emissions need to be reduced to 1-3 tCO2e by 2050. The study "20 Climate Action – a turning point?" gives an overview on the current situation of the G20, as well as looking for trends and future plans.

Laut des Beschlusses der UN-Klimakonferenz in Lima im Dezember 2014 sollen alle Staaten ihre nationalen Klimaschutzpläne im Laufe des Jahres 2015 vorlegen. Diese selbst gesteckten, nationalen Minderungsbeiträge, sogenannte INDCs (intended nationally determined contributions), stellen eine wichtige Grundlage für ein neues globales Klimaabkommen dar, welches in Paris im Dezember 2015 geschlossen werden soll. Kurz nach Ende der Frist am 1. Oktober, bis zu der die Staaten ihre INDCs vorlegen sollten, fand das INDC Forum in Rabat vom 12.-13. Oktober 2015 statt.

Coming soon

The G7 summit took place on 7 and 8 June 2015 at Schloß Elmau in Bavaria. Amongst other important global issues, international climate policy was discussed. The G7 decisions on this topic pave the way to a successful climate summit in December in Paris, where a new global climate agreement is to be adopted by the international community. Germanwatch analyses the most important paragraphs of the G7 Summit Declaration.

At the G7 summit in Elmau on 7 and 8 June 2015, the most important and affluent industrial nations will discuss how to facilitate the adoption of a new global climate change treaty. This white paper illuminates key background issues in the run up to the summit. It also identifies three signals that must be sent by the summit to underscore the commitment of industrial nations to preventing catastrophic climate change.

This handbook by Germanwatch highlights new approaches that have been tested by the partners of the European BESTGRID project. Within BESTGRID, Transmission system operators from Belgium, the UK, Italy and Germany have closely cooperated with national and regional non-governmental organisations. Germanwatch has been following the jointly developed good-practice approaches to early and transparent power grid planning and has compiled its findings in this handbook.

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.

The Philippines, Cambodia and India were most affected by extreme weather events in 2013. This is the result of this year’s Global Climate Risk Index, presented by Germanwatch. “We all remember the images of the catastrophic Typhoon Haiyan, which wiped out entire regions and took the lives of more than 6000,” said Sönke Kreft, author of the study and Team Leader for International Climate Policy at Germanwatch. “Climate change must be controlled so that the future will not bring more of these record-breaking catastrophes."

One week prior to the European Council of 20/21 March 22 civil society organizations of 9 Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries urge the EU heads of government to regain the EU’s former climate leadership by backing progressive 2030 climate and energy targets.