Ecology Archive

Protesters for climate action

A federal climate force: How the German Greens shaped the climate package through the Länder

Analysis
Questions of environmental and climate policy remain relevant even during a pandemic, as the protests and debates about the stimulus package to fight the crisis show.  The German states have taken on a deciding roll regarding questions of implementation – which started already during the negotiations for the climate package. The Greens contributed the most to the climate package's increased substance. 
By Arne Jungjohann

Local actors ready to act: Six proposals to improve their access to the Green Climate Fund

This booklet proposes six specific recommendations to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) Board, Secretariat and other relevant policy-makers to increase access of local actors to climate funds, and ensure accessible, gender-responsive climate finance decision-making processes. These proposals range from setting up small grants facilities to a complete revision of the operations and results framework of climate funds. The booklet is meant to stimulate more and deeper debate on the crucial role local actors play in the transformative change needed to deal with global climate change.
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Energy Atlas: Figures and facts about renewables in Europe

The European Energy Atlas 2018 is published at a time when the EU Member States are discussing their energy and climate strategy until 2013. It thereby not only provides a compass on the differing energy discussions in Europe but also reveals how a Europeanization of the energy transition will be the more efficient and cost-effective option for all Europeans.
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Climate Finance Fundamentals 8: Climate Finance Regional Briefing: Asia

The diversity of active funds in the region is not matched in the distribution of finance. Considerable amounts of finance have flowed to fast-growing economies such as India and Indonesia, primarily for mitigation projects. On the other hand, a number of populous nations at considerable risk to climate change, such as Pakistan, have received relatively little.

Climate Finance Fundamentals 6: Climate Finance Regional Briefing: Latin America

Latin America is a highly heterogeneous region, with differences in levels of economic development and social and indigenous history, both among and within countries. The impacts of climate change, in particular glacial melt and changes in river flows, extreme weather events and risks to food production systems affect development in both rural and urban areas in the region.

Climate Finance Fundamentals 11: The Green Climate Fund

Heading into COP 23 in Bonn under a Fiji COP presidency, this Climate Finance Fundamental provides a snapshot of the operationalization and functions of the Fund. While the Fund’s role in a post-2020 climate regime as the major finance channel under the Convention was confirmed, the scale of its resourcing remains to be clarified post-Paris

Promoting Rights-based Climate Finance for People and Planet

This draft report sets out the key human rights risks associated with climate finance, the human rights responsibilities of State and private actors in the mobilization and administration of funding and the governance of funds and the current international architecture for climate finance.
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Agrifood Atlas

Agrifood corporations are driving industrialization along the entire global value chain, from farm to plate. The Agrifood Atlas serves facts and shows why and how the road to a socio-ecologically oriented agricultural and nutritional industry must be taken.
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The Ocean Atlas

Overfishing, the loss of biodiversity, and an immense pollution – the seas are under stress. The Ocean Atlas 2017 delivers in more than 40 infographics and articles all the relevant data, facts and contexts.
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With or without the Paris Agreement –Trump won’t have the Last Word on US Climate Policy

With states, cities, and citizens willing to double down and move ahead with climate commitments, the global community can still count on many Americans’ willingness to act responsibly in support of global climate actions, even if their White House is not. Unfortunately, such activism will not make up for the failure of the Trump administration to make good on its international climate finance obligation.
By Liane Schalatek and Nora Löhle

Climate Governance and the Role of Climate Finance in Morocco

As a country very vulnerable to climate change impacts, Morocco, the host of COP22, has very high climate ambitions and has taken on a global leadership role in committing to a renewable energy future. This study explores what role climate finance has played to allow Morocco to act as a trendsetter and how its climate finance governance can be further improved.  
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Sustainable Energy Security: A Transatlantic Opportunity

This report sheds light on how three policy communities – on security, foreign policy and energy issues – can come together to discuss and find solutions to the transatlantic energy agenda in light of transforming energy security realities on both sides of the Atlantic.
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Building Political Support for a Clean Energy Transition — How Arguments on Solar Power Affect Public Support in Germany and the US

The growing clean energy transition and its emerging decentralized actors threaten the traditional business model of large utilities, contributing to a deadlock around laws, regulations, and political support. Solar advocates in Germany and the US can learn from each other’s successes and setbacks in building public support and help pave the way for a “green dream” to become a nonpartisan reality.
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COP 21 and the Paris Agreement: A Force Awakened

The acceptance of the Paris Agreement is a historic moment and sends a powerful signal that structural transformation on a global scale is possible. However, when judged against the enormity of the challenge and the needs and pressure from people on the ground, it is still a disappointment. 
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COP 21 and the Paris Agreement: A Force Awakened

Globally, political leaders are lauding the acceptance of the global and legally binding Paris Agreement on Climate Change at COP 21 as a historical moment. It achieves a goal long believed unattainable. However, judged against the enormity of the challenge and the needs and pressure from people on the ground demanding a global deal anchored in climate justice (“system change, not climate change!”), the Paris Agreement can only be called a collective failure and disappointment. Read a critical assessment by hbs colleagues from around the world.  
By Lili Fuhr , Liane Schalatek , Maureen Santos , Hans JH Verolme , Radostina Primova and Damjan Bogunovic

Coal Atlas: Facts and figures on a fossil fuel

Coal contributes more to climate change than any other energy source. It is therefore of utmost importance that the world finds ways by which to tame King Coal, especially as international climate negotiations get underway in Paris later this month. The Coal Atlas - a joint publication by the Heinrich Boell Foundation and Friends of the Earth International - highlights new facts and figures on the state of the global coal industry. 

Carbon Metrics: Global abstractions and ecological epistemicide

Climate change is framed as the largest threat. But is climate change more important and than the loss of biodiversity, the degradation of arable soils, or the depletion of fresh water? The way we describe and frame a problem very much predetermines the kinds of solutions and answers we seek. The authors of this essay invite the readers to take a step back and brush climate policy against the nap.
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Could the Elections End Canada’s Carbon Capture?

 Since taking office in February 2006, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has focused on turning this northern country on the edge of the Arctic––which possesses the third largest oil reserves in the world after Saudi Arabia and Venezuela––into an energy superpower. The strategy behind this––burn, baby, burn––is the proposed doubling of the extraction of oil from Canada’s bituminous tar sands, located primarily in the western province of Alberta, from the current 2.1 million to 5 million barrels of oil per day.
By Liane Schalatek

An Energy Superpower Heads to the Polls

As the fifth largest oil producer in the world, Canada's domestic and foreign policy is shaped considerably by energy and resource issues. In the nine years under the Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Canada has focused primarily on its oil industry and on strengthening its position as an energy power – without regard for the environment and local populations. In that context, the Harper government presented economic growth as being dependent on an aggressive expansion of the energy sector. However, that line of reasoning is now losing its force.
By Rebecca Bertram

Driving Regional Cooperation Forward in the 2030 Renewable Energy Framework

The European Commission, the European Council, and the European Parliament have all repeatedly called for more regional cooperation in the context of the 2030 climate and energy framework and the Energy Union debate. Regional cooperation can effectively bridge the gap between national renewables policies and a Europeanised approach to renewables deployment While multiple formats of regional cooperation already exist, a “quantum leap” in regional cooperation is required to address the further deployment of renewable energy from 2020 to 2030.
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Final Report - Findings of the African Nuclear Study

Given the growing interest in nuclear energy generation from Africa countries, this study takes a closer look at nuclear energy from an African perspective and considers the emerging information in relation to nuclear energy supply in the countries that have advanced plans for nuclear- South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya.
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The Czech Nuclear Illusion

In the first week of June, the Czech government adopted an action plan that is supposed to lead to the construction of four new reactors in the country—first in Dukovany and then in Temelín. The government’s decision, however, is not the product of a rational political debate; it is the result of the long-term erosion of responsible governing. Therefore, the Czech Republic can serve as a textbook case of how decisions about the future of energy should not be made.  
By Martin Sedlák

The Green Peace Dividend- Why Green Technologies Matter for International Security

Violent conflicts and security crises around the world have many different causes and effects. The vast majority of them, however, are in one way or another related to energy policy. Yet making this link apparent to policy makers has been challenging. Experts from the foreign policy, security and energy communities have been reluctant to fully grasp the security implications of promising green energy technology and market developments.
By Charlotte Beck and Rebecca Bertram
What Germany can learn from California's innovative start-up culture - An Interview with Cem Oezdemir

What Germany can learn from California's innovative start-up culture - An Interview with Cem Oezdemir

Smart energy infrastructure and an entrepreneurial spirit will play an important role in driving energy transitions around the world. At the end of June, Cem Oezdemir, Co-Chairman of the German Green Party, travelled to San Francisco to witness how innovative solutions are driving low-carbon development in the Bay Area. We spoke with him about how California could serve as a model for German start-ups.
Despite the Paris Deadline: At its 10th Meeting GCF Board Must Deliver Good Decisions, Not Hasty Ones

Despite the Paris Deadline: At its 10th Meeting GCF Board Must Deliver Good Decisions, Not Hasty Ones

At its upcoming 10th meeting from July 6-9 in Songdo, the GCF Board – despite the looming pressure of the Paris political deadline – must take care to deliver good decisions, not hasty ones as it feverishly works to get policies and procedures into shape for the first approval of project proposals in the fall. This does neither allow for thorough discussion, nor for dissent among their midst. An analysis by Liane Schalatek.
By Liane Schalatek

"Hurry Slowly” Toward Full Operationalization

The 9th GCF Board meeting in March made a number of key decisions, including the accreditation of its first seven implementing entities.  However, much important homework needs to be done, which is why the GCF should “hurry slowly” towards full operationalization and put important procedures for monitoring and accountability in place first, writes Liane Schalatek.
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Germany’s energy transition is not an island of its own

The restructuring of the energy system in one of the world’s leading industrialized nations is undoubtedly a highly ambitious undertaking. There is no blueprint for this energy transition that would offer a simple step-by-step procedure to follow. There is one thing that the German energy transition certainly is not: an island of its own that isolates Germany’s energy economy. On the contrary, a quick overview of the world’s state of affairs with regard to energy shows that the global energy transition is now picking up speed.
By By Ralf Fücks

The Future of Utilities: Extinction or Re-Invention?

Energy transitions in Germany and the United States are forcing utilities to increasingly reinvent themselves. Energy expert Susanne Fratzscher takes a look at a number of transformative trends that will push this process and outlines how utilities have begun to adapt to new power market realities on both sides of Atlantic.
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The Adaptation Fund at a Crossroads

What is the future of the Kyoto Protocol Adaptation Fund in a new competitive environment that includes the Green Climate Fund (GCF) as a muscled and now well-resourced player in multilateral climate finance? An expert dialogue organized by HBS North America and the ecbi explores various options for the Adaptation Fund.
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Soil Atlas: Facts and figures about earth, land and fields

Through misuse, we lose 24 billion tonnes of fertile soil every year. For the International Year of Soils in 2015, this Atlas shows why the soil should concern us all. The Atlas is jointly published by the Heinrich Böll Foundation and the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies.
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10 Things to Know about Climate Finance in 2014

Did you know that in 2014 the Green Climate Fund in a matter of weeks became the largest climate fund with $10.2 bn in new pledges? Or that the Ban Ki-moon climate summit in September galvanized over $200 bn in climate related financial commitments? These are just two of the "10 things to know about climate finance in 2014". This compilation of graphics is highlighting noteworthy insights from monitoring efforts of Climate Funds Update over the past year.
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Learning from Direct Access Modalities in Africa

Learning from Direct Access Modalities in Africa

In the climate finance arena, the Adaptation Fund (AF) has pioneered direct access. To date, six national implementing entities (NIEs) in Africa have commenced the challenging process of programming direct access funding domestically. This collaborative research report provides lessons learnt on how to strengthen the accreditation of future NIEs to the AF and to jump-start their engagement with the Green Climate Fund (GCF).
By Laura Schäfer, Alpha Kaloga, Sönke Kreft, Michael Jennings, Liane Schalatek, Fadzai Munyarad
Climate Finance Fundamentals – Update 2014

Climate Finance Fundamentals – Update 2014

Updated just before COP 20 in Lima (Peru), this series of 11 short introductory briefings, written in co-operation with the Overseas Development Institute, discusses a normative framework for and gender aspects of climate financing, the evolving global climate finance architecture, the progress in operationalizing the Green Climate Fund, and looks at the scale and impact of thematic climate finance flows on different regions in the developing world.
By Liane Schalatek (HBF) and Smita Nakhooda, Charlene Watson, Sam Barnard, Alice Caravani, Marigold Norman, Neil Bird, Nella Canales Trujillo (ODI)

Green Climate Fund - A Status Update going into the Berlin Pledge Meeting

This briefing, part of the HBF-Overseas Development Institute (ODI) briefing series Climate Finance Fundamentals, provides an up-to-date summary of the status of operationalization of the GCF after its last Board meeting in Barbados several weeks ago as contributor countries prepare to confirm significant resources for the new Fund at the first GCF Pledge Meeting in Berlin.  By Liane Schalatek, HBF, and Smita Nakhooda, ODI.
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A Handbook of Climate Finance in India

This handbook has been designed as a guide for civil society groups and other stakeholders in India to understand the various issues around climate finance needs and flows, specific to the Indian context. Such knowledge and background information is essential to fulfill the potential of Indian civil society groups to meaningfully engage in the decision-making process.
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The UN Climate Summit – Between the Rock of Ambition and the Hard Place of Reality

The UN Climate Summit – Between the Rock of Ambition and the Hard Place of Reality

The Ban Ki-moon Climate Summit, with the expected participation of more than 120 heads of states and high-ranking government officials from over 160 countries, is not part of the official UN climate negotiations process. Nevertheless, when the UN Secretary General announced the special summit more than a year ago, he did so certainly in hopes that government heads would strive to display decisive actions and announce ambitious emissions reduction goals to grease the path to a new global climate deal post-2020.
By Liane Schalatek

Texas and Germany: Energy Twins?

Geographically and politically, Texas and Germany are on opposite sides of the world, but both believe strongly in competitive energy markets, and both have largely deregulated their power industries. Now both are reconsidering their market designs.
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Transatlantic Exchange on Capacity Markets

Transatlantic Exchange on Capacity Markets

Even the strongest proponents of the Energiewende agree that Germany needs to reform its energy system to accommodate the next influx of renewables while maintaining security of supply of conventional power at all times. The United States has extensive experience with capacity markets from which the German debate could benefit. As such, a German delegation consisting of national and state energy policy makers and experts will visit the United States from September 1 to 5, 2014.
Monetizing Nature: Taking Precaution on a Slippery Slope

Monetizing Nature: Taking Precaution on a Slippery Slope

In the wake of declining political will for environmental protection, many in the environmental community are advocating for the monetization of nature. Some argue that monetization, by revealing the economic contribution of nature and its services, can heighten public awareness and bolster conservation efforts. However, such an approach collapses nature’s complex functions into a set of commodities stripped from their social, cultural, and ecological context and can pose a threat to the poor and indigenous communities who depend on the land for their livelihood.
By Barbara Unmüßig

The Socio-Economic Power of Renewable Energy Production Cooperatives in Germany

Energy cooperatives are important players in Germany's energy transition. Their positive socio-economic impact, especially in rural regions, has been highly significant yet not well understood. PhD student and Heinrich Böll Foundation scholarship holder, Sarah Debor, takes a closer look at the empirical evidence. This paper was first published by the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy.
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Germany's Cautionary, But Hopeful, Renewable Energy Tale

Germany's Cautionary, But Hopeful, Renewable Energy Tale

On a recent Monday morning, Jan Peter Klatt sat in his office in Germany’s Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and strained to hear a recording of an interview with Kansas Sen. Forrest Knox, R-Altoona. Knox was making one last unsuccessful pitch to repeal Kansas’ renewable energy standards by citing Germany, where he said the transition from fossil fuels to renewables was “de-industrializing” the nation. “It isn’t,” Klatt says. “And especially it wouldn’t be de-industrializing for the States (now). We have to differentiate between the past and the future.”
By Andy Marso

The World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2014

Three years after Fukushima, global nuclear power generation continues to decline. This year's report states that the nuclear share in the world's power generation declined steadily from a historic peak of 17.6 percent in 1996 to 10.8 percent in 2013. If it weren’t for the World Nuclear Industry Status Report, we probably wouldn’t know. This is because the nuclear industry is working hard to have us believe quite the opposite: that the world is seeing a nuclear renaissance.

Next Up: Resource Mobilization!

The 7th Board Meeting of the Green Climate Fund delivers key policies meant to signal that the Fund is ready for business in 2015. The “make-or-break” 7th GCF Board Meeting in Songdo from May 18 -21 delivered the essential operational policy requirements to start the process of collecting money for the Fund. However, more work is needed before the Fund is fully open for business in 2015.  A comprehensive summary report and outlook…
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The German Coal Conundrum

The focus on the Energiewende has increasingly shifted to the role of coal in Germany. Arne Jungjohann and Craig Morris take a critical and historical look at the German coal situation and find that coal is in fact not making a comeback in Germany.

Carbon Majors Funding Loss and Damage

The world’s top-emitting companies should be made accountable for their role in global warming and pay for the loss and damage suffered in many developing countries according to a report by the Heinrich Böll Foundation and the Climate Justice Programme.
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Of Promise, Progress, Perils and Prioritization

The Board and Secretariat of the Green Climate Fund have made some progress in implementing the Fund's promise for a gender-sensitive approach to its funding.  A stock-taking after the recent 7th GCF Board Meeting reveals that there are perils to the full operationalization of the Fund's gender mandate and that some provisions and decisions supporting gender in the GCF should be prioritized in the next few Board meetings.
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Resource Politics for a Fair Future

How could a just and democratic resource politics look like that respects both planetary boundaries and human rights? The Memorandum “Resource Politics for a Fair Future” is the outcome of a two-year international dialogue process of the Heinrich Böll Foundation.
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Post-Bali: It’s Crunch Time! – Report of the 6th GCF Board Meeting

The 6th meeting of the Board of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) in Bali from February 19 – February 21, 2014 was meant to propel the new Fund toward full operationalization by year’s end. After Bali, however, this tightly timed goal is in peril. For the GCF Board it is now crunch time to deliver at its May meeting.  
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Reexamining the United States’ shale gas success: Is Europe letting the fox in the henhouse?

Shale gas development continues to cause a heated debate on both sides of the Atlantic with the industry touting the increasing number of jobs within the sector, as well as lower CO2 emissions in comparison to coal and oil. Although both seem to be good news for US and EU policy makers and civil society, such arguments are often exaggerated and do not reflect less promising economic and environmental realities.
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Greening the Heartlands of Coal in Europe: Insights from a Czech-German-Polish Dialogue on Energy Issues

The impacts of the German energy transition on its European neighbors have hardly been addressed. In 2013, HBF, in cooperation with the Ecologic Institute, invited experts from the Czech Republic, Germany and Poland to discuss the prospects for better cross-border cooperation arising from Germany's energy transition. This report is the result of the trilateral energy expert group's discussion.
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On the Value of Nature

The value of nature and its “services” should not only be cherished and given greater visibility as elements of the economy, but should be assigned a monetary value in order to protect them.
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Taking a Gender-Sensitive Approach in the Green Climate Fund to the next Level: Recommendations for the 6th GCF Board Meeting

When the Board of the Green Climate Fund meets in Bali, Indonesia from February 19-21, the GCF’s mandated “gender-sensitive approach” is finally full-fledged on the agenda – and no longer treated under “any other business”. This policy analysis by Elizabeth Eggert (UNDP) and Liane Schalatek looks at options to integrate gender considerations into the operational modalities up for discussion and decision in Bali.
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Meat Atlas

The way in which we produce and consume meat affects many aspects of our lives and our environment: health, animal protection, food safety, agriculture, trade, environment and climate impacts are only some of these dimensions. Our new publication, the Meat Atlas 2014, describes and illustrates these relationships.
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Changing the Game: Boulder’s Clean Energy Goals, and How a Lego Game Shows How To Reach Them

Changing the Game: Boulder’s Clean Energy Goals, and How a Lego Game Shows How To Reach Them

What if there were a way for Boulder to visualize what would happen if the city were to take more aggressive action for reducing carbon emissions, or to map what it would look like to meet its renewable energy targets through municipalization? Lego blocks and “Change Cards” provide just such a tool, offering insight into the technological, economic and political challenges to making Boulder’s clean-energy and carbon-reducing visions a reality. 
By Marisa McNatt

Climate Finance Fundamentals - 2013 Update

In time for COP 19 in Warsaw (Poland), this series of 11 short introductory briefings, written in co-operation with the Overseas Development Institute, has been updated to reflect the latest data available on www.climatefundsupdate.org, the tracking project of ODI/hbf of dedicated climate financing instruments from pledge to project.  

Making Progress toward a Gender-Sensitive Approach in the Green Climate Fund: Recommendations for the 5th Meeting of the GCF Board

As the Board of the Green Climate Fund meets in Paris from October 7-10 with a long agenda and the urgency to move ahead with far-reaching decisions, it is crucial that the mandate of the Governing Instrument's for the GCF to follow "a gender-sensitive approach" is considered in the context of the policies waiting for for the Board's approval. See a joint policy brief by the Heinrich Böll Foundation North America and the climate finance working group of the Global Gender and Climate Alliance.

Capacity Energy Markets: a view from Germany and the United States

The German Energiewende shows that the current German electricity system can easily cope with 25 percent renewables. But exceeding these 25 percent will be a crossroad, as now event the strongest proponents of the Energiewende agree that Germany needs to reform its energy system to accommodate for the next influx of renewables.
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Difficult Decisions - Deferred? The 4th Green Climate Fund Board Meeting wrestles with the Fund's Business Model and selects its new Executive Director

At its recent meeting in Songdo, South Korea, the GCF Board was faced with a number of ambitious decisions on the Business Model Framework for the Fund, with disagreements about the involvement of the private sector, access of countries to the Fund and what financial instruments to employ. Board members were able to agree on Heda Cheikhrouhou from the African Development Bank as the new Executive Director for the Fund's Secretariat.
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The World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2013

The World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2013, launched on July 10th in Brussels, debunks the myth that the world is seeing a nuclear renaissance.Two years after Fukushima, global nuclear power generation continues to decline.
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Smart Growth: the Green Revolution

In his book Smart Growth: the Green Revolution, Ralf Fücks, President of the Heinrich Böll Foundation argues that while the calls for the end of growth are not realistic there is a possibility to follow a growth pathway that goes hand-in-hand with ecological sustainability.
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HBS Tours Exploring the Energiewende

This summer the Heinrich Böll Foundation is leading several tours to enhance awareness of the renewable energy revolution in Europe. The tours include US congressional staff examining EU low carbon economies, US energy and climate funders looking at renewable communities, and American and European journalists focusing on environmental issues.

The Energiewende - the Result of a Powerful Mass Movement from Below

Nowhere is the economic impact of the German energy transition more evident than in Bavaria where land owners and farmers have taken advantage of the new incentives to become "prosumers". In this interview with Josef Goeppel, a conservative member of the Bundestag from Bavaria, it becomes clear how German traditional conservatives are grasping the relevance of the Energiewende.
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Gender Equality in the Post-2015 Development Agenda: Where Does it Stand?

The post-2015 development agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have the potential to make a positive, long-lasting difference in addressing today's myriad of unresolved challenges and fundamental crises if they focus on gender equality and macro-economic policy reform. This paper analyses how gender equality is taken up in the post-Rio+20 process.
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Setting the Course: The Third Meeting of the Green Climate Fund Board Lays Groundwork for Key Decisions Later this Year

At their third meeting from March 12 - 15 in Berlin, the Board of the Green Climate Fund laid the groundwork for some of the most important decisions it will have to make for the Fund's future in the remaining two Board meetings this year so that the Fund can propel the paradigm shift to low-emission, climate-resilient and gender-responsive sustainable development in recipient countries.
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Operationalizing a Gender-Sensitive Approach in the Green Climate Fund

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) has a mandate to fund mitigation and adaption action in developing countries while "taking a gender-sensitive approach." With the Fund Board set to discuss and decide the vision, objectives and business model for the Fund, this paper makes a case for mainstreaming gender into the processes and financing of the GCF in conjunction with these decisions.
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German Energy Transition #6

While the US energy sector is good for big business, Germany’s is good for citizens. Germans not only want clean power; they also want to make it themselves. When locals own and control their environment, the acceptance of renewables increases, argues Craig Morris.
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What is the German Energiewende?

Germany's path to a renewable energy economy will not succeed without smart grid technologies. Some say the energy transition is impossible. What is the Energiewende? Why is it worth doing and how do citizens and small businesses in Germany invest in renewables? Check out this video

German Energy Transition #5 - Greening the Economy

Germany's transition to renewable energies is one its signature public policies of the 21st century. However, the Energiewende was not created in a vacuum. In this paper the author discusses the Energiewende's overlooked American origins.

Power and Profits in the Hands of the People

Germany's rural towns, like their United States counterparts, have struggled in modern times to overcome vulnerability to economic and population decline. In recent years, scores of small town residents in Germany have risen to the challenge by tapping national policies and local renewable resources, like the sun, wind, and biomass to create electricity, well-paying jobs, investment opportunities, local tax revenues, and new industries for their citizens. In September 2012, nine renewable energy policy makers and advocates from across the United States traveled to Germany to witness what amounts to a small town and rural revitalization phenomenon. What they learned broadened their perceptions, set the record straight on several prevalent myths about renewable energy, and spurred new ideas about how to move forward back home.
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Climate - Migration - Security

Growing evidence of links between climate change, migration, and conflict raise plenty of reasons for concern and it’s time to start thinking about new answers to these multifaceted crisis scenarios. - New report on Climate Change, Migration, and Conflict in South Asia!

The German Energy Transition - Greening the Economy

Germany has drawn a lot of attention for the Energiewende - the aim to switch to a renewable energy economy, phase out nuclear power and leave fossil fuels behind. But what exactly is the German energy transition: How does it works and what challenges lay ahead? Check out this new website.

Privatizing the Governance of Green Growth

Many powerful transnational corporations (TNCs) have growing influence over the governance of resources in sectors, such as energy and agriculture. This paper addresses the strategic dilemmas faced by civil society organizations that address corporate power in their struggles to curb global warming and achieve the human rights, including the rights to food and energy.
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Seasons of Change

The State of Qatar is hosting the 18th Conference of the Parties (COP 18) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Doha from November 26 to December 7, 2012. This webdossier compiles analysis and perspectives from the the Heinrich Böll Stiftung and its partners on how climate change, resource and energy politics relate to political and social change.

From Ignorance to Inclusion

Gender-Responsive Multilateral Adaptation Investments in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region – This study analyses how gender-responsive multilateral adaptation projects in the MENA region are, finding and discussing both best and worst practice examples. The authors demands that multilateral institutions in all their MENA adaptation projects implement gender safeguard policies consistent with existing international conventions and instruments on gender equality.

What does the German Energy Transition mean for Jordan? - Greening the Economy

On September 26, Jordan’s renewable energy leaders discussed Germany’s energy transition in Amman. The key questions to be answered were how does the German Energy Transition work, what are the international reactions and what does it actually mean for Jordan? The workshop was organized by the Heinrich Böll Foundation Arab Middle East and EDAMA.

Taking Charge: Summary of first Green Climate Fund Board Meeting

At its historic first meeting from August 23-25 in Geneva, the 24 members of the new Board of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) officially took charge, eager to decide the direction of the Fund and regain momentum as the Board begins the complex and ambitious work of fully operationalizing the GCF by early 2014.

The German Energy Transition - Greening the Economy

Germany’s green global leadership role was taken to new heights in 2011 when the country embarked on an ambitious energy transition, die Energiewende. But can a highly industrialized economy be dominantly powered with wind and solar energy? What about energy costs and grid stability? This dossier addresses these questions and provides other insights from the German Energy Transition.

International Resource Politics: New Challenges Demanding New Governance Approaches for a Green Economy

Natural resources are back on the agenda. After the rise of new economic powers such as China, India, and Brazil, global competition has perceptibly increased strategic concerns. Germany, the EU, the US and others have formulated raw material strategies that put concern over access and supply at center stage – but the environmental and the socio-political dimensions are widely neglected in these strategies.

German Energy Transition #4

Much of Europe is betting on offshore wind as a way of transforming its energy system into one which will be almost entirely based on renewable energies. Europe - and Germany - have seen a large influx of investment in this sector over the past years, and the quest for becoming the leading supply and manufacturing region is well underway - with seaports leading the way.

A Critique of the Green Economy. Toward Social and Environmental Equity

Since the first UN Conference on Environment and Development in 1992, we've seen a worsening of all important ecological trends, such as climate change, biodiversity loss and scarcity of resources. This essay describes a policy of less and wealth measured in "just enough" to allow a decent life without poverty for all.

Closing the Gender Equality Gap in Southern Africa

Twenty years after the first United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), delegates meet again in Rio de Janeiro to give sustainable development a ‘new boost’. The Rio+20 is regarded as important for renewing the political commitment for sustainable development, providing an opportunity for global actors to assess progress and gaps in already agreed outcomes of major sustainable development summits, and to collectively address emerging issues.
By Kulthoum Omari

Biomassters Battle to Control the Green Economy

At Rio+20, the concept of the "green economy" focuses on industrial production from biomass as one way to overcome fossil fuel dependency. The push for a bio-based economy comes with a call for market-based mechanisms for the financialization of the Earth’s natural processes, re-branded as ‘ecosystem services’, which also encourage land and water grabs.

Low Hanging Fruit: Fossil Fuel Subsidies, Climate Finance, and Sustainable Development

In a time of economic hardship, dangerous climate change, and growing demand for reliable and cleaner sources of energy, global fossil fuel subsidies for production and consumption remain staggeringly high; however, momentum for subsidy reform is growing internationally. Greater transparency and equity need to be at the heart of such reforms, argues this report.

An Endless Wait with Uncertain Future: Unpacking the Energy Crisis

The urgent need to address climate change, the concerns of depleting fossil fuel reserves, volatile global oil prices and continued economic crisis amongst other reasons have put energy at the center of public policy debates. While the discussions are centered around addressing energy security, often focused primarily around electricity generation, the more immediate energy crisis is in creating equitable energy access and eradicating energy poverty.

German Energy Transition #3

Cooperatives have a vast history of playing important roles in supporting local economies in both the Midwestern United States and Germany. Today, a significant opportunity exists to build on existing cooperative models in the Midwest to also supply sources of local, renewable energy production.

German Energy Transition #2

Germany was a first mover in the solar energy sector. Recent bankruptcies call its early commitment into question, but a closer look shows how well positioned Germany remains – and why it’s a good time for the US to get on board.

Dossier: Fairness in a Finite World – Rio+20 and Beyond

20 years after the first Earth Summit, the international community will gather once more in Rio de Janeiro from the 20th to the 22th of June 2012. But for a greener, more equitable and more resource efficient world mere declarations will not be enough. A serious shift in priorities is needed. A greener economy is possible, but it needs to be socially just, gender equitable and democratic.

Green Deal Nigeria

The Green Deal Nigeria study commissioned by the Heinrich Böll Foundation focuses on the potential for a greener Nigeria and is being launched as the country prepares for the 20th anniversary of the Earth Summit. The study provides an overview and practical examples of how to green Nigeria before 2020 and explains the long-term measures that Nigeria needs to take today to make the economy grow beyond oil.

World Bank’s “Inclusive Green Growth” (IGG) Report – A Brief Assessment

The World Bank's May 2012 volume on "Inclusive Green Growth" has some positive solutions to offer, but falls short in several crucial ways: the lack of emphasis on poverty reduction, equality and human rights; an uncritical regard for market mechanisms to govern asset markets, and a view of infrastructure as the “heart of green growth,” among other things.
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German Energy Transition #1

Is it hysteria or emotional populism that Germany has decided to phase out nuclear energy? On the contrary, a majority of Germans has been unconvinced of its merits since the early 1980s; the source of this anti-atom consensus lies in the persuasive, fact-based arguments of a powerful, grassroots social movement.

Gender Relations and Women’s Vulnerability to Climate Change

Recognizing the significance of inequitable gender relations for women’s vulnerability to climate change, this study analyzes if and how an adaptation measure involving a relocation program that gives titles to new public housing to women implemented in response to severe flooding in the Mexican state of Tabasco in 2007, has contributed to modifying gender relations and strengthening gender equality.

Going Green: Chemicals Fields of Action for a Resourceefficient Chemical Industry

The chemical industry in Germany plays a key role in the economy as a whole and the country's international competitiveness. It provides more than 290,000 well paying jobs. The capacity of the chemical industry for innovation is crucial for finding solutions to some of the major challenges of our time such as climate change and the resource crisis: chemicals can help to insulate buildings, generate solar power, build cleaner cars and increase material efficiency.

Preventing Wall-E

Since 2002, the world community has been struggling to formulate a framework for sustainable consumption and production. In this paper, "Preventing Wall-E", Victoria Floor describes the struggle, the high stakes and the importance of a Rio +20 agreement.

The Green Economy – The New Magic Bullet?

In this essay, the president of the Heinrich Boell Foundation, Barbara Unmuessig, critically reflects on the opportunities for and the shortcomings of the concept of a "Green Economy" to influence economic policy making globally, its relationship to the paradigm of sustainable development and the need to rethink our understanding and focus on growth.

European Climate Leadership – Durban and Beyond - Global Climate

Can Europe assert leadership on climate change in light of its myriad problems? The EU was key in shaping the outcome of the last UNFCCC negotiations, the so-called Durban Platform. This paper analyzes the prospects for Europe to continue to act as a driving force towards a greener planet, both at home and abroad.
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Engendering the Climate for Change

The effects of climate change and current policy responses have disproportionately negative impacts on women. As part of the effort to address the imbalance, this research assesses policies and practices for gender-just adaption in India.

Lighting up Ladakh

Solar power has the potential to provide secure and reliable energy to rural communities in developing countries. This case study examines an off-grid project in India and assesses it implications for national energy policy.
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Gender Equity and Sustainable Development: Prioritizing Actions To Achieve Results

  Today, prospects for sustainable development remain a serious challenge as our global economy, our natural environment, our social well-being, and our political structures are in crisis. From the economy to climate change to food and agriculture, systems of governance are in disarray. Everyone is struggling more intensely in today’s world – particularly women and girls.

The Future We Want. A Feminist Perspective

The multiple crises – the financial crash, hunger, climate change and resource scarcity – demonstrate emphatically that neoliberal market globalization cannot fulfill its promises: namely to bring about the optimal allocation of resources on the entire planet and thus be a win-win game for all.

Baltic Sea: Developing a Regional Cooperation for Renewables in the Electricity Sector

In this paper, Mats Abrahamsson takes a closer look at a region that could be a pioneer for regional cooperation in the EU: the Baltic Sea Region. As the first region with an EU regional cooperation initiative and with a long-lasting tradition of cooperation, this region could play an essential role in showing the EU the way forward by sharing their large potential of diverse renewable energy sources.

COP 17 in Durban: A Largely Empty Package

With negotiation time extended for more than 30 hours, the South African Presidency was able to conclude the climate summit in Durban with a "Durban Package" of measures. However, while agreement was reached - barely - many key issues remained unresolved, making the COP17 results in many respects "a largely empty package".

Moving Beyond Nuclear and Coal?

This panel discussion in Durban brought together Japanese and European perspectives on how the international community is moving away from nuclear and coal-based energy in response to incidents such as Fukushima.

The Complex Web of Climate Finance Decisions in Durban

By some counts no less than eight distinct climate finance decisions are expected at COP 17 in Durban, making the climate finance cluster one of the most crucial ones to address in South Africa. Solving the complex web of interlocking climate finance decisions in Durban also holds the key to unlocking progress in other areas, as this commentary explains.

REDD+ Finance Delivery: Lessons from Early Experience

International funding for reductions of emissions from deforestation and forest degradation as well as for forest conservation (REDD+) has dramatically increased over the past few years. This ODI/Boell Foundation policy brief looks at lessons from the early experience, the challenges that finance delivery and implementation face and discusses some policy options for improvement.

German Greens Want to Strengthen Transatlantic Cooperation on Climate Change

The German Green Party suggests turning climate change cooperation into a strategic priority in the transatlantic relationships. This is the core demand of the motion 17/7356 passed by the Greens in the parliament, the Deutscher Bundestag. Though Congress is so far not acting on climate change, there are other pillars in the US society to connect to and foster collaboration and mutual learning across the Atlantic. One of the vehicles for this is the Transatlantic Climate Bridge of the German government that should be strengthened, according to the resolution of the Greens.

Civil Climate Change Activism in China – More than Meets the Eye

Transitioning towards a low-carbon economy requires the active engagement of civil society. This report explores the growing role of Chinese environmental NGOs in pushing aggressive climate targets and how the Chinese government enhances these efforts to implement ambitious climate change and renewable energy action.
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Climate Finance in Sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Sahara Africa as a region already has been hit hardest by climate change, yet so far has received little of the financial resources it needs to adapt and cope with climate change impacts. This policy brief looks at the state of play of climate finance delivery to the continent, discusses the role of important actors in the region and addresses the problems that hamper a more equitable and effective climate finance delivery to the region.

Ready to be Africa’s Climate Bank?

In early 2011, the African Development Bank (AfDB) indicated its intention to establish and manage an Africa Green Fund to support African states that individually lack the knowledge and technology to secure needed global climate funds. This mapping study evaluates the AfDB's actual track record on sectors and initiatives related to climate change as a clue to the Bank’s suitability to manage any future infusions of funds to address climate change in Africa.  

No Romance. Mobilizing Climate Finance for Africa

Climate finance has recently become a subject of profound interest to the global debates on climate change. At this year’s 17th UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP) in Durban, climate finance is expected to feature prominently. This being the “African COP”, we hope that the African perspective on climate finance will receive the attention it deserves.

A Future for International Climate Politics - Global Climate

Two years after the Copenhagen summit, the real world is moving away from a safe and equitable climate future faster than ever. If the G-20 is “the premier forum for international economic development” and we are serious about stopping climate change, we have to ensure that G-20 politics do not undermine our objectives for the climate, the environment, poverty eradica-tion, and global justice.
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Gender and Climate Finance: Double Mainstreaming for Sustainable Development

Climate change is not gender-neutral. Suffering from gender-based vulnerabilities to climate change, women are more often victims of climate change than men; however, women also possess knowledge of and experiences in capacities to mitigate as well as strategies to cope and adapt, which makes them important “agents of change” in the fight against global warming.

Why the Green New Deal is a Response to the European Debt Crisis

The global economic crisis has not been overcome; its character has merely changed. Similar to the crisis in the banking sector, the European government debt crisis is typical of a large-scale financial crisis, the “Second Great Depression,” and managing it has to be addressed in this context.

The Design Process for the Green Climate Fund: Lots of Disagreement, Little Time

With three out of four scheduled meetings of the Transitional Committee tasked with designing the new Green Climate Fund now completed after the recent meeting in Geneva, severe differences remain between the 25 developing countries and the 15 developed countries about form and functions of the Fund. The road to Durban remains bumpy, and TC members have little time to cover a lot of distance.

Engendering the Green Climate Fund

Gender considerations are currently not systematically addressed in existing climate financing instruments; where gender appears, it is in bits and pieces. This is where the Green Climate Fund, currently designed by the 40 members of the Transitional Committee, has a chance to do better.

Wheel of Life - Food, Climate, Human Rights, and the Economy

The links between climate change and industrial agriculture create a nexus of crises—food insecurity, natural resource depletion and degradation, as well as human rights violations and inequities. This report unravels the interrelated causes of and effects on these issues.

Harvesting Renewable Energy in the Midwest

This report is in the final product of the Midwest Renewable Energy Tour. It shares the German success of using policy to develop rural renewable energy projects and how farms in the US states of South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin can increase their renewable energy capacity.

From Scoping Options to Decision-Making - The Work of the Transitional Committee Going Forward

Half way through the work of the Transitional Committee (TC), the 40-member body tasked by the COP 16 in Cancun to design the new Green Climate Fund (GCF) for approval by the Durban COP, member countries at their recent second meeting in Tokyo focused on further clarifying important points of convergence and divergence among countries. Many of these, though clearly not all, ran largely along a contributor county-recipient country dividing line.

Funding the Energy Transformation at Home AND Abroad!

Observed around the world with varying degrees of curiosity, high expectations and hopes, skepticism, potential good will or schadenfreude, Germany has embarked on probably the furthest reaching energy transformation of any industrialized country by its recent government decision to phase out nuclear energy by 2022.

Harvesting Renewable Energy

Dirk Ketelsen, organic farmer and executive director of Dirkshof, a renewable energy producer and consultancy in Schleswig-Holstein, gives a first-hand report on the success of his investment in renewable energies.

Reaching Boiling Point? Global Perspectives on the 2011 UN Climate Summit

South Africa plays host to the next UN climate conference in Durban from November 28 to December 9, 2011. This dossier provides an analysis of the major issues at stake and the context in which the negotiations will be held. It offers ongoing commentary and updates on major developments in the run up to the negotiations.

Grounding Green Power

This paper identifies key components of smart renewable energy policy in developing countries, focusing on the power sector. It also provides recommendations for maximizing the effectiveness of international support for deployment of renewable energies, drawn from these on-the-ground experiences in developing countries.

Marginal Oil

With conventional oil production in decline, the global oil industry is investing heavily in dirtier and riskier forms of unconventional oil such as heavy crude, tar sands, and oil shale. These investments pose a challenge to the climate, the environment, and local communities.
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No Nukes, No Problem?

As Germany is showing, it is very possible to get large penetrations of renewable energy while phasing out nuclear energy. With bold political and social support, a consistent incentive framework for clean energy investment, and creative thinking about how to deploy geographically-dispersed resources, Germany is undergoing a major transition in its energy sector.

A Tentative Start for the Transitional Committee

Global negotiators and observers met for two days in Mexico City at the end of April to start their work of designing the future Green Climate Fund. This first analysis by Liane Schalatek describes options for and potential obstacles to the process.

Growth of Limits

  On the road to ecological modernity, prosperity is possible without having to destroy the basis of our livelihood.

Climate Adaptation Challenges from a Gender Perspective

On 22 February, the Heinrich Böll Foundation North America, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), Women Organizing for Change and Natural Resource Management (WOCAN) and the UN Non-Governmental Liaison Service (NGLS) co-organized a panel discussion on "Climate Adaptation Challenges from a Gender Perspective - CSO Messages for Rio +20."

The Future of E-mobility in Germany and the US

Ralf Fücks, President of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, gave a welcome address at the conference “Opportunities and Challenges: The Future of E-mobility in Germany and the US”. The e-mobility conference was hosted by the German Embassy and The Representative of German Industry and Trade in Washington D.C. on March 30, as part of the Transatlantic Climate Bridge initiative.

Women who Go, Women who Stay: Reactions to Climate Change

Climate change is the biggest environmental problem currently confronting humanity and affecting all socioeconomic sectors in the country and around the world. Its impact, however, is differentiated by gender, economic, social and geopolitical factors. In this case study, interviews with women and men in six communities in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas were conducted.

Energy of the Future?

The Heinrich Boell Foundation Prague published a new report on the state of nuclear energy and plans to expand it in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, and Bulgaria. In many of these countries high-level politicians are vigorously promoting the development of nuclear energy.

Our Daily Meat

Americans consumed 275lb of meat in 2010. That is more than 341 grams each day. Most Americans do not know - or care to know - where their daily meat comes from. The truth is: in the United States, 79% of pigs are raised on farms with 2,000 pigs or more. These factory farms promised better employment, affordable food for everybody and better, more efficient farming practices. They delivered the opposite.

Get the Facts Right: Germany has seen a Boom in Green Jobs

The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) has recently published a new report: The Myth of Green Jobs - The European Experience. It claims that clean energy technologies increase energy prices and don’t lead to a net job growth in Europe. Given the German experience, Arne Jungjohann argues, AEI’s report has several flaws.

Nuclear Lessons from Japan

The unfolding disaster at the nuclear plants in Japan, which involves some of the oldest reactors in the country, starkly shows that the United States’ current policy of rubber-stamping 20-year license extensions for its aging reactors is very dangerous.

27 National Energy Action Plans = 1 European Energy Policy?

This Green European Foundatio (GEF) publication is a first, critical look at six National Renewable Energy Action Plans submitted to the European Commission in 2010. These action plans contain detailed information on how these six European Union member states expect to meet their EU renewable energy targets, and hence provide great insight into the expected development of the European energy industry over the coming decade and beyond.

A Matter of Principle(s) - Post-Cancun Update

This paper takes a close look at the status quo of public climate change finance post-Cancun and proposes the use of existing core principles and tools of international environmental law and human rights as the fundamental conceptual guide.

“Challenging, but feasible,….”

…. this is the condensed conclusion of the final report – recently released – of the UN Secretary-General’s High-level Advisory Group on Climate Change Financing (AGF), which was tasked with trying to find ways to raise US$100 billion per year by 2020 for mitigation and adaptation actions in developing countries. This number — far less than what many experts believe is really needed — was the sort of political compromise, the lowest common financial denominator, leaders came up with at last year’s international climate negotiations in Copenhagen.

How did Germany Surpass the United States in Renewable Energy Development?

From May 30th to June 4th, 2010, Transatlantic Climate fellow Dan Conrad (North Carolina Conservation Network) visited Berlin and Prague to meet with experts and officials for discussion on renewable energy development and climate policy. Read his reflections on similarities and differences of policies on either side of the Atlantic.

Myth of Nuclear Power - A Guide

The recent explosions at several reactors in Japan have again highlighted the hazards of nuclear power in a dramatic way. The description of nuclear power as reliable and secure energy source has turned into a myth. Renowned international nuclear experts provide an overview of current, facts rich, and nuclear-critical know-how.

Canada’s Climate Change Calendar

This report and calendar shows Canada's contribution to climate change in a global perspective. It is intended to provide a fresh perspective on the question of who is responsible for climate change and thus who must take the lead in delivering the solution.

Climate Change and Democratisation

The paper examines whether democracy at the country level and global climate change matter for another. It raises the question of how to support democracy’s advance in the face of multiple challenges that include the adverse effects of global warming and extreme weather events merits much more attention than it has received so far.

Three Hundred Thousand Clean Energy Jobs

This policy paper analyzes the succes of the German renewables industry and discusses which of the lessons learned could be applied to the U.S. states of Indiana, Michigan and Minnesota. In cooperation with the Blue Green Alliance the paper will be released during the Midwestern Green Jobs Tour from July 12-16.

Climate Finance Additionality: Emerging Definitions and Their Implications

This paper explores the following two main issues: 1. How is additionality being defined by different political actors? 2. What are the technical and political implications of these different definitions? And what do the varying definitions require in terms of tracking and the measurement, reporting and verification of finance?

Greening Capitalism is not Enough

In many places, including Germany, the idea of a Green New Deal continues to be criticized from the well-known conservative angle and, more recently, from a progressive perspective as well. This new critique of the Green New Deal is not valid because it fails to understand that the Green New Deal does not entail a simple “greenwashing” of the existing system.

The American Way of Change

Researchers, entrepreneurs, and venture capitalists go beyond politics to find, on their own account, openings for green energies.

Unlocking a low-carbon Europe

Climate change and the reform of the EU budget are the two priorities on the 2010 agenda: Will the EU be able to generate sufficient momentum for a budget reform, which is needed to pursue a low-carbon economy?

Where’s the Money? The Status of Climate Finance Post-Copenhagen - Climate Finance

When the dust settled after the near failure of the UNFCCC climate talks in Copenhagen, the issue of climate finance seemed strangely to have been one of the few areas, where despite all procedural and political misgivings, real progress was made. The “Copenhagen Accord” gives some clear promises and numbers for both short- and long-term climate financing. However, as the Accord is a nonbinding political agreement, many questions about if and how those commitments can be fulfilled are yet to be answered. A new analysis by Liane Schalatek, HBF, and Neil Bird and Jessica Brown, ODI, analyses some of these questions in further detail.

Out of the Running?

The United States must make long-term investments in clean energy development or risk being shut out of a $2.3 trillion industry, this new report has found. The study describes Germany, Spain and China as early winners in the next great technological and industrial revolution because each imposed policies to encourage low-carbon energy development. In cooperation with the Center for American Progress

Opportunity or Failure?

If the Copenhagen Accord on climate change can be called a small step forward or a grand failure depends on the regional perspective. Two months after the Copenhagen climate summit, this paper sheds some light on the different regional and national evaluations of the conference and analyzes how perceptions on the outcome of the conference vary between key countries and regions.

Mission Impossible?

Der Kopenhagener Klimagipfel hat in Europa für Enttäuschung gesorgt. Nicht so in der USA. Klimaschützer kämpfen hier weiter um das Klimagesetz. Doch eine Mehrheit ist alles andere als sicher. IN GERMAN ONLY.

The case for a green economy that works for all

According to an estimate of the U.S. Congressional Research Service, the global financial crisis destroyed 40% of the world’s GDP. Since then, stock indices show a significant recovery of the lost wealth; however, analyses are likely to show that, on the whole, the response to the crisis (government stimulus packages and especially bank bail-outs of worldwide estimated $14 trillion) redistributed wealth upward. In the U.S., unemployment has exceeded the 10% mark and one out of every nine people receives food stamps.

The Green New Deal

Humanity is confronted by historic challenges. While the economic and financial crisis has rocked the foundations of our economic system and threatened the livelihoods of millions of people here in Europe and in the rest of the world, we cannot afford any further delay in tackling the crises in the realms of climate change and global justice.

Gender and Climate Change in Southern Africa

Although various studies have focused on climate change impacts and adaptation opportunities in Africa, few have focused on the household level and in particular on gender differentiated impacts of climate change. This study, commissioned by Heinrich Böll Stiftung, provides an analysis and summary of the findings of eight case studies carried out in four southern African countries. Furthermore, the study aims to identify various policies, programmes and activities that could address these issues.

Going Green. The Future has Begun

The green industrial revolution will, on a grand scale, create new products, services, and jobs. Although much remains to be done, the great transformation is on its way. In this collection of short articles, the authors debate the pros and cons of carbon capture and storage, the American turn to "green," and the questions of how economic growth and climate protection can be reconciled.

Climate Change and the Right to Food

The study proposes concrete methods by which institutions can address climate change problems and realize the right to food symbiotically, in compliance with the principles of systemic integration under international law.

Abbruch oder Durchbruch? - US Klimapolitik vor Kopenhagen

Since the inauguration of Barack Obama, the US-Administration is accelerating climate protection efforts. However, obstacles in both chambers of Congress delay these efforts. The authors review recent achievements in US-climate legislation, provide an outlook on the probable US position in the upcoming Copenhagen conference and explain what this implies for viable strategies for European and other countries. read more (in GERMAN ONLY)»

Towards a Global Green Recovery – Supporting Green Technology Markets

Two major global challenges - the financial crisis and climate change - make it urgent to rally the world behind the idea of a “green new deal” or a “global green recovery.” To help G20 nations overcome these challenges, the Federal Foreign Office asked Atlantic Initiative to develop specific and actionable policy recommendations on how to provide effective international support to green technology markets and push the issue in the G20 framework.

Toward a Transatlantic Green New Deal

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The grave financial and economic crisis that broke into full view in the fall of 2008 has dominated headlines and politics. The imagery of a Green New Deal is important in that it suggests an ambitious approach predicated on the need for strong government action and a decisive break with old policies.
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A European Community for Renewable Energies

The Sahara can become a power hub to provide renewable energy to Europe by the mid of the century. This project should become a cornerstone of a new European Community for renewable energies, argues Ralf Fücks.

Europe: Creating New Jobs with Renewable Energies

The support of renewable energies triggers boosts the economy and creates hundred thousands of new jobs. In Germany already today more people work in renewable energy industries than in the coal and nuclear sector together.

Gender and Climate Finance: Double Mainstreaming for Sustainable Development

Climate change is real, it is happening already, and its impacts on people are not gender-neutral. It is affecting men and women all over the world differently, especially in the world’s poorest countries and amongst the most vulnerable people and communities.1 As women and men have different adaptive and mitigative capabilities, the financing instruments and mechanisms committed to climate change activities in mitigation and adaption need to take these gender-differentiated impacts into account in funds design and operationalization as well as concrete project financing.

Urban Futures 2030

Urban Futures pursues two corresponding ideas: The first objective is to deepen the transnational dialog over the role of cities in solving the climate crisis. The second objective is to collect visions and models of sustainable architecture and urban planning and present them to a broader public.

New Finance for Climate Change and the Environment

The world has moved beyond simple acknowledgement that climate change and environmental degradation pose significant risks to humanity and the planet’s ecosystems. In recognition of theincreased vulnerability of billions of people, mostly in the developing world, Northern donors have pledged billions of dollars in new financial commitments. Those funds are to be delivered through no fewer than a dozen new environmental funding mechanisms seeking to mitigate these risks and to help the most vulnerable to adapt to coming societal and environmental changes.
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Feed-in Tariffs and Renewable Energy in the USA

Feed-in tariff policies have driven rapid renewable energy growth for electricity in Europe, but have not been widely adopted in North America to date. This paper reviews the experience of US states which have introduced feed-in tariff legislation, and discusses the outlook for Community-Based Energy Development policies.

How a Changing Climate Impacts Women

This is the report for a roundtable held on September 21, and which was a landmark event, one of the first high-level sessions to focus on the linkages between gender equality and climatechange.

Intro

Ecological integrity and the fight against climate change, clean energy solutions, and (gender-)equitable sustainable development approaches are central for securing the future of humanity and the planet. As societies embark worldwide upon the green transformation of business-as-usual economic and development agendas, greater emphasis must be given to social and gender justice, participatory democracy, and citizen involvement. We support sustainable economic development fueled by clean energies, greener infrastructure, and inclusive governance.

Green Climate Fund Dossier

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