International Climate Finance & Policy

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.

As Kansas legislators argue about whether climate change is happening, European leaders act. Read the newest article by Andy Marso, a 2014 recipient of the Transatlantic Energy and Climate Network's Energy and Climate Media Fellowship.

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.”

To understand the importance of the U.S. EPA’s proposed regulations on carbon pollution, consider the political risk taken by Obama, its international leverage, and the implications for U.S. industry.