International Climate Finance & Policy

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.