The 29th Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku revealed a shift in the balance of power in international climate politics following the US elections. While China played a constructive role in the negotiations on international climate finance, vulnerable countries were forced to make painful...

With the Green Deal, the European Union (EU) has not only significantly increased the ambition of its climate policy in recent years, but it has also added an international dimension to European domestic climate policy. In fact, numerous recently adopted legal acts directly or indirectly affect...

The signatories of the Paris Agreement are required to submit new nationally determined contributions (NDCs) by 10 February 2025, laying out targets for 2035. These third generation NDCs - "NDCs 3.0" - are supposed to serve as comprehensive investment and transformation plans and incorporate the...

The new EU Commission is promising to improve the bloc’s geoeconomic resilience, make progress on decarbonisation and increase competitiveness. Achieving these aims will mean working with emerging economies like Brazil - where the EU’s influence is waning as China’s expands. The EU lacks a...

Growing North-South tensions are impeding global climate cooperation and hampering Germany’s search for reliable partners. Brazil is a key actor with the potential to alleviate tensions: it sees itself as a bridge-builder and will host the Climate Change Conference in 2025 (COP30). Under their...

The 27th Conference of the Parties (COP 27) to the United Nations Framework Conven­tion on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, was marked by multiple crises and the shaken confidence of developing countries in the multilateral process. Nonetheless, an agreement was reached on the...

In summer 2022, the European Union (EU) and India resumed negotiations on a free trade agreement to strengthen their strategic partnership. In addition, both sides are negotiating an investment protection agreement and an agreement on the protection of geographical indications. In this way, the...

Since net zero targets have become a keystone of climate policy, more thought is being given to actively removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere while continuing to drastically reduce emissions. The ocean plays a major role in regulating the global climate by absorbing a large proportion of...

In recent weeks, Japan’s government under Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has im­plemented significant adjustments to the country’s security policy. In December 2022, Tokyo published a new National Security Strategy along with two other defence-related strategic documents. In doing so, the...

The upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference in Dubai (COP28) will see a new round of battle regarding the call to phase out fossil fuels. Intense debates have taken place in Germany and the European Union (EU) to determine positions in the run-up to the conference. The main point of...