climate change

Time to go beyond gas!

Food & Water Europe
Conference "Global gas lock-in: linking North-South resistance" - Video and picture galleryLocal activists and NGOs who are fighting against gas projects all around the world came together at a large international conference in Brussels which took place from 21 to 23 September 2017. Under the headline "Global gas lock-in: linking North-South resistance", participants took part in different activities aiming at building and strengthening a global network to fight against extraction, pipelines, LNG Terminals and to phase out all fossil fuels. More information, the ...
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Germany as a “Climate Saviour”

Tobias Haas
The socioecological implications of Germany's model of capitalist developmentOnce upon a time there existed a country in the heart of Europe that had learnt its lessons. Under great pains it had struggled to come to terms with its dreadful history. Purified by this process, our country rose again, generously reaching out to its neighbours and helping them to navigate the choppy waters of the "great recession" (the financial and economic crisis that has held us tight in its grip since 2008). It provided leadership in women's and men's football, ...
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The large majority of Europe’s energy use today still depends on fossil fuels, mainly from oil, gas and coal. While the climate effects of oil and coal are well known, gas is still considered as a "transition fuel" and a "bridge to renewables". But the climate effects of gas are even worse than oil and coal in the short term, and environment and communities are badly affected where gas is exploited. The gas map you find below for download gives an overview on the existing and planned gas infrastructures - with a focus on Europe. These ...
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Just Transition

Conference organised by the Delegation DIE LINKE. in the European Parliament and the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung Brussels, in cooperation with Transform!A socially just energy transition can only be achieved together. To form this common ground, to exchange different experiences and to hold strategic discussions, it was for these reasons that representatives of European trade union federations, NGOs, think tanks, the climate movement, the scientific sector, and politicians of different levels met at the invitation of the GUE/NGL Group in the European Parliament, the Rosa Luxembourg ...
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© Kevin Kelley / Flickr / Creative Commons
© Kevin Kelley / Flickr / Creative Commons
Conference reportThe Conference Fossil fuel lock-in: why gas is a false solution, held in Brussels from September 26-28, 2016 was attended by more than 50 climate and energy activists from North Africa, the U.S., Argentina and across Europe. The conference was organized by Corporate Europe Observatory, Friends of the Earth Europe, CounterBalance, War on Want, Food & Water Europe, PowerShift e.V. Berlin and Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung Brussels Office. Its goals were to improve networking among climate and energy activists, upgrade levels of ...
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Bare the footprint! Methane compared to carbon dioxide over a 20-year time period following emission to the atmosphere. More details in the article. Source: Howarth (2015) Energy & Emission Control Technologies.
Bare the footprint! Methane compared to carbon dioxide over a 20-year time period following emission to the atmosphere. More details in the article. Source:

Methane Emissions

Robert W. Howarth
The greenhouse gas footprint of natural gasNatural gas is widely (and falsely) promoted as a bridge fuel that allows continued use of fossil fuels while reducing greenhouse gas emissions compared to oil or coal. Indeed, less carbon dioxide is emitted when burning natural gas, but natural gas is composed mostly of methane. Emissions of even small amounts of unburned methane give natural gas a huge greenhouse gas footprint, since methane is more than 100 times more powerful as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Natural gas and coal are both climate disasters, with coal worse ...
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Justice Climatique
Justice ClimatiqueTakver
Was the climate summit a great success or a total failure? To a large degree, this is a question of perspective. Below, we assess the summit’s results.The answer to question of whether the climate summit was a success or failure largely depends on the perspective from which one assesses its results. The fact that German civil society and the majority of the media largely describe the deal as 'historic' and 'successful' is due to their strongly process-immanent perspective, a perspective that analyses the results of the summit ...
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Image: Tagebau Grevenbroich Germany, Drakt Kranre / Flickr / CC BY 2.0
Image: Tagebau Grevenbroich Germany, Drakt Kranre / Flickr / CC BY 2.0

Why the Kyoto Protocol Failed

Ulrich Brand, November 2015
Climate Policy needs a socio-ecological transformation – and that needs an effective climate policy.The Kyoto Protocol has strengthened those in power and the existing economic system. Climate change cannot be stopped with market mechanisms.The Kyoto Protocol, just like the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, has been in force since 2005, and yet the use of fossil fuels, particularly coal, has since increased. Reasons for this include low coal, gas and oil prices – not least due to the ecologically problematic challenges of "unconventional" energy sources such as tar ...
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A bright future for fossil energy in the EU?

Fabian Hübner
Policy PaperThe expansion of the electricity and gas distribution networks presents an obstacle to a decentralised, Europe-wide transition to renewable energy. Supporting electricity and gas infrastructure projects allows energy companies to profit on the energy markets from their production overcapacities of fossil fuels. At the same time, these fossil fuel-based infrastructure projects set the EU on a long-term emissions path that obscures official concepts such as climate neutrality. Fabian Huebner examines the EU’s negotiating mandate for ...
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Practice of Energy Democracy

Conrad Kunze and Sören Becker, August 2015
Emancipatory energy transitions in EuropeAlready today, the energy transition in Europe is supplanting nuclear and coal power plants and will, at some point, be able to completely replace them.This study offers a general and easy-to-understand overview of vanguard energy democracy projects within the EU. The authors looked for nascent energy projects characterised by their combination of an energy transition approach with gains in participation, collective ownership, or for local business or ecology in general.Through these sixteen select examples, we take a look ...
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