In Focus

Extreme weather events will continue to increase in Germany. How vulnerable we are depends on a variety of factors, and vulnerability assessments help to explore these factors. Urban areas, for example, are especially affected by heavy rainfall. In new research, adelphi examines the current state of heavy rain preparedness in Germany and formulates recommendations for adaptation strategies – strategies relevant to individual citizens as well as the public and private sectors.

With Global Recycling Day, the world marks the significance of the circular economy for a sustainable future. Where do we currently stand in the transformation? In an interview, Morton Hemkhaus explains where we've made progress and what problems remain to be solved.

A climate policy year full of negotiations is entering its final spurt. The finish line is marked by the Paris rulebook, the contours of which are still blurred even after a week of final negotiations at COP24 in Katowice, Poland.

With its mixed record, Germany is no longer at the forefront of climate policy. What is missing above all is a clear price tag on carbon emissions that encourages climate-friendly behaviour among consumers and manufacturers. By Constanze Haug, Johannes Ackva, Toby Bernstein, Alexander Eden and Andreas Schneller.

The costs of the status quo of water management in Central Asia are very significant, and every country in the region – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan – loses out from lack of cooperation over water. In an interview with NEXUS, Benjamin Pohl describes how much better Central Asia could do through closer water cooperation.

Self-driving cars, robots performing surgeries, algorithms issuing verdicts — all of this is to become possible through the increasing connectivity of our world. Digital change permeates and transforms our society. How we understand and shape this change will have a significant impact on how we will evolve as a society and whether we will be able to deal with the great environmental and development challenges of our time.

With globalization under attack now more than ever, companies — supported by governments, consumers, and civil society — need to show in a convincing manner that they can manage their supply chains in an effective way and act like responsible global citizens, writes Daniel Weiss in his blog post for Devex.

A year ago, adelphi and its partner started to support local banks across the EU through capacity building measures within the scope of the Private Finance for Energy Efficiency programme. Now it's time for the project team to share experiences made and to reflect on the challenges of energy efficiency finance in Europe.

The Mekong River is vital, serving more than 66 million people. As the changing climate is likely to intensify water-related challenges in the river basin, more time and resources are needed to support adaptation. But instead the Mekong River Commission (MRC) is seeing funding cuts. Sabine Blumstein shares three reasons for more climate diplomacy in her recent article for China Water Risk. 

With Donald Trump threatening to back away from climate action, Germany needs to save the Paris momentum. A clear roadmap must thus be developed for turning away from fossil fuels and creating an equivalent renewable energy substitute, write Lina Li, Julia Melnikova and Dennis Tänzler in a recent blog post for Thomson Reuters News.

As long as international climate negotiations did not move forward, they served as a convenient alibi for insufficient climate change mitigation. Now there's no longer any excuse for the international community's inaction, note Dennis Tänzler and Rocio Garcia in advance of the climate conference in Marrakesh (COP22).

Cities are not only growing in population, but also becoming increasingly diverse and ethnically heterogeneous. Franziska Schreiber explains the pivotal role of urban planners in fostering social cohesion and advancing sustainable urban development.

The new global pact to fight climate change has the potential to be a global solidarity contract for the 21st century. This will occur if the demands to promote decarbonisation and strengthening of resilience are pursued equally, immediately and systematically during implementation.

When climate change exacerbates conflicts and crises, resilience must be the compass for foreign policy. A report to the G7 Member States identifies seven compound climate-fragility risks and recommends concrete actions to address them.

Water diplomacy is crucial for preventing conflict and harnessing the benefits of cooperative water management. On Sept 3 2014, adelphi released an expert report at the World Water Week on how to enhance hydro-diplomacy.