Type Advocacy group | Founded 24 April 2007 | |
Formation 24 April 2007 (9 years ago) (2007-04-24) Location Schwedenstraße 15a, D–13357 Berlin, Germany Website www.climate-alliance-germany.de | ||
Climate-Alliance Germany (German: Klima-Allianz Deutschland) is a network of 110 civil society organizations, including environment groups, development groups, trade unions, and consumer associations. Founded in 2007, the aim of the Alliance is to provide a common front to apply pressure to German decision-makers to adopt climate protection measures. Prominent members include WWF, BUND (or Friends of the Earth Germany), and IG BAU (a multi-sector trade union).
Contents
- Alternative Energy Summit
- Berlin Climate Talks
- Anti Coal Campaign
- Global Climate Day of Action
- Networking and training
- References
A key issue for the Alliance is the prevention of new coal-fired power plants (the Anti-Coal Campaign). The Alliance wants the German government to phase-out coal (Kohleausstieg) and promote renewable energy.
Alternative Energy Summit
The Alliance organizes an Alternative Energy Summit annually to discuss energy and climate policy issues.
In a April 2016 media report over the future of RWE, an Alliance expert stated that the power company had become completely unprofitable after failing to adapt to the German Energiewende.
Berlin Climate Talks
Since November 2015, the Alliance has organized the Berlin Climate Talks. The format is now four per year, each with a different theme. The launch event was devoted to civil society proposals for a more climate-friendly aviation concept for Germany.
Anti-Coal Campaign
Started in 2008, the most important campaign for the Alliance is the Anti-Coal Campaign. The campaign coordinates and supports civil society activities to prevent new coal power plants from being built in Germany. Coal is more carbon intensive than other fossil fuels, so that even the most advanced lignite-fired power plant discharges twice as much CO2 as a gas-fired power plant. Coal power plants have a lifetime of 40–50 years and create high CO2 emissions throughout their lives. Without a coal phase-out, the Alliance questions whether the German government can meet its future CO2 emissions targets.
Following a Greenpeace protest against lignite mining in the Lausitz in September 2013, a petition of 112,157 signitures in support was handed to the Lausitz authorities. Daniela Setton, an energy policy speaker from the Alliance, commented that it was the most successful collection of signatures against a new German opencast mine ever.
In July 2014 the Alliance co-authored and co-published a report on the top 30 most polluting coal-fired power plants in Europe and called for their decommissioning.
In July 2016, the Alliance, together with BUND, the Heinrich Böll Foundation, and the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation released a report on the aftermath of lignite mining in Germany. The report, co-authored by IASS Potsdam, argues that the financial resources needed to remedy the damage caused by lignite mining are not adequately backed up by the existing mining operators Vattenfall (who later sold its lignite-fired plants and mines to EPH), RWE, and MIBRAG.
Global Climate Day of Action
For the annual Global Climate Day of Action, the Alliance organizes nationwide demonstrations for the general public, to protest at the lack of environmental awareness in politics and the economy and to encourage climate protection measures.
Alliance spokesperson Katharina Reuter, in an interview with Deutschlandfunk in December 2011, criticized the exit by Canada from the Kyoto Protocol.
Networking and training
In addition to activist activities, the Alliance mediates and maintains the substantive and tactical networks of its member organizations and with other civil society actors. In addition, the Alliance offers its members opportunities for further development, for example through specific seminars.