Search Climate Insights Directory
428 results
External Voting among Central European Migrants Living in Western Europe
The research analyzes external voting data from parliamentary and presidential elections for migrants from Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, and Romania living in 17 European host countries. It employs the Pedersen index to measure the discrepancy between diaspora and domestic voting results and uses V-dem Party database dimensions to assess ideological differences. The findings generally indicate that diaspora voters are more liberal, less populist, and more economically right-wing than domestic voters, though their voting trends often mirror the dynamics of their countries of origin. The report also notes that the size and influence of these voting blocs are increasing, with the Bulgarian diaspora having the highest relative impact on national election results.
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Document type: Research paper
İsviçre ‘emsalsiz bir genç demokraside’ referandumlar
The text analyzes the Swiss system of direct democracy, detailing the processes for constitutional amendments through popular initiatives and optional referendums. It highlights the historical milestone of granting women federal voting rights in 1971 and discusses the influence of non-parliamentary forces and financial opacity in modern campaigns. The author concludes by questioning whether the Swiss model of creating citizenship through direct democracy could serve as a model for strengthening European citizenship.
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Document type: Research paper
It Happens Here Too: Methane Pollution in Europe’s oil and gas network
Clean Air Task Force (CATF) conducted a survey of over 250 oil and gas sites across 11 EU member states using optical gas imaging, finding evidence of methane emissions at 180 of those sites. The report identifies storage tanks, vent stacks, and piping leaks as primary emission sources and highlights a significant problem with poorly maintained wells in Romania. CATF argues that current industry self-regulation and voluntary commitments are insufficient, as observed emissions often contradict corporate rhetoric. The report recommends that the EU implement a mandatory Leak Detection and Repair (LDAR) program, ban routine venting and flaring, establish a robust monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) system, set strict import standards for fossil fuels, and create a program to remediate abandoned wells.
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Document type: Report
Floundering Around: Europas größte Einzelhändler zwischen ersten Erfolgen und Scheitern an ökologischen und sozialen Herausforderungen der Fischzucht
The report evaluates 33 major European retailers on their aquaculture procurement practices. It finds a systemic failure to address ecological and social challenges, with 76% of retailers falling into a 'red zone' of insufficient action. Key failures include a lack of targets to eliminate wild-catch fishmeal and fish oil (FMFO) from feed, inadequate fish welfare monitoring, and poor transparency regarding the origin of products. While some UK and French retailers show slight progress, retailers in Spain, Austria, and Switzerland performed particularly poorly.
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Document type: Executive summary
Floundering Around
The report finds that the majority of European retailers are failing to implement substantive policies for sustainable aquaculture. Three-quarters of the 33 retailers assessed were placed in the 'red zone', with none achieving 'frontrunner' status. Key failures include a lack of targets to eliminate wild-caught fish from feed, inadequate fish welfare protections, and poor transparency in labelling and sourcing. While UK retailers showed more progressive approaches in feed and welfare, and some French and German retailers joined industry initiatives, Spanish retailers performed the worst, with all 11 assessed companies landing in the red zone.
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Document type: Executive summary
Una evaluación acerca de cómo los mayores supermercados europeos abordan los desafíos ambientales y sociales de la cría de pescados y mariscos
The report evaluates 33 major European supermarket chains across six countries on three priority areas: the elimination of wild fish in aquaculture feed, the monitoring of fish mortality, and supply chain transparency. The findings indicate a widespread failure to implement responsible practices, with 76% of retailers falling into the 'red zone' due to a lack of relevant policies. While some UK and French retailers show more progress, no company achieved the 'at the forefront' status. The report highlights the negative externalities of the industry, such as the extraction of over half a million tonnes of fish from West African waters annually for feed, which undermines local food security.
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Document type: Executive summary
Floundering Around
The report evaluates 33 European retailers across three priority areas: the elimination of wild fish in aquaculture feed, the monitoring of fish mortality, and supply chain transparency. It finds that 76% of the companies are in the 'red zone,' indicating a near total lack of substantive policies. No retailer achieved 'Leader' status in any category. While some UK and French retailers show more progress, Spanish supermarkets performed exceptionally poorly, with all 11 evaluated companies in the red zone. Key issues identified include the impact of fish meal and fish oil (FMFO) on West African food security and a general failure to provide transparent labeling to consumers.
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Document type: Executive summary
Floundering Around
The report finds that European retailers are failing to perform adequate due diligence on their farmed fish supply chains, with 76% landing in a 'red zone' of poor performance. No surveyed retailer has a clear target to eliminate wild-caught fish in feed, and none have policies to blacklist farms with high mortality rates. While some UK retailers show progress in transparency through the Ocean Disclosure Project, overall industry standards for fish welfare and labelling remain inadequate, often relying on insufficient third-party certifications.
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Document type: Report
Accelerating to zero
The report evaluates three emissions reduction pathways for EU heavy-duty vehicles, concluding that a combination of electrification, energy efficiency, and biofuels is necessary to reach ambitious targets. While the EU's 'Fit for 55' plan suggests a modest 4% reduction by 2030, a linear path to net-zero by 2050 would require a 35% reduction by 2030. The authors estimate that combining all available measures—including a 50% electric share of new truck registrations—would yield a 24% reduction by 2030, still falling short of the most aggressive linear pathway.
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Document type: Report
Know your rights
The document examines the legal frameworks governing shareholder resolutions in thirteen European countries, focusing on how investors can compel companies to adopt Paris-aligned climate strategies. It identifies a recurring tension between the general management powers of corporate Boards and the reserved rights of shareholders to amend a company's Articles of Association. The guide argues that framing climate 'asks'—such as net-zero commitments, transition plans, 'Say on Climate' votes, and lobbying disclosures—as amendments to the Articles of Association is often the most effective legal path to ensure resolutions are tabled at Annual General Meetings (AGMs). While the UK, Ireland, Spain, and Sweden are described as relatively simple jurisdictions for filing, others like France, Germany, and Austria require more nuanced framing to avoid infringing on Board competencies. The Netherlands is highlighted as the only jurisdiction among the thirteen where shareholders cannot legally compel a company to table a resolution without Board consent.
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Document type: Guide
BELOW THE RADAR: Central banks investing unsustainably
The report finds that most G20 and Eurosystem central banks lack credible sustainable investment policies for their non-policy portfolios, often relying on opacity or weak ESG criteria to mask continued support for fossil fuel companies. While the Banque de France is highlighted as a leader for its fossil fuel restrictions, the majority of analyzed banks either have no public SRI policy or use 'tricks' such as investing in green bonds without excluding major polluters. The document recommends that central banks adopt strict exclusion policies for coal and new fossil fuel projects to align with a 1.5°C warming trajectory.
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Document type: Report
The Three Seas Initiative’s Failing Case For Gas
The Three Seas Initiative (3SI) is criticized for prioritizing fossil gas infrastructure over renewable energy, which risks locking in emissions beyond 2050 and violating the EU's Climate Law. As of July 2021, fossil gas projects outnumber renewables in the 3SI database by more than two to one. Many of these gas projects are described as 'zombie projects'—outdated relics that have failed to attract financing or remain unutilized, such as the BRUA and Eastring pipelines. The document highlights that EU gas consumption must decline sharply to meet a 55% emissions reduction by 2030. While the 3SI Investment Fund (3SIIF) recently made its first energy investment in solar developer Enery Development, the briefing argues that significant political and financial shifts, including from the US, are needed to catalyze the region's renewable energy potential and align with the 'Fit for 55' package.
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Document type: Briefing
Digital Justice Manifesto
The Digital Justice Manifesto advocates for a human-centric approach to digital technology, emphasizing equal access to information, data privacy, and the protection of cultural and linguistic identities. It calls for democratic control of media infrastructure and the provision of sustainable energy, such as solar and wind power, to ensure the functionality of digital tools.
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Document type: Statement
Insights on the First 29 Long-term Climate Strategies Submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
The paper surveys 29 long-term climate strategies (LTSs) submitted to the UNFCCC, representing 42 countries and 28% of global emissions. It finds a growing trend toward net-zero targets, an increasing focus on the fundamental economic and societal shifts required for transition, and a reliance on both natural and technological carbon removals. The analysis highlights that while most strategies include midcentury goals and modeling, the level of detail regarding adaptation and just transition varies, and some parties acknowledge gaps between their most ambitious scenarios and their final targets.
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Document type: Research paper
Consultation on the Revised Climate, Environment and Energy Aid Guidelines post-2022
ClientEarth argues that the draft CEEAG contains political compromises that undermine environmental ambitions, specifically criticizing the continued support for fossil gas, low-carbon hydrogen, and biomass. The organization advocates for the strict integration of the 'Energy Efficiency First' principle, the 'energy solidarity principle', and more rigorous safeguards to prevent 'carbon lock-in'. Key recommendations include limiting hydrogen aid to renewable sources, phasing out support for high-efficient cogeneration and small hydropower, and implementing stricter conditions for the closure of coal activities to ensure they occur by 2030.
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Document type: Statement
Lessons learnt: COVID-19 and the climate crisis in South Africa
The document argues that the COVID-19 pandemic and the climate crisis share analytical similarities as global shocks that exacerbate existing inequalities. It identifies six key lessons for South Africa: the necessity of accessible social protection, the need to value care work, the requirement for a strong and proactive state, the importance of localising industrial processes, the necessity of international cooperation, and the need to center justice in responses to mitigate worsening inequalities.
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Document type: Research paper
Greenwashed hydrogen
The briefing examines how industry lobby groups, including Hydrogen Europe and Global Alliance Powerfuels, are attempting to weaken the EU's Renewable Energy Directive (RED II). Specifically, it highlights efforts to remove 'additionality' requirements and extend 'temporal correlation' timeframes, which would allow hydrogen to be labeled as 'renewable' even if produced using fossil-fuel electricity. The author warns that such standards would result in carbon-intensive hydrogen, undermine the EU's 'energy efficiency first' principle, and risk subsidizing climate-damaging fuels through EU recovery funds.
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Document type: Briefing
African states and The Hague Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation
The report finds that 41 of 54 African UN member states have subscribed to the HCoC, with the highest participation in ECOWAS (93%) and the lowest in SADC (56%). While ballistic missile threats within Africa are generally low—with only Algeria and Egypt maintaining active programmes—the report highlights the growing importance of the HCoC as African states expand their civilian space agencies and the AU aims to establish an African Space Agency by 2023. Key challenges include the exclusion of cruise missiles from the HCoC scope, administrative burdens for resource-constrained states, and a lack of institutional memory. The authors argue that the HCoC supports a 'nexus between security and development' by facilitating peaceful space exploration and improving a state's non-proliferation credentials for technology exports.
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Document type: Report
Additional profits of sectors and firms from the EU ETS 2008-2019
Between 2008 and 2019, fifteen CO2-intensive industrial sectors in nineteen EU countries earned estimated additional profits between €30 billion and over €50 billion from the EU ETS. These profits were derived from three primary sources: the overallocation of free emission allowances, the use of cheaper international credits (CERs/ERUs) for compliance, and the passing through of opportunity costs of free allowances into product prices. The iron and steel sector was the largest beneficiary, with profits ranging from €11.9 billion to €16.1 billion. In contrast, the aviation sector experienced a net loss of €151.2 million due to the need to purchase allowances. The report argues that free allocation may no longer be fit for purpose and recommends increasing the share of auctioning combined with targeted investment subsidies or a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to reduce windfall profits and encourage decarbonization.
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Document type: Report
The EU sustainable taxonomy set to fuel greenwashing
Reclaim Finance asserts that the EU sustainable taxonomy's climate mitigation and adaptation criteria have been watered down due to pressure from Member states and industry lobbies. The author claims the current proposal allows for the burning of all forest biomass and creates pathways for fossil gas and nuclear energy to be labeled as sustainable, thereby undermining the EU Sustainable Finance Strategy and contradicting scientific research.
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Document type: Statement