The western Balkans are hoping to join the European Union one day, but governments across the region are investing in new coal-fired power plants at a time when the EU is championing renewables and energy efficiency.
The EU has committed to slash emissions by 40 percent, to increase the share of renewables by at least 27 percent as well as to boost energy efficiency by at least 27 percent by 2030. The bloc is taking the lead in tackling global warming during the upcoming Paris global climate talks and countries like Germany have made the very expensive shift away from nuclear and fossil fuels a core part of their energy programs.
But the view in the much poorer Balkans is very different.
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As part of this year’s online World Water Week at Home, adelphi and IHE Delft convened the workshop "Water diplomacy: a tool for climate action?". The workshop reflected on the role that foreign policy can play in mitigating, solving and potentially preventing conflicts over the management of transboundary water resources, especially in a changing climate.
The Cerrado, a tropical savannah region located in Central Brazil, is nearly half as large as the Amazon and a deforestation hotspot. Yet little attention is paid to this important biome. That has to change.
China’s Belt and Road Initiative projects may exacerbate the risk of climate-related instability across the Middle East in the long term.
With the European Green Deal, the European Commission under President Ursula von der Leyen has committed to accelerating decarbonisation in Europe as a major priority. The report "The Geopolitics of Decarbonization: Reshaping European Foreign Relations" shows how the EU’s external relations need to evolve to adequately reflect the political, economic and social outcomes of this process.