100 years of FES – find out more

Climate Change, Energy and Environment

Combining Social and Ecological Responsibility

Climate change is real – and its effects can already be felt all around the world. In order to counteract the destruction of our planet, we need to live more sustainably and stop wasting resources. This will require enormous changes, such as moving away from fossil fuels like coal and towards low-emission power sources like wind or solar energy. This structural change has great potential – if it is shaped justly.

All over the world, we are advocates for a socio-ecological transition, which will be an answer to both the ecological and the social question. Our vision: Low-emission, resource-conserving and socially inclusive economic systems in which everybody has a chance for a decent life that is based on human rights principles. In order to facilitate this goal, we are building stable, broad and progressive coalitions between the ecological movement, politics and trade unions that pave the way towards a more sustainable future.

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World Climate Conference

FES@COP29

What is the way forward for the Paris Agreement? Assessments, analysis and contributions from the annual World Climate Conference more


News About Climate Change, Energy and Environment

Boitumelo Molete (Gewerkschaftsbund COSATU, Südafrika) auf der Veranstaltung „Just Transition Rising“ in Bonn am 18. Juni 2025

Workers want a Just Transition at COP30 in Belém

COP30 Preparations: Trade unions call for social dialogue to ensure a just transition and protect workers worldwide


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Sicht von oben auf die Häuser in der Stadt Ipswich westlich von Brisbane. Sie werden von den Fluten überschwemmt.

Why a human rights-based approach to climate mobility matters

What a human rights-based approach might look like in the context of the growing number of people displaced by climate change. New publication by...


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Eine Frau aus El Bosque schaut anklagend in die Kamera

Displacement and Justice: Bridging the Gap Between COP Negotiations and Local Realities

From COP negotiations to local realities: Loss and damage through the lens of a displaced community in Mexico, fighting for justice.


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Just transition action at COP29 Blue Zone

People over profits

Military spending soars while climate talks stall—civil society actions highlight the urgent need for a people-first just transition at COP 29.


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A member of the Confederation of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) holds a placard "We demand decent jobs" during a march against job losses

Who cares about African workers’ rights?

There is a lack of dialogue opportunities for a just energy transition at both global and national level. Trade unions could mediate, but they face...


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Competence Center for Climate and Social Justice

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Six Messages on International Climate & Energy Policy by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung more

Publikation

Climate Manual: Climate action. Socially. Just.

In our new manual, we present numerous arguments showing that social progress and ambitious climate action must go hand in hand. Enjoy reading! more


Publications

Striebing, Clemens; Loos, Sabine; Breitfeld, Jonas

Energy poverty in Europe

Who are the losers in our energy system?
Brussels, 2025

Download (PDF) (500 KB, PDF-File)


Saage-Maaß, Miriam; Korn, Franziska

Supply chain laws: protect people and the planet

Arguments in favour of corporate due diligence
Bonn, 2025

Download (PDF) (2,7 MB PDF-File)


Climate crisis, extractivism, and security in Mesoamerica

MexicoCity, 2025

Download (PDF) (1,6 MB PDF-File)


Picard, Séverine

Proposal for a European Just Transitions Directive

Improving working conditions for just transitions through the anticipation and management of change
Brussels, 2025

Download (PDF) (630 KB, PDF-File)


Competitive International Partnerships

Instruments, Partner Demands, and Reforms for the socio-ecological transformation
Bonn, 2025

Download (PDF) (2,5 MB PDF-File)



Climate Change and Progressive Politics

Climate change is real – and its effects can already be felt all around the world. In order to counteract the destruction of our planet, we need to live more sustainably and stop wasting resources. This will require enormous changes, such as moving away from fossil fuels like coal and towards low-emission power sources like wind or solar energy. This structural change has great potential – if it is shaped justly.

With the Paris Agreement, the international community has acknowledged that we need a more sustainable economic system even to just slow global warming down. But a shift to more sustainability means much more than that: The socio-ecological transformation we are advocating for will make it possible to

  • reduce poverty and inequality;
  • boost economic growth through sustainable progress;
  • shape low-emission, resource-saving and socially inclusive economic systems;
  • treat human labor with care, respect and sustainability and
  • give everybody the chance for a decent life that is based on human rights standards.

Sustainability and Social Justice: Two Sides of the Same Coin

In the 21st century, the progressive concept of development combines social, economical and ecological responsibility. The ecological and the social question must be linked and answered together: Environmental protection and sustainability are issues that the ecological movement, but also trade unions and workers deal with. The Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation builds bridges between their often clashing positions – for stable, broad and progressive coalitions that pave the way towards a more sustainable future.

Social and Ecological Issues are One

When addressing, for instance, the abolishment of coal mining, our intent is not to pit “ecological interests” against “worker's interests”. Many people are justifiably afraid of losing their work and security as a result of such a structural change. It needs to be ensured that they have a future perspective that is not dependent on further environmental destruction. The road towards this goal is a rocky one, and this is exactly why we are developing our concepts and ideas: For a Just Transition that makes a more sustainable economic system and better prospects in life for everyone possible.

Climate Justice Worldwide

We want to shape climate justice in a socially just and compensatory way so that everyone profits from it in the end. Climate justice means that each and every person has the same right of use for the atmosphere, regardless of nationality, age, gender or religion. Climate justice requires that both the Global South and Global North, both younger generation's interests and the older generation's interests carry the same amount of weight. And climate justice also means that opportunities and burdens are fairly distributed around the world.

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