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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 Summit

FES @ #COP27

Where do we go now after the Paris Agreement? Assessments, analyses and contributions from young activists at the annual World Climate Conferences provide answers. more


News About Climate Change, Energy and Environment

Women adapting to climate change in Nepal | DOCUMENTARY

Bahav (eng: flow) explores how Nepalese women in two of Nepal’s most remote districts have been navigating changing climatic conditions and their...


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Kenyan woman changing the lives of women and girls by working towards climate resilience

Climate Tracker journalist Hellen Shikanda on a conversation with Kenyan activist Monica Yator.


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Green hydrogen - a win-win for all?

The Green hydrogen cooperation could foster social and ecological transformation in Namibia but only if the EU respects the interests of both parties,...


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Loss and damage fund: a »remarkable reversal of direction«

The results of COP27 from the perspective of the Caribbean climate negotiator for Trinidad and Tobago’s COP27 delegation, Caroline Mair-Toby. Her...


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COP27: Putting the debate about race at the centre of discussions

Leaders of the Brazilian black movement have come to COP27 with a fundamental demand: to place the racial debate at the centre of the climate...


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Competence Center for Climate and Social Justice

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Six Messages on International Climate & Energy Policy by FES 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

Energy, environment and work

A working class perspective vis-à-vis the transitions of our times
Montevideo, 2023

Download publication (860 KB, PDF-File)


Talking green in Hungary

Lessons on communicating environmental policies
Brussels, 2023

Download publication (22 MB, PDF-File)


Goron, Coraline; Zhang, Junjie

Pathways towards a just transition to carbon neutrality in China

Shanghai, 2023

Download publication (9 MB, PDF-File)


Conflict resolution in the Mediterranean: Energy as a potential game-changer

Nikosia, 2023

Download publication (1,5 MB PDF-File)


Tsekeris, Charalambos; Christofilopoulos, Epaminondas

The green and digital future of work in Greece towards 2050

Athens, 2023

Download publication (240 KB, 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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