Four climate policy initiatives for a fair transformation

Climate policy must take into account all the affected people, empower them, hold those responsible for climate change accountable, and create both global and national prospects for the future, according to the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU). The government advisors propose four examples for fair climate policy initiatives, including providing support for regions in transition, as well as for those most affected by climate change, and creating humane and dignified migration options for people who are forced to leave their native countries due to climate change. “If climate protection and fairness are not linked in our society – a struggle currently dealt with in the coal exit commission – then we have no legitimacy to set ambitious climate goals,” said Dirk Messner, co-head of the WBGU. The federal government set up the independent scientific WBGU in 1992 to advise it on global environmental and development-related issues.  

Find the policy paper in English here.

For background on Germany’s exit from coal, read CLEW’s coal commission watch.