About us
Our Story and our Mission
About us
WHO WE ARE
WHAT WE DO
MISSION, OBJECTIVES AND MEANS
STRUCTURE
WORK WITH US
The Energy Watch Group (EWG) is an independent, non-profit, non-partisan global network of scientists and parliamentarians.
The EWG is a project of the Ludwig-Bölkow-Stiftung.
The network was established in 2006 by an international group of parliamentarians under the direction of the then-member of the German Parliament Hans-Josef Fell against the background that:
● Energy policy needs objective information to avoid both the public and private sector misinvestments worth billions, but this endeavour is undermined by the fact that:
● Policies are often influenced by inter-national organizations and governments that are, in myriad ways, interconnected with the conventional energy economy
● Stakeholders in the conventional energy economy profit from the status-quo and are therefore in most cases not neutral towards all energy sources
● Science is often used as a tool, which serves these vested interests. The science that receives the greatest political attention systematically under-estimates the growth potential of renewable energy and its opportunities for mankind while it overestimates the availability of cheap energy from conventional sources.
The EWG commissions projects by scientists who are working on studies independently of government and company interests on the following topics:
● the shortage of fossil and atomic energy resources,
● development scenarios for renewable energy sources as well as
● strategies deriving from these for a long-term secure energy supply at affordable prices.
The scientists are therefore collecting and analysing not only ecological but above all economic and technological connections. The results of these studies are to be presented not only to experts but also to the politically interested public.
Mission
● Task 1: The mission of the EWG is to develop objective studies and disseminate transparent information on energy matters in order to promote accountable policy-making serving common goals as opposed to individual gains.
Objectives
● Task 2: The EWG shall inform policy makers, other relevant stakeholders and the politically interested public on matters relevant to energy transition.
● Task 3: The EWG shall support goal-oriented energy policy making for climate protection and energy security in compliance with economic goals in order to channel investments towards sustainable and socially viable options.
Means
● Task 4: The EWG shall commission independent scientists with the study of energy-related issues.
● Task 5: The EWG shall commission independent scientists to review and verify/ refute information, articles and studies by other organisations in the field to disclose myths and realities with respect to global energy issues.
● Task 6: The EWG shall disseminate its studies free of charge and accessible for everyone.
● Task 7: The EWG shall maintain and expand an international network of scientists and parliamentarians to support the mission and objectives of the EWG.
The EWG is made up of:
1.A President, Hans-Josef Fell
● The president acts as the public face of the organisation and represents the organisation in external affairs.
● The president is responsible for strategy development and coordination of the organisation in cooperation with the scientific board and the secretariat.
● The president makes suggestions for scientific studies.
2. A Scientific Board, consisting of independent scientists and members of scientific institutions, currently chaired by Dr. Werner Zittel (Ludwig Bölkow Systemtechnik) and Dr. Christian Breyer (Lappeenranta University of Technology)
● The scientific board reviews the quality and relevance of President’s suggestions for scientific studies and ultimately decides which studies are to be conducted.
● The scientific board conducts peer-reviewed studies on energy-related issues.
● The scientific board reviews information, articles and studies by other organisations in the field.
3. Parliamentarians
● Parliamentarians are the primary target group for information that comes out of the EWG studies.
● Parliamentarians are suggested to use this information for political decision making.
4. A Secretariat, operated by DWR eco
● The secretariat is in charge of all day-to-day operations of the organisation.
The Energy Watch Group is offering an internship for for the duration of 3 to 6 months in its Berlin office. If you are interested in working on environment and energy topics and getting to know a NGO from the inside, apply here (in German).
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OBJECTIVITY
The EWG supports a comprehensive, factual, evidence-based and peer-reviewed analysis free of personal interests, particular commitments, value judgments or any other biases.
TRANSPARENCY
The EWG publishes all studies and reports open access (free of charge and accessible for everyone) on its website.
ACCOUNTABILITY
The EWG is committed to advance science in service of society. EWG acts to change political conduct to resonate with public interest by both educating the public and working with policymakers to deliver real change.