Summer Newsletter: How To Get to NetZero in 15 Years, Methane Emissions in Siberia, 100RE Pathways & more

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Dear Colleagues and Friends,
It’s been a while since you heard from us, but now we’re back: We probably don’t need to remind you of the destructing extreme weather events that have occurred all over the world in these last months. The pictures of deadly fires and devatstating floods are still in all of our heads. Sadly, we cannot offer much consolation for those hoping that this summer was an exception. If humanity lets Climate Change proceed, we will face more and more summer months with devastating heat waves and/or heavy rainfall.

The IPCC has recently confirmed this once again. In the first chapter of their latest assessment report, it was made clear that human actions have “unequivocally caused” this situation of global heating and if we don’t act soon, the consequences will become much dearer. The third chapter, which lays out ways of reducing human influence on the climate, is set to be released early next year. However, Scientist Rebellion, the academic branch of Extinction Rebellion, leaked a draft version of this chapter before it can be watered down in negotiations with government representatives, as was common practice with previous IPCC reports. To no one’s surprise, the leak suggests radical changes in economic patterns, particularly for higher income consumers.

With climate change, time is of the essence, now more than ever. The next few years may be the last ones, to still induce the drastic change in emissions that is needed to remain within 1.5°C of planetary heating. When the next election is ahead in your country, remember to vote for a party with a solid plan to solve the Climate Crisis. In Germany, Canada and Norway elections are taking place this year still. Let’s make them count!

Our summer newsletter is dedicated to updating you on our activities in the last two months and sharing new climate science with you.

Particularly, this edition covers:

With that, we let you get right to it and wish you a good start into fall season.

Enjoy the reading!

Your EWG Team

European Fossil Gas Manifesto | Sustainable Megacities | Green Ammonia

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Dear Colleagues and Friends,

The month of June is over and summer has arrived in the northern hemisphere. Above all else this means that various places in the world face renewed heat waves, demonstrating yet again that climate change is well under way and its consequences are devastating. Unprecedented temperature highs in the Pacific North-West of Canada and the USA have people struggling with droughts and heat-related deaths. More wildfires than ever are to be expected in these and many other regions.

At the same time, it still does not seem like state leaders or the international community have grasped the urgency of the situation: Global GHG emissions have reached, and in some places, such as China, surpassed the pre-pandemic level, 600 new coal plants are planned by 5 Asian countries alone, and the energy transition is not progressing at the necessary speed.

Nor did the G7, who met mid-June to discuss pressing international issues like COVID-19 and Climate Change, make any substantial progress in their plans to fight the climate crisis. In fact, they failed yet again to deliver any concrete strategies to limit global warming to 1.5°C. They were not even able to uphold previous commitments to climate finance for the Global South. All in all, it was another rather empty Summit.

Our Newsletter this month addresses to a large part our own achievements and news about our activities. Additionally, we present three recent academic articles on varying topics related to the global energy transition.

This month’s edition covers:  

With that, we let you get right to it and wish you a happy & healthy month of July.

Enjoy the reading!

Your EWG Team

100% Renewable Energy for Germany | Climate Activism | (No) Future for Coal

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Dear Colleagues and Friends,

In the last week of May we published our latest study about a potential path for Germany to reach 100% renewable energies until 2030. Our calculations show that it is both feasible and economically advantageous for Germany to be powered entirely by renewables. The study is featured in our very first article this month, so you cannot miss it!

In other news, the month of May witnessed a crucial leap forward from the side of the International Energy Agency (IEA), usually not known for their progressive stance on renewable energies. In a report called “NetZero by 2050” the IEA outlines the, in their view, most important steps to a Net Zero world, for the first time acknowledging the feasibility necessity of bringing emissions to (close to) zero. While their stance is still by far not ambitious enough, this report is a big step in the right direction.

Moreover, this month was a devastating one for Big Oil. Exxon is coming under increasing pressure from climate activist shareholders, now holding two seats of the companies’ executive board. Additionally, the groundbreaking ruling over Shell’s responsibility to adhere to the Paris Agreement is still and will continue to create a stir in the landscape of oil companies (more details in our article on climate activism).

Moreover, this month’s edition covers:

With that, we let you get right to it and wish you a happy & healthy June.

Enjoy the reading!


Your EWG Team

Methane Emissions on the Rise | Fossil Bankers | A (not so) Green Recovery

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Dear Colleagues and Friends,

The month of April is already over and next to the latest news on vaccinations and COVID-19 rules, which most of the world is still grappling with, we picked up on a few stories about energy and climate, that we want to share with you.

First of all, in a historic decision, the German federal constitutional court declared the country’s current climate law insufficient to effectively protect future generations from climate change. As a consequence, the government now must adapt its current targets, providing for clear measures from 2030 onwards. The court therewith indirectly affirms that Germany’s carbon budget will be essentially diminished by 2030, indirectly stating that any emissions after this date will jeopardise the 1.5°C target. To what extent the government will adapt its climate policies, remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: This ruling provides enormous momentum for the national climate movement and its impact will spread far beyond Germany’s borders.

In other news, on April 22nd, we celebrated Earth Day. Under the motto #RestoreEarth, we collectively remembered that it is our duty to protect the environment and the climate on our home, planet Earth. In the spirit of Earth Day, US president Biden held a virtual Climate Summit, hosting many of our world’s leaders, where he announced to cut CO2 emissions in the US by 50% until 2030. The summit and its (lack of) outcomes has caused frustration among climate activists from Fridays For Future and alike, who have long been demanding more ambitious goals in order to actually achieve what was agreed on in Paris, in 2015.

Moreover, this month’s edition covers:

With that, we let you get right to it and wish you a happy & healthy month of May.

Enjoy the reading!


Your EWG Team

The End of Nuclear Energy | #NoECT – a Dangerous Treaty | Zero Emissions for Japan

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Dear Colleagues and Friends,

With the end of March, the year 2021 is entering springtime, at least in Europe. We hope that more daylight and more sunshine will lift you up in these tough times and finally bring this pandemic to an end. We are hopeful that better times lie ahead of us!

Sadly, the same thing cannot be said about climate change. States are still not setting targets ambitious enough to limit global warming to 1.5C° threatening the threshold of dangerous climate tipping points. Let us fill you in on how the Energy Watch Group has been working this month to accelerate political action towards renewable energy and climate protection:

This month has been marked by the 10-year anniversary of the tragic nuclear accident in Fukushima. We have dedicated two articles of our newsletter to the discussion around nuclear energy, focusing on why it cannot be considered a climate solution and what we should do instead. For those of you who are interested in Japan’s future energy supply, check out the article on how the island state can become climate neutral by 2050.

Besides that, we’re covering the following topics:

Lastly, we celebrated International Women’s Day on March 8th! It is important to keep in mind that also the climate and energy sector suffers from a severe underrepresentation of women. Let’s work together to change that. Shout-out to all of you out there, fighting for gender equality and climate action!

Enjoy the reading!

Your EWG Team

Climate Neutrality | Companies in Transition | Joint Declaration 100RE

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Dear Colleagues and Friends,

The shortest month of the year also brings our shortest newsletter. Our special February edition solely focuses on the EWG’s achievements. Be assured, this won’t make this newsletter any less interesting, since the three featured articles will cover some the most of the most pressing issues of climate and energy politics:

With these topics we will leave you to it and hope that you will be able to enjoy the first sunny days of early spring wherever you might read this. We will see you back in one month with a regular newsletter.

Your EWG Team

Climate Adaptation | Gender & the Energy Transition | Solar Revolution in Vietnam

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Dear Colleagues and Friends,

First of all, we’re sorry, this newsletter comes seven days late. But we’re still at the beginning o the year and this newsletter is still worth reading! Let‘ start: 2021 marks the beginning not only of a new year and new decade but hopefully also the beginning of humanity winning the fight against COVID-19. But even though there is still a pandemic going on, along with activists worldwide we cannot stop raising awareness for the other big emergency that is threatening our survival – climate change. We hope this year will be one of bold and ambitious climate action ending successfully with COP26 in Glasgow.

Sadly this first month has already provided an example of the opposite: Gazprom presented the company’s energy strategy to the Russian president and it’s full of fossil fuel expansion projects for gas. These are bad news, or as our President, Hans-Josef Fell put it: “From a climate protection perspective, one gets sick of it.” Nevertheless, we have to work on a better, and increasingly renewable future.

But now let’s get into the newsletter. This month it’s going to cover a broad bouquet of topics from climate adaptation, to gender inequality and role models from the far East and much more. Their connections to the energy transition might not always be obvious to you, but trust us, once you read through the articles, they will become clear.

Enjoy the reading!

Your EWG Team

Community Energy | Energy Charter Treaty | Green Recovery | Shortcomings of RE Auctions

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Dear Colleagues and Friends,

The year is finally coming to a close and everyone’s work schedules are calming down. For us, however, December was a very busy month full of projects and publications. In fact, we have so many of our own projects we want to share with you that this is not going to be a regular newsletter where we highlight developments in the field of renewable energy. Instead, it will only focus on how we’ve been active:

We wish you all happy holidays should you choose to celebrate them or at least a relaxing winter break and a happy and healthy new year. We will see you back in January with a regular newsletter.

Your EWG Team

Joe Biden & Fracking? | Insufficient EU Climate Targets | The Potential of Geothermal Energy

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Dear Colleagues and Friends,

November is already over and we’re counting the days for this dreadful year to end. Still, before we’re there, you should definitely take a look at our newsletter to stay up to date on international energy policy, the EWG’s latest activities and our coverage of insightful new scientific findings.

This month, our attention was drawn to three different regions across the globe:

  • USA: President elect Joe Biden and his unclear stance on fracking
  • Europe: Why the EU’s climate targets are heading for insufficiency
  • From Australia to Asia: Renewable mega projects to export solar & wind energy

Our science section will provide you with new insights on the untapped but enormous potential of geothermal energy as well as on the importance of policy coordination for the deployment of renewables.

And last but not least, we’ll update you on the EWG’s latest activities. Our president, Hans-Josef Fell was interviewed by Germany’s major public television station ZDF for an investigative piece on the danger of electricity blackouts, where he highlighted the advantages of a local grid fueled by renewable energy. Also, we strongly encourage you to follow us on Twitter & LinkedIn, because we’ve still got some projects in our pipeline to be published before the year comes to an end. Until then, take care of yourself, look after one another & enjoy our newsletter.

Your EWG Team

WEO – A Guide Towards Climate Chaos | Nuclear Energy: No Path to Reduce Emissions | 100% Renewables for Taiwan

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Dear Colleagues and Friends,

What a month it has been: While a second wave of the pandemic is starting to roll over the European continent, endangering our healthcare systems and economic stability once again, we must always keep in mind: We will get out of this health crisis, but let’s not forget about the other crisis that’s just around the corner!

And this leads us to the actual topic of this newsletter: Climate change. A topic we are not able to escape from and a crisis we will not get out of – at least for the next century to come. While we cannot prevent this crisis anymore, we can, fortunately, contain and limit its effects. That is what we are working for and that is why we urge you, dear readers, to stay informed about our fight for a brighter future.

This month, the EWG newsletter covers our take on…

We are happy to also have some good news to announce: Together with the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), the EWG will develop a 100% renewable electricity roadmap for Taiwan, read more about this new project right here. Also, our President was able to travel to Zurich (CH) and encouraged the country’s environmental community to push for a fast transition towards a fully renewable energy system.

And, if you’ve got time for a closer look, you should check out our compilation of the most recent scientific findings on the manifold benefits and promising developments of renewable energy.

Next month, we will most likely know who the future President of the United States will be, and whether or not this person will give the global community some hope again for multilateral action to combat the climate crisis. Until then, stay with us and enjoy the read.

Your EWG Team