Sustainable Futures

Kategorie: Research and policy advice

  • DIE contributes to Coalition for Urban Transition Global Report

    blue Cover with text orange "Climate emergency" and title in white "Urban opportunity"
    Cover ©DIE

    On 22 September, the Coalition for Urban Transitions Global Report 2019 entitled „Climate Emergency, Urban Opportunity: How national governments can achieve shared prosperity and tackle climate change through transforming cities“ was presented in New York, just in time for the SDG Summit.

    DIE is one of the institutions supporting the report and Tilman Altenburg is one of its co-authors. The Coalition for Urban Transitions is the most important initiative to support national governments in securing economic prosperity and combating the climate crisis by transforming cities. The report quantifies the social, political and economic benefits of decarbonising cities. It provides new data analysis and informative case studies.

  • European Think Tanks Group: An Agenda for Europe in the World

    colored cover with text "an agenda for europe in the world"
    Publication Cover © ETTG

    In this new flagship publication, submitted at the time when the European Commission under the leadership of Ursula von der Leyen is taking office, the European Think Tanks Group (ETTG) presents its “Agenda for Europe in the World“. It sets out concrete proposals for action in key domains where the EU can make a difference. Contributions focus on peace and security, mobility and migration, climate action, energy and urbanisation, trade and development, human development, strategic partnerships, democracy support and financing for development. The DIE is one of the five members of the ETTG.

    Further information on this network can be found here: https://ettg.eu/

    Link to the ETTG Agenda: https://ettg.eu/2019/09/09/an-agenda-for-europe-in-the-world/

  • Study on sustainably produced textiles

    red cover of the study "Social and ecological challenges of the global textile industry". In the back a close up of a weaving loom
    Cover der Studie © DIE

    On 9 September, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) gave the go-ahead for the „Green Button“, a publicly endorsed textile label for sustainably produced textiles. At a press conference Minister Gerd Müller presented the study conducted by the German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) on social and ecological challenges of the global textile industry (Soziale und ökologische Herausforderungen der globalen Textilwirtschaft). Clothing for the rapidly growing world market is manufactured almost exclusively in developing and emerging countries, where production causes considerable social and ecological problems.

    The study identifies three fields of action in the textile value chain: working conditions in the ready-made clothing sector; environmental problems in the upstream wet processes; and social and ecological problems in cotton production. The first two fields of action are documented
    Furthermore, the German cooperation in this area is described, distiguishing four fields of action: (1) making consumption more sustainable; (2) demanding entrepreneurial due diligence; (3) increasing local value chain in production; and (4) strengthening local institutions. For each of these fields, sectors will be identified where more should be done in the future.

  • Hallo, Politik – DIE showcases its work at the open Day of the Bundesregierung

    Open Day in BMZ with Maria Flachsbarth, Parliamentary State Secretary
    Open Day in BMZ with Maria Flachsbarth, Parliamentary State Secretary. Photo: Thomas Trutschel/photothek.de

    On the third weekend of August, the German Federal Government for the 21st time invited the public to its traditional Open Day in Berlin. As in previous years, the German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) followed the invitation by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) to present itself on 17 and 18 August to the Berlin audience and to seek the dialogue with countless guests. The weekend was once again themed around the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

    Picking up on this important topic, DIE used the opportunity to showcase – among other things – its work on SDG 16 “Peace, Justice and strong Institutions”. Guests could learn about DIE’s research on state fragility, inclusive governance, peace and democracy from the experts Michael Roll and Charles Martin-Shields – members of DIE’s research programme Transformation of Political (Dis-)order.

    Foto: Tag der offenen Tuer im Entwicklungsministerium mit Martin Jaeger in Berlin, 18.08.2019.
    Open day in BMZ: Martin Jäger , Charles Martin-Shields. Photo: Xander Heinl/photothek.de

    Other popular topics of conversation with the audience in Berlin were DIE’s Postgraduate Training Programme for Development Cooperation and the Bonn Alliance for Sustainability Research, a regional network in Bonn to further strengthen research in the field of sustainable development and global change.

    Despite intermittent rainy weather, both days featured several thousand attendees. We were especially delighted to welcome BMZ’s leadership, represented by state secretaries Maria Flachsbarth and Martin Jäger, who also serves as Chair of DIE’s Board of Trustees, at our booth.

  • News from SDSN Germany

    Logo SDSN GermanyOn June 27 2019, the international symposium „From Copenhagen to Katowice – 10 Years of Climate Policy and Climate Change“ took place at the Climate House Bremerhaven. The event was held on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Climate House. The aim of the symposium was to discuss the development of climate change and international climate policy with representatives from politics, business, civil society and science. After a keynote speech by Professor Harald Welzer (Futurzwei Stiftung Zukunftsfähigkeit) on climate policy communication and economic growth, a panel discussed the past, present and future development of international climate policy. After urgent calls by representatives from Fridays for Future and Youth Climate Bremerhaven, two workshops highlighted the impact of climate change on different parts of the world. Jewel Tuitama (Ministry of Climate, Oceans and Resilience, Tokelau) shared her experiences in the South Pacific, while Ibrahim Kane Annour shared his impressions from Niger. SDSN Germany was involved as a partner in the international symposium at the Climate House Bremerhaven.

    Since July 2019, the network „Sustainability at Higher Education Institutions: develop – network – report“ (HOCHN) has joined SDSN Germany as a partner. Focal points of the project are questions such as how Higher Education Institutions (HEI) can contribute to a sustainable development in the field of governance, sustainability reporting, teaching & education, research, operations and transfer. Moreover, the project is also interested in the question which joint understanding of sustainability and transformation might be developed in the university network. SDSN Germany and HOCHN have identified many synergy opportunities in their work and aim to put these synergies into value within the framework of the partnership.