Articles

Latest newsletter of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union office.

The governments gathered in Madrid failed to embrace the urgent need for progress towards climate justice and higher ambitions. A broad analysis of the global climate negotiations addressing various angles:  from fossil fuels, ecosystems and biodiversity, climate finance and justice, gender and indigenous people's rights, to emissions trading and Latin America. 

Omaid Sharifi is a pioneer Afghan activist and one of the co-founders of ArtLords, an artist association which has been attracting widespread international attention in recent years.

The climate conference in Madrid had to be extended longer than any climate conference to date. Negotiations lasted until Sunday morning. And yet only a weak final document was agreed which postponed almost all essential questions until next year. A failure, even a catastrophe for the efforts to save the planet? Was this failure nonetheless even a good thing in the end? Focus on emissions trading.

In a digitalized and increasingly polarised world, questions about how to protect freedom of expression online while curbing hate speech and online abuse, are at the centre of discussions about human rights protection.

Human rights defenders advocate humanity and fight for freedom, dignity, equtiy and equality for all people. In many countries, they're being surpressed and punished for standing up for those who can't. Therefore, the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders was created.

Simon Ilse, head of our Belgrade office, talks with the future Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, about his future government’s priorities, the dialogue with Serbia, his green agenda, and addresses the issue of ethnicity vs nationality in the Balkans.

Youth-led street movements have forced climate warming up the agenda in the past year. School strikes and demonstrations introduced young people to politics for the first time and new discourses changed how people think about the climate.

In an early election held after a corruption scandal collapsed the right-wing government, the Austrian Green party achieved a historic high, gaining 13.9 per cent of the votes. From appealing across the rural-urban divide to new electoral coalitions, the strategic questions emerging from the recent Austrian election are relevant for green and progressive parties all over Europe.

Hosting COP 25 in Chile would have been an excellent chance to visualize the continent’s environmental problems and improve the space for negotiations. Now, Latin American civil society is making an effort to make their voices heard in Madrid.