Articles

As in many previous global climate summits, progress on core climate finance issues at COP26 in Glasgow proved to be key to break negotiation deadlocks in overtime and to reach, often inadequate, compromises in a package deal delivered as the Glasgow Climate Pact.  Outside of the formal negotiations a dizzying array of new financing initiatives were announced. Skepticism is warranted regarding their staying power, accountability, and impact beyond the Glasgow PR blitz that promised some action but no systemic rethinking.

HBF's new research reveals the Department of Social Development’s dependence on NGO shelters during Covid-19, and their tendency not to provide adequate support and funding despite this reliance, writes the Daily Maverick.

On Saturday 4 December 2021, the Members’ Assembly of the Green Party-affiliated political foundation Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung elected Prof. Dr. Imme Scholz and Jan Philipp Albrecht with a large majority as new Co-Presidents. The duo will take office as of 1 April 2022 and 1 June 2022, respectively. The terms of the current presidents, Barbara Unmüßig and Dr. Ellen Ueberschär, will end as scheduled on 31 March 2022 and 31 May 2022, respectively. Steffen Heizmann will stay on as the Foundation‛s CEO.

Whilst the national governments have been reflexively ducking responsibility for years, there are many cities in Europe, from London to Munich and Vienna to Lille, Barcelona and Lisbon, that are expressing solidarity and a readiness to take in refugees.

The launch of the “Moving Cities" website on 21 October 2021 is a clear indication of how much dynamic power cities and communes are generating in the hosting and integration of refugees.

Every single day, women are abused, threatened or slandered on digital social networks. Yet the operators of these platforms are doing very little to make the digital space a safer place for women. The whistleblower Frances Haugen talked to Spiegel journalist Ann-Katrin Müller and Alexandra Geese, Member of the European Parliament, about what needs to be done right now to stop violence on the net.

Following the German federal election of 26 September 2021, the German Greens achieved the biggest, most female, younger and diverse parliamentary group in their history. Let’s explore some fact and figures about the Alliance 90/The Greens fraction in the 20th Bundestag!

After a long period during which the media landscape has been mirroring the prevailing clientelism, Greece is now experiencing a rapid downslide towards dangerous pathways regarding media pluralism that bring the quality of democracy in the country into question. A look at the events and political developments that have accumulated over the last months.

That was Silke Helfrich’s life, and that is what it will remain. Now we are grieving her, our staff member for many years, our colleague, our friend. We are all shaken that Silke was fatally injured on 10 November. She was torn from this world. Her wonderful work will remain with us and inspire us. We will treasure and promote it. We extend our deep sympathy to her family.

Like all iterations of technological progress that preceded it, artificial intelligence is no exception to the rule that technology itself is inherently neither bad or good. This Spotlight analysis reflects on the question of how to evaluate AI-based technologies that could improve citizens' quality of life and consumer experience, but that are vulnerable to being abused.