Headline: News 2013

<p>At the 2013 conference of the <a href="http://www.ecpr.eu/" target="_blank">European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR)</a> at the University of Mainz, scientists of the <a href="http://www.iass-potsdam.de/research-clusters/sustainable-interactions-atmosphere-siwa" target="_blank">IASS-cluster “Sustainable Interactions with the Atmosphere (SIWA)”</a> are discussing the normative and political challenges of climate engineering in the workshop “Climate Change 2.0?”. In this workshop, SIWA focuses on:</p>

<p>On 15 March, the IASS and the British Embassy in Berlin convened a meeting of thirty experts from Britain and Germany to discuss the role of renewable energy sources in future electricity markets. Both countries are currently undergoing major transformations in their electricity systems. The German Energiewende with the rapidly expanding share of renewables has led to a need to amend its successful feed-in tariff legislation to meet emerging challenges, both in terms of affordability and system integration.</p>

Which political, economic and scientific transformations are needed to ensure a sustainable use of our natural resources at both the global and national level and taking into account the specificities of developing countries? In order to address ‘The Global Challenge of Resource Efficient Growth and Development’, the 13th annual Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS) provided a platform of exchange and debate for the world’s best thinkers and policy makers.

<p><a href="http://gsss-potsdam.org/" target="_blank"><img alt="" class="image-iass_large editor_image" height="118" src="/sites/default/files/styles/iass_large/public/inline_images/logo_mit_datum.png?itok=w9BJZlJj" width="460" /></a></p><p> </p>

<p>More than 3 billion people still rely on traditional cookstoves for lighting, heating and cooking at home. Most of these cookstoves emit dangerous concentrations of pollutants that first and foremost harm human health but that also have a significant impact on the global climate. Hence, this issue is at the heart of the discussion about the connections between air pollution and climate change.</p>

<p>In order to mitigate climate change, actions apart from the reduction of CO₂ emissions are increasingly discussed. Approximately half of the global warming is due to climate-forcing substances such as soot, methane and ozone – without their reduction, the 2°C goal cannot be kept. In addition, there are now many proposals for interventions into the climate system, called “climate engineering” or “geo-engineering”.</p>

<p><span style="background: white; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 10pt;">IASS is doing work on Global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on the ground. The proposal for this international initiative, now pursued by a UN Working Group, came from the Colombian government (together with Guatemala and Peru).</span></p>

<p>At the occasion of the first anniversary of the <a href="http://www.unep.org/ccac/" target="_blank">Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC)</a><a href="http://www.unep.org/ccac" target="_blank"> </a>on February 20, 2013, the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies – a non-state partner of the Coalition since December 2012 – takes stock of its own contribution to draw attention to “Short-Lived Climate-Forcing Pollutants” (SLCPs).</p>