In 2023, Germany’s Federal Foreign Office and its Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development published guidelines for a feminist foreign and development policy. Political headwinds, however, are jeopardising the implementation of the concepts.

COP29 was expected to deliver a global goal for climate finance that meets the challenges of the future. It failed to do so. Instead, it launched international carbon markets that create new loopholes for fossil fuel emitters.

Funding climate protection through carbon certificates for soil may seem beneficial at first. However, a greater focus on soil health and supporting farmers in adopting sustainable practices would be far more effective in practice.

When the Loss and Damage Fund was created last year, it was hailed as a triumph for climate justice. But it might turn out to be just the opposite, as it not only fails to deliver the support developing countries need to cope with loss and damage, but also provides an excuse not to include such support in new climate-finance goals.

35 to 72 million people across the EU are facing energy poverty. These issues already have powerful implications today from a public health or productivity point of view. Over the years, the EU has constructed a series of policy instruments to assess better and comprehensively address the phenomenon.

The sixteenth UN Biodiversity Conference (COP16) in Cali, Colombia, faced significant challenges and ran overtime due to disagreements between developing and developed countries. A resumed meeting will be required to address these unfinished issues.

For Hungary’s prime minister, who has backed Donald Trump for years, a victory in the U.S. presidential election means more than a symbolic win – it could also deliver concrete advantages. In the short term, such a result would bolster Viktor Orbán’s position both internationally and domestically. However, differences in political priorities and in economic interests in particular could create friction between Washington and Budapest in the medium to long term. Given Trump’s unpredictability, there is no guarantee that Orbán’s promises – such as swift peace in Ukraine and an economic boom – will come to pass.