Getting expectations right more relevant than getting prices right: Credibility is key for policies to achieve net zero targets
09/18/2023 - For net-zero policies to be successful, it is key that they succeed in shaping the expectations of private investors that long-term targets are firm. This is the result of new research by scientists at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and Resources for the Future and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) published today in Nature Climate Change.
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More economic struggle, less care about the environment
09/15/2023 - When international trade hurts people economically, they care less about environmental issues, finds a new study published in the journal Nature Climate Change. An international team of scientists shows that economic shocks drive trade-exposed groups more doubtful towards climate change, leading to a withdrawing support for sustainable and green policies.
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Climate extremes hit stressed economies even harder
08/30/2023 - Economies already under stress respond more strongly to weather events like heat waves, river floods and tropical cyclones, a new study shows. A global economic crisis as during the Covid-19 pandemic strongly amplifies the price increases private households experience from the impacts of weather extremes, a team of researchers from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) finds. The price impacts tripled in China, doubled in the United States and increased by a third in the European Union.
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John Schellnhuber new Director General at IIASA
08/02/2023 - PIK Founding Director Hans Joachim (John) Schellnhuber will take over the position of Director General at the International Institute for Applied System Analysis (IIASA) in Laxenburg near Vienna on 1 December 2023. His great expertise in the field of climate change has earned him worldwide recognition.
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New series of talks by the Federal President on transformation opens with Ottmar Edenhofer
07/11/2023 - At the start of a new series of talks at Bellevue Palace, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier discussed ways to achieve climate neutrality with PIK Director Ottmar Edenhofer and Christine Benner, the Second Chair of IG Metall. The "Forum Bellevue on the Transformation of Society" focuses on social issues of the future, profound upheavals and changes in Germany.
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Six decades and more than 1600 regions worldwide: New database on economic development and climate change
07/03/2023 - A new Database Of Sub-national Economic Output (DOSE) for the first time provides sub-national economic data for six decades and more than 1600 regions worldwide matched with climate observations. Developed by experts of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC) the database aims to o better understand the implications of global warming on regional economic development and the true costs of climate change.
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Worse than diesel and gasoline? Bioenergy as bad as fossils if there is no pricing of CO2 emissions from land-use change
06/26/2023 - Demand for modern biofuels is expected to grow substantially in order to mitigate climate emissions. However, they are far from being a climate neutral alternative to gasoline and diesel. A new study in Nature Climate Change shows that under current land-use regulations, CO2 emission factors for biofuels might even exceed those for fossil diesel combustion due to large-scale land clearing related to growing biomass. Before bioenergy can effectively contribute to achieving carbon neutrality, international agreements need to ensure the effective protection of forests and other natural lands by introducing carbon pricing, the expert team from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) argues.
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EU climate Advisory Board recommends ambitious 2040 climate target and urgent transitions
06/23/2023 - The European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change (ESABCC), established by the European Climate Law, recommends in a new report EU emission reductions of 90–95% by 2040, relative to 1990, grounded on a science-based assessment addressing both fairness and feasibility.
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Greentech Honorary Award for Johan Rockström
06/21/2023 - Johan Rockström, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research PIK, has been awarded the "Special Achievement Award" by the Greentech Festival. The Earth system scientist received the honour for his commitment and leadership in his field.
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Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities appoints Ottmar Edenhofer
06/19/2023 - Climate economist Ottmar Edenhofer has been appointed to the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (BBAW). The Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change was admitted to the academy during Leibniz Day 2023 in recognition of his outstanding scientific achievements.
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PIK expertise at "Leibniz in the Bundestag"
05/26/2023 - From hydrogen to the EU climate goals, from moorland protection to the animal welfare tax: researchers from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) were represented across all research areas with numerous topics at "Leibniz in the Bundestag". With this political format, the Leibniz Association annually offers members of the German Bundestag one-on-one discussions with scientists.
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New framework from “Efficiency first” to “Decarbonization first” in European building sector needed
05/25/2023 - In addition to costly renovations, many inexpensive measures exist to facilitate the diffusion of renewables in the building sector. As of 2019, buildings were responsible for about a third of European GHG emissions. A key objective of EU energy use policies to reduce these emissions should therefore be focused on the decarbonization of buildings, beyond merely decreasing energy demand. This is stated in a new Commentary published in the journal Joule by a team of researchers from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE).
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Climate change risk to price stability: Higher average temperatures increase inflation
05/24/2023 - Increased average temperatures could drive up annual food and headline inflation by up to 1.18 percent by 2035, a new ECB working paper with PIK expertise shows. This effect persists over 12 months in rich and poor countries alike, making climate change an important economic factor for price stability.
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Effective capital markets are needed to protect the climate
05/22/2023 - A new study investigates the role of effective capital markets for climate protection and the energy transition. Banks collect savings and make them available as loans and the greater the difference between savings and loan interest rates, the more it costs to invest. This affects, for example, investments in fossil-free steel plants, power generation, or heating systems. The analysis by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC) has now been published in the renowned Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (JAERE).
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PIK expertise on the Petersberg Climate Dialogue
05/04/2023 - Ministers from 40 countries met this week at the Petersberg Climate Dialogue in preparation of the next UN Climate Conference COP28 in November. Johan Rockström, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), was among the invited speakers at the meeting, which is hosted annually by the German government with the conference presidency. “The Petersberg Climate Dialogue is an important stepping stone for the upcoming COP later this year in Dubai, where the Global Stocktake will be at the heart of international climate negotiations,” explains Rockström.
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EU border tax on CO2 offers huge opportunity to tackle climate change
04/24/2023 - A price on CO2 emissions from products entering the EU offers unprecedented opportunities in the fight against global warming. But success hinges on how low- and middle-income countries will be engaged. That is the result of a research published today in Nature Communications Earth & Environment.
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E-fuels likely to remain scarce for a long time: PIK analysis paper
03/21/2023 - To advance the current debate on e-fuels, researchers from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) have analyzed data on the global status of e-fuel projects and compiled it in an analysis paper.
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Coal exit can happen only with stronger policies – and with China
02/06/2023 - Current climate policies including efforts like the Powering Past Coal Alliance will not add up to a global coal exit, a new study shows. Countries phasing coal out of the electricity sector need to broaden their policy strategy, or else they risk pushing the excess coal supply into other industries at home, like steel production. The scientists find that China has an opportunity to dominate the renewable energy technology market if it begins phasing down coal immediately. Otherwise, it could dangerously delay the renewable energy breakthrough worldwide.
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Science takes centre stage in Davos
01/20/2023 - PIK Director Johan Rockström participated in the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) Meeting 2023 in Davos this week. In a first, science took centre stage in a Davos plenary session with Rockström outlining how climate change impacts economies around the world.
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Climate, Development, Economics - Kati Krähnert is a Professor at RWI and Bochum University
01/20/2023 - From Potsdam's Telegrafenberg to the Ruhr - since January 1, 2023, Kati Krähnert is Professor of Climate Change and Development at the Faculty of Economics at Ruhr University Bochum. There she researches how the lives of people in the Global South are affected by climate change and how policies need to be designed if they are to improve household climate resilience. She was appointed jointly by the Ruhr University and RWI - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research.
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Federal Research Minister visits PIK
01/09/2023 - The Federal Minister of Education and Research Bettina Stark-Watzinger has visited the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). She spoke for almost two hours with climate economist and PIK Director Ottmar Edenhofer, as well as with Administrative Director Bettina Hörstrup and Gunnar Luderer from the Copernicus research project ARIADNE on energy transition policy. Topics included the federal government's hydrogen strategy and research into economic models for extracting CO2 from the air and storing it underground, as well as research into energy systems.
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Climate risk insurance can effectively mitigate economic losses
01/04/2023 - Global warming is expected to lead to an accumulation of particularly intense hurricanes in the United States. This may substantially increase the economic losses caused by these storms. Better insurance could effectively mitigate the climate change-induced increase in economic losses. This is shown in a new study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research examining the effectiveness of climate risk insurance in the US.
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Carbon dioxide removal should receive additional financial support
12/20/2022 - Cleaning up greenhouse gases after they have been emitted should be incentivized by subsidies. New evidence from an economic analysis considering international markets suggests an important reason why subsidies should be higher than the price put on carbon emissions to incentivize their reduction. In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers analyze policies for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it underground or in products. The suggested different pricing is not due to technological challenges, but linked to an economic effect called leakage.
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European Union to adopt emissions trading system for transport and heat
12/19/2022 - The European Union this weekend came to some decisions related to its climate policy, namely the EU Emissions Trading System. On this occasion, Ottmar Edenhofer, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC), issued a PIK Statement.
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COP27 world climate summit: “Results are not good enough”
11/22/2022 – A COP failure was avoided, but it was only a very moderate success for the climate. While 1.5 as a global goal is still there on paper, COP27 does not offer a concrete plan on how to achieve that. These are, in a nutshell, the assessments by PIK Directors Ottmar Edenhofer and Johan Rockström just after the 27th edition of the world climate summit COP concluded on Sunday in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Positive outcomes of the summit include a first-of-its-kind set up of a ‘loss and damage fund’ that shall aim at compensating climate impacts for developing countries.
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Finding equity in climate mitigation finance: new study in 'Science'
11/18/2022- Considerations of equity in directing global financial flows for regional climate mitigation investments are critically important. It is in the leading journal 'Science' that team of researchers led by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) and including the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) published a new study to help inform climate policy. The researchers explored how global investments could be divided among the countries in the world. The team applied a systematic approach with different equity and fairness considerations and estimated the “fair” financial flows between regions.
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World climate summit COP27: Potsdam researchers highlight need for action
11/11/2022 - Climate policy-makers and experts are gathering in Sharm-el-Sheikh at the world climate summit COP27, amongst them researchers from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. The negotiations hosted by the United Nations also make media worldwide reach out to science.
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Fossil fuels threaten health and life: Experts call for massive acceleration of the energy transition
11/03/2022 - The consequences of climate change are one of the greatest health risks of our time. This was stated by the Federal Minister of Health and the President of the German Medical Association together with PIK Director Johan Rockström and the organisation German Climate Change and Health Alliance (KLUG), that had invited to the Federal Press Conference. Together they advocate accelerating the energy transition in Germany and minimising greenhouse gas emissions. The background to this is a recently published report by the leading medical journal The Lancet, which highlights dependence on fossil fuels as a threat to health and life. The experts highlighted the fundamental importance of the report for Germany and what has to follow from it politically and in the German healthcare sector.
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Economic losses from hurricanes become too big to be offset by the US if warming continues
10/17/2022 - Hurricane damages can increase due to increasing global temperatures, caused by greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels. Computer simulations of regional economic sectors and supply chains in the US now show that the resulting economic losses can at some point not be nationally offset under unabated warming. If too many factories and the like are hit by the hurricane and stop working, other countries will have to step in to provide the supply of goods, according to the scientists who did the study. The hurricane impacts under global warming will thus give the US an economic disadvantage, the warmer the more.
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