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At the fifth UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi, discussions were held on how plastic pollution of the environment can be curbed internationally. A plastic agreement was agreed for 2024, which could also advance climate protection.

The greenhouse gas carbon dioxide harms our climate. But the gas contains an important component of many chemicals and fuels: Carbon. Researchers are therefore working to recover carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and put it to new uses. The so-called co-electrolysis is a promising process for converting the climate-damaging gas into climate-neutral raw materials for industry.

How can we make Christmas sustainable?

Mit neuen finanziellen Hilfen will der Bund Städten und Gemeinden den Weg zu null Emissionen einfacher machen. Doch wie kann der konkret aussehen? 

Hydrogen is considered one of the great hopes for a climate-neutral energy supply in the future. The catch is that a great deal of energy and space is still needed for its production and storage. Researchers at the Helmholtz Climate Initiative are investigating how the energy carrier can be stored in a more climate-friendly, cost-effective and space-saving way.

Quality education, gender equality, no poverty, climate action—these are four of the 17 total Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations. Helping achieving these goals is a key objective of the German government, and Germany’s National Sustainable Development Strategy provides the blueprint for this undertaking.

One third of the forest area in Germany is covered in forest. This adds up to more than 28,2 million acres. But our “green lung” is in bad shape. As the recent Forest Condition Survey of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture shows. Andreas Huth and Friedrich Bohn from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research research how climate change is affecting forests and what the conseque are.

The European Climate Research Alliance (ECRA) will be celebrating its tenth anniversary on March 10. In this interview, we talk to climate researcher and ECRA Chair Peter Braesicke about the idea behind the founding of the climate research network and about future challenges.

The year 2021 could be a good one for climate policy, says Prof. Reimund Schwarze of the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ. With Joe Biden, for example, the USA will embark on a new path. But international climate efforts could also get a breath of fresh air in other places.