PowerShift in the media
The PowerShift media review starts in 2014. The most recent contributions can be found above. We do not claim to be exhaustive, but would like to present a selection of articles that we have either initiated or in which we have our own say (interviews, quotes, own articles, etc.).
20.03.2026, Tagesspiegel Background
Europe's mining and energy transition: high standards or mere promises?
That the transformation of the energy system needs metallic raw materials is beyond question for Maja Wilke and Michael Reckordt of PowerShift. But they warn that if the environment and the concerns of the people affected fall by the wayside, mining in Europe has no future. Read more
18.03.2026, ESG.Table
Mining: By international comparison, EU standards are average at best
Environmental and social standards for raw material extraction in the EU could be improved. This is the conclusion from a new study conducted by two NGOs. Improvement is needed in two areas in particular. Read more
01.03.2026, CONTRASTE
Non-transparent approach to the trade agreement
At the beginning of January, the free trade agreement between the European Union and four Mercosur countries was signed. The European Parliament caused a stir as it referred the agreement to the European Court of Justice for the time being. A broad alliance of more than 50 German civil society organizations rejects the agreement and warns urgently of the ecological, social and health consequences.
14.02.2026, Research against Global Authoritarianism
Questions about the EU-Mercosur agreement in dilemma. Interview with Thomas Fritz
After long negotiations, the trade agreement between the EU and the South American economic community Mercosur is now about to be introduced. It aims to create a free trade area with more than 700 million people, in which tariffs and trade barriers are to be reduced and trade in goods and services is to be expanded. On 17 January, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the Heads of Government of Mercosur member states Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay signed the agreement in Asunción, the capital of Paraguay. On 20 January, however, the European Parliament decided to transfer this agreement to the European Court of Justice. Read more
13.02.2026, Table.Media
Mining: Why a new ESG standard is controversial
A voluntary ESG standard promoted by the mining industry is intended to simplify the small-scale certification field. NGOs, however, criticize him as too vague. In addition, those affected would not be sufficiently involved in projects. Read more
10.02.2026, EU-RENEW Blog
Small is smart: Why a climate-aligned EU hydrogen strategy is overdue
Renewable hydrogen has become a central pillar of the European Union’s climate and industrial transformation policy. In 2022, the European Commission set out the aim of producing 10 million tonnes and importing 10 million tonnes of hydrogen by 2030. By 2050, the EU wants renewable hydrogen “to cover around 10% of the EU’s energy needs, significantly decarbonising energy intensive industrial processes and the transport sector”. Read more
09.02.2026, Frankfurter Rundschau
Powershift warns: EU-Indonesia agreement endangers human rights
The planned free trade agreement with Indonesia has butter-soft environmental standards. Powershift calls for binding rules before ratification. Read more
22.01.2026, the Friday
Trump's mistake: He wants raw materials whose promotion Greenland's progressive law prohibits
The US president's approach is old-school commodity colonialism. Because of climate change and the environment, Greenland's progressive policy has decided to ban the extraction of oil, gas and rare earths. Read more
19.01.2026, bureaucracy monster Blog
How trade agreements slow down environmental policy - the creeping deregulation of Europe's trade policy
While the EU promotes green targets, it forges trade deals that unceremoniously declare environmental rules a disruptive factor. Between committees, corporate lawsuits and diplomatic pressure: Europe's trade policy has a deregulation turbo. It runs surprisingly quietly and is revealed here. Read more
12.01.2026, Frankfurter Rundschau
"It is a poison agreement" – Massive criticism of the Mercosur agreement
After almost 26 years, the time has come: The Council of the European Union approved the Mercosur agreement on Friday. Criticism of the free trade agreement with the Latin American Mercosur states continues: In addition to Europe's agriculture, voices from civil society and academia also criticise the agreement. They fear massive environmental damage, human rights violations and a deepening of unequal world trade. Read more
29.12.2025, watson
Zug straw company sues Lithuania – so trick oligarchs in circumventing sanctions
A businessman uses a Zug company to bring Lithuania to an international arbitration court. CH-Media research shows: The case is closely linked to a sanctioned group and is emblematic of recent efforts by oligarchs to undermine sanctions. Read more
18.12.2025, THE TIME
Russian assets: The hybrid war has other fronts.
In the dispute over Russian billions in Europe's banks, Russia successfully intimidates the EU with lawsuits. This is the fault of the European governments themselves. Read more
17.12.2025, Alternatives Economiques
Avoirs russes gelés : l’Europe bloquée par ses vieux traités de protection des investissements
La Belgique, qui héberge l’essentiel des avoirs gelés, redoute que les investisseurs russes recourent à des mécanismes d’arbitrage prévus dans des traités d’investissements pour lui réclamer des remboursements. Read more
16.12.2025, Follow the Money
Russian oligarchs exploit European treaties to sue Ukraine for hundreds of millions
As Ukraine fights a full-scale invasion, sanctioned Russian billionaires are demanding hundreds of millions in compensation – exploiting investment treaties to sue the war-torn state from courtrooms across Europe. Read more
12.12.2025, naked capitalism
Russian Central Bank Sues Euroclear Over Frozen Assets; Will the EU Be Hoist on the Investor-State Settlement Disputes (ISDS) Petard?
The Bank of Russia filed suit in Moscow Arbitration Court against Euroclear, with no amount of damages specified. The Kremlin vowed additional action if the assets were misappropriated. Read more
11.12.2025, ORF
Europe under pressure
In Europe, about 210 billion euros of Russian assets are on ice, the majority of which are held by the financial services provider Euroclear in Belgium. The EU wants to support Ukraine, but Belgium is slowing down due to legal risks and possible retaliation by Moscow. At the same time, the pressure is growing, as Kiev can hardly remain able to act without additional financial resources. At next week's EU summit, it will have to be decided whether the funds need to be released or whether other means of financing need to be chosen. Read more
11.12.2025, Le Journal du Dimanche
Guerre en Ukraine : l’UE risque de devoir payer des dizaines de billions d’euros à des entreprises russes
Dans un rapport publié ce mardi, l’institut Veblen fait état de 24 demandes d’arbitrage émises par des oligarques russes à l’encontre de plusieurs pays membres de l’UE pour récupérer leurs actifs gelés depuis le début de la guerre en Ukraine. Certains d’entre eux sont proches du Kremlin. Read more
11.12.2025, Le Figaro
La France et l’UE menacées de devoir payer des dizaines de billions d’euros à des oligarques et entreprises proches du Kremlin
Une note de 27 pages d’un institut français met en garde contre l’exploitation par des proches du Kremlin de vieux traités économiques liant l’Europe à la Russie. Les procédures en cours ont une chance d’aboutir. Read more
09.12.2025, Mediapart
Sanctions contre la Russie : pour les soutiens de Kyiv, une épée de Damoclès à 53 billions d’euros
Les oligarques et sociétés liés à l’effort de guerre russe réclament à plusieurs États occidentaux des sommes colossales en dédommagement des sanctions qu’ils subissent, détaille un rapport publié mardi 9 décembre. Pour ce faire, ils ont désormais recours à l’arbitrage d’investissement. Read more
09.12.2025, Le Soir
Sanctions: the oligarque russes réclament au moins 53 billions devant des tribunaux d’arbitrage
Un rapport de la coalition d’ONG européenne ETJC, avec notamment le CNCD-11.11.11, dévoile que des investisseurs russes multiplient les recours pour contrer les sanctions économiques européennes. L’outil utilisé, les ISDS, « menace la souveraineté des Etats européens », alertent les ONG. Read more
09.12.2025, THE TIME
How Russian oligarchs are attacking European state budgets
Putin's war is increasingly being fought in arbitral tribunals. Russian companies are demanding billions from the EU and Ukraine – and could be successful. Read more
Also the Financial Times had on the subject reported.
09.12.2025, Le Monde
Les Européens sous la menace de lourdes pénalités financières en raison de vieux traités commerciaux signés par la Russie
Un rapport alerte sur le risque que font peser sur l’Union européenne les procédures d’arbitrage lancées par les oligarques et entreprises russes visés par des sanctions. Read more
03.12.2025, The World in the Evening
The EU's rare earths supply strategy
In the broadcast of Bayern 2, our raw material consultant Michael Reckordt spoke about the EU's strategy to ensure a supply of rare earths and which critical aspects have to be taken into account.
01.12.2025, Newsletter 3/2025, Forum Environment and Development
An agreement in the shadow of the hunger for raw materials
The trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and Indonesia aims to reduce tariffs and secure access to raw materials, but jeopardises Indo-European development strategy, weakens protection mechanisms for the environment and workers and strengthens neocolonial structures. Read more
12.11.2025, taz
Criticism of investment agreements with Singapore and Vietnam
On Thursday evening, the Bundestag will vote on two EU investment protection agreements with Singapore and Vietnam. The non-governmental organizations Powershift, Netzwerk Juster Welthandel and Umweltinstitut München criticize that these agreements create new legal opportunities for investors and protect fossil investments. Read more
24.10.2025, SWR Kultur Forum
Fight for chips and rare earths – Does China decide our future?
China is playing its power brutally in the trade dispute, it's about Nexperia microchips and rare earths. What consequences does this have for German industry? Are there ways out of dependence? Read more
10.10.2025, Table.Media
BMZ Action Plan: Ministry threatens to move away from its development mandate
Civil society is left out of the BMZ's new action plan. Their representatives see this as problematic with regard to the objectives of development policy and especially with regard to the raw materials sector. Read more
03.10.2025, energy future
Saxony-Anhalt: Question mark behind immense lithium deposits
In the Altmark in Saxony-Anhalt, one of the largest lithium deposits in the world is to be located, which is to be promoted in a sustainable way. But questions remain open. Greater involvement of citizens is called for. Read more
01.10.2025, Infobrief EU & International
European raw material supply: On the Efforts and Failures of EU Raw Materials Policy
In 2012, political scientist Michael T. Klare wrote the book ‘The Race for What’s Left: The Global Scramble for the World’s Last Resources’. He describes the increasing competition for the remaining raw materials. Easily accessible deposits of raw materials are largely exhausted, more conflicting extraction methods will increase. This exacerbates ecological destruction, geopolitical conflicts and social inequalities. As the current debates show, his fears are on the rise. Read more
01.10.2025, Tagesspiegel Background
Investment protection agreements: Fossil energy lawsuit risk still far from being eliminated
Klesch vs. Germany, Nord Stream 2 vs. Germany, AET vs. Germany – claims for damages by energy investors are still pending before international arbitration courts. And in many of Germany's investment protection treaties, the risk of further lawsuits is dormant. NGOs are admonishing: Get out or renegotiate. Read more
21.09.2025, Publico
La demanda millonaria a España por frenar una mina de uranio muestra el papel de los tribunales privados en socavar la soberanía de los Estados
Los vecinos de Retortillo, en Salamanca, lograron paralizar el proyecto de una mina de uranio a cielo abierto en 2021. Después de una importante movilización ciudadana y los informes desfavorables del Consejo de Seguridad Nuclear (CSN), el Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica (Miteco) denegó la autorización de las obras. Read more
19.09.2025, energy future
Investment protection procedures: Lawsuits against the energy and climate transition
With the help of investment protection agreements, corporations are suing against political decisions by states. They claim damages for the consequences of environmental and climate protection laws – often with success. Read more
17.09.2025, taz
Germany before the arbitral tribunal: Energy company complains about tax
The Klesch Group is suing Germany, Denmark and the EU – with a first success. A new report shows the power of private arbitral tribunals. Read more
16.09.2025, young world
EU-Mercosur trade agreements: Neocolonial trade deal
EU Commission launches Mercosur agreement, but protests are stirring. In Latin America, there is a threat of deindustrialization. Read more
16.09.2025, News pool Latin America
onda-info 625
In September, the government representatives of the 27 EU member states will vote on the EU-Mercsosur agreement. A broad campaign is launched this week to stop the controversial agreement. Onda visited Powershift this morning to learn more about the campaign launch. Read more
27.08.2025, Tagesspiegel Background
Thinking of raw materials not from the mine, but from the point of view of society
The long-standing German pursuit of commodity partnerships with mining countries and close coordination between politics and industry is based on a mistake in thinking, writes Michael Reckordt. PowerShift's raw material expert argues: Dependence on China and other exporters will only lead to recycling and an end to waste in the long term. Read more
08.08.2025, world views
How Crab Farms Displace Farmers
In the south of Ecuador is one of the few areas where peasant families have benefited from land reform. Many are losing their land again. Corruption and drug gangs play a role. Read more
07.08.2025, energy future
CO2 storage law: Cabinet adopts amendment to CCS law
The Federal Cabinet has adopted the amendment to the CO2 Storage Act. The construction of facilities, infrastructure and storage locations is expensive, lengthy and problematic. Climate and environmental organizations warn of a bogus solution from the fossil industry. Read more
23.07.2025, Table.Briefings
Mercosur Agreement: Right of appeal against green deal laws
The EU-Mercosur trade agreement creates a new right of action against sustainability laws of the European Green Deal. The civil society organizations Bread for the World, Misereor and Powershift warn against this. Read more
22.07.2025, taz
EU-Mercosur Agreement: Climate Protection Leveraged
A right of action in the free trade agreement undermines the Green Deal, NGOs warn in a recent study. The European Commission is preparing for ratification. Read more
21.07.2025, Frankfurter Rundschau
Trading package with many risks
It is one of the world's largest free trade zones with more than 700 million people. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, said: Now the conclusion of the free trade agreement between the European Union and the South American Mercosur states is approaching. Read more
Our analysis has also been reported in other media, including: Energy future, Development policy online, in Tagesspiegel background and at weltkirche.de
01.07.2025, nd.Currently
Free trade at all costs? Resistance to the EU-Mercosur agreement is growing
The European Commission is pressing ahead: It intends to forward the Agreement to the governments of the Member States for consideration as soon as possible. It could be submitted to the EU Council for ratification as early as September, with the final vote in the European Parliament in early 2026 before EU Member States are asked to vote on it in their parliaments. Read more
25.06.2025, News pool Latin America
Campaign against EU-Mercosur trade agreements
A performance against the EU-Mercosur trade agreement will take place in front of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy in Berlin. Background: On the same day, there will be a public hearing of the EU Parliament's Trade Committee on the agreement. The European Commission presses the accelerator pedal: Before the end of the month, it wants to transmit the final agreement to the governments of the member countries. Read more
12.06.2025, EconomiaCircolare.com
Matter prime critiche, se l’UE abbraccia ‘modelli coloniali’ con la scusa della sostenibilità
La pubblicazione di progetti europei di estrazione di materie prime critiche fuori dai confini dell’Unione mette in allarme la società civile: ‘L’Unione Europea deve tener fede ai propri impegni in materia di diritti umani, diritto internazionale e impegno democratico’ Read more
12.06.2025, macronome
How the EU could improve its position vis-à-vis Trump
Despite the travels of Friedrich Merz and many high-ranking EU officials to Washington, no solution to the trade conflict with the US is emerging. But there are different strategies that Europe can use to defend its economic strength, environmental standards and global partnerships – without subjugating itself to the US. Read more
07.06.2025, Asia House Foundation
CEPA: Free Trade in Geopolitical Mission
With the planned free trade agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines, the European Union pursues more than mere economic interests. In a world of increasing geopolitical tensions – between the US and China, in the midst of multiple crises – the EU is looking for new alliances, raw materials and markets through Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements (CEPAs). However, the promise of a ‘fair and sustainable partnership’ is undermined in reality by power asymmetries, ecological destruction and democratic deficits. Read more
20.05.2025, Table.Briefings
Energy Charter: NGOs criticize arbitration lawsuit on coal phase-out.
Environmental organisations accuse Azienda Elettrica Ticinese of endangering the phase-out of coal by bringing an action for damages. The Ticino-based energy company was responsible for the ‘misinvestment’ in the Lünen power plant itself. Read more
17.05.2025, Day indicator
Ticino electricity supplier sues Germany for 100 million euros
It is around €100 million, which means a lot of coal. The Ticino energy supplier Azienda Elettrica Ticinese (AET) has sued the Federal Republic of Germany for withdrawing from coal energy. At the end of March, the World Bank's International Arbitration Court published details of this unique court case, which has so far gone unnoticed by the public. According to the documents of the Washington-based court: The Ticino residents demand 85 million euros plus 4 percent interest from their neighbours in the north. In the worst case, climate activists fear, this case could lead to further lawsuits, delaying the phase-out of coal power – and thus the energy transition. Read more
Other media outlets, including some international ones, have also reported on the lawsuit, including: NZZ (Switzerland), gaze (Switzerland), energate messenger (Germany), ee-news.ch (Switzerland), Corriere Del Ticino (Italy) or Liechtenstein's fatherland (Liechtenstein, Germany)
09.05.2025, Los podcast de Underground Periodismo Internacional
El Tratado
Dentro del Acuerdo Global entre México y la Unión Europea existe un tratado de libre comercio que, visto desde una perspectiva empresarial, es sin duda exitoso. ¿Pero desde el punto de visto humano es igual? En ambos lados del Atlántico hay personas y regiones a las que los efectos de este tratado los coloca en crisis existencial. Listening in
28.04.2025, Rosa Luxemburg Foundation
CEPA: Free Trade in Geopolitical Mission
A critical analysis of EU trade policy in Southeast Asia. PowerShift trading expert Alessa Hartmann.
Read
17.04.2025, Euractiv
Energy investment treaty under fire amid new claims against EU countries
Austrian construction company Strabag in US court seeking €350 million after Germany changed offshore laws
Read more (€)
11.04.2025, DER SPIEGEL
Strabag wants to collect damages from Germany in the US
Due to failed wind power projects, the Austrian construction group Strabag wants to enforce high claims for damages against Germany in the USA. With the trial before a district court in the US capital Washington, D.C., two Strabag subsidiaries "exercise their rights to enforce the claims for damages granted to them in the matter," said a spokeswoman. Germany has not yet responded to a request for payment. Read more
08.04.2025, Deutsche Welle
Palta y camarones para la UE: el impacto en países andinos
El aumento en la exportación de productos como el aguacate y el camarón hablaría bien del acuerdo comercial que tiene la UE con los países andinos, pero expertos critican su impacto ambiental. Read more
06.04.2025, Berliner Zeitung
EU Raw Materials Strategy: Protest against lithium mining in the Ore Mountains
The EU wants to become more independent from imports of raw materials from China. Lithium in the Ore Mountains could be of strategic importance. It's a reportage. Read more (€)
31.03.2025, energy future
The Illusion of Just Hydrogen
If hydrogen is to be green, it must be imported on a large scale. In Germany, the potential of renewable energies is too low. Does green mean fair? A map points to the problem of imports. Read more
30.03.2025, News pool Latin America
EU trade agreements with Andean countries
Thomas Fritz works as a trade and investment policy officer at PowerShift in Berlin. Stephan Moore spoke to him about the EU-Andean trade agreement. Read more
28.03.2025, bilaterals.org
The climate impact of the EU trade agreement with Colombia, Peru and Ecuador
The agreement was promoted as provid- ing the means to deepen trade relations and stimulate economic growth, while also upholding high environmental and social standards. The EU particularly emphasised the Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) Chapter, which it said would ensure that economic benefits did not come at the cost of environmental degradation. However, PowerShift’s ex-post evaluation shows that instead of supporting sustainable development, the agreement has primarily facilitated trade in environmentally harmful goods, and has also failed to introduce effective mecha- nisms to address sustainability challenges. Read more
26.03.2025, Público
Para além do boom da mineração: dois elementos críticos para uma transição justa
Para além do boom da mineração: dois elementos críticos para uma transição justa Arriscamo-nos a trocar uma crise por outra. Urge conciliar a necessidade de recursos com os limites planetários e garantir que a transição energética não se torna outra fonte de danos irreversíveis. Read more
26.03.2025, Frankfurter Rundschau
Fair dialogue on raw materials
We need a new movement that curbs the excessive consumption of metals and promotes a truly circular and solidarity-based change. A guest post by Michael Reckordt (Powershift) and Nik Völker (Mining Watch Portugal). Read more
26.03.2025, Tagesspiegel Background
EU deal on dirty hydrogen
Lobbyists from European oil and gas companies have worked intensively on the planned legal act defining "carbon-reduced" hydrogen, a European research organisation has revealed. This could divert billion-dollar subsidies into the fossil sector and further exacerbate the climate crisis, warn Neelke Wagner and Kerstin Meyer. Read more
25.03.2025, Green Savers
ONG e associações contestam escolha de minas como projetos estratégicos pela UE
Organizações não-governamentais (ONG) e associações comunitárias anunciaram hoje que vão pedir à Comissão Europeia que reveja a decisão de escolher como projetos estratégicos, na Europa, minas a céu aberto de lítio e outros minerais. Read more
04.03.2025, Table.Briefings
Taxonomy: How to make mining more sustainable
The EU wants to include the extraction and processing of critical raw materials in the green taxonomy. But including mining in the taxonomy would undermine the credibility of the taxonomy, the NGO Power Shift believes. Read more
18.02.2025, Development policy online
Indonesia: 120 organisations call for an end to the EU free trade agreement
In a joint opinion, civil society organisations from Europe and Indonesia have called on the EU and the Indonesian government to stop negotiations on a comprehensive free trade agreement (CEPA). Read more
11.12.2024, Land & Climate Review
“Shocking and sad”: How corporations use investment agreements to block decarbonisation in the Global South
Camille Corcoran talks to experts about investor-state dispute settlements, which allow fossil fuel companies to bring multi-billion dollar lawsuits against countries that pass green policies. Read more
10.12.2024, Transnational Institute Dossier
Right to Repair and Circular Economy
This conversation examines the connections between recycling, material reduction, and extractivism, focusing on nickel production in Indonesia. It explores how policies reducing extraction could benefit communities, the limits of recycling, and how reducing material use in Northern economies could alleviate extraction pressure. It also discusses justice in circular economy visions. Read more
10.12.2024, energy future
Turn off the gas tap
Liquid natural gas was considered a rescue in the gas crisis and is marketed as a clean transitional solution. But the expansion of the fossil sector fuels the climate crisis and leads to a new fossil dependency. NGOs protest against LNG summit in Berlin. Read more
09.12.2024, Radio CORAX
“For us, this is a neocolonial agreement”
The European Union and the MERCOSUR countries Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay concluded negotiations on the MERCOSUR free trade agreement on Friday. The agreement was reached on the sidelines of a MERCOSUR summit in Montevideo, Uruguay. Listen to
14.11.2024, Deutschlandfunk
How a sovereign wealth fund should secure Germany's supply
Raw materials such as rare earths, copper or lithium are indispensable not only for Europe's climate goals. However, the German economy still relies heavily on imports from China. A new federal government fund is set to reduce dependence. Listen to
13.11.2024, FactoryFunk
Hannah Pilgrim: How do you explain fair commodity trading?
How fair are our smartphones and cars? Raw materials such as lithium, nickel and copper are in high demand in industry, but their extraction is often associated with human rights violations and environmental damage, explains Hannah Pilgrim. A fair-produced mobile phone or a computer whose materials have been obtained without ethical conflicts? Not really in sight yet. That is why PowerShift is committed to making raw material extraction more equitable. She talks to Nadine Hadad about the challenges of the global distribution of raw materials, the danger of deep-sea exploitation and ways to use raw materials more sustainably. Can we do better? Listen to
11.11.2024, Tagesspiegel Background
Lithium: Challenges for EU projects
Lithium is the coveted raw material of the future, especially for electromobility. Promotion and processing are likely to be worthwhile in the coming years. The good prospects also attract companies to Germany and Europe. But the projects are only at the beginning. Whether they are all funded is open. Read more (€)
23.10.2024, Tagesspiegel Background
Investor lawsuits against the federal government reach billions
The German government estimates that investors are currently suing Germany for at least two billion euros. This is evident from the answer to a small question from the left in the Bundestag. Tagesspiegel Background is the document. Read more (€)
15.10.2024, nd.Currently
District heating network in Berlin: Affordable heating costs
Berliner Energie und Wärme AG (BEW) relies on hydrogen and biomass for the decarbonisation of the district heating network. The environmental associations point to the potential of geothermal energy. We agree on one point: Consumers should not pay for it. Read more
11.10.2024, Rethinking Trade
EU exits ISDS, kinda....
Rapacious European corporations were top users of Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) tribunals. For decades, they extracted billions from taxpayers worldwide, attacking local laws and suing governments before ISDS tribunals of three corporate attorneys. So, it was big news when the European Union recently exited one of the world’s largest ISDS agreements — the Energy Charter Treaty. In the latest episode of the Rethinking Trade podcast, Lori Wallach is joined by two people who know the inside story: Cecilia Olivet, advisor to the Left Group in the European Parliament, and Fabian Flues, of the German-based organization Powershift. Listening in
09.10.2024, Tagesspiegel Background
If lithium protection goes before democracy.
Powershift's Michael Reckordt observes with great concern the German government's support for the lithium mining project in Serbia due to the increasing repression. "The unbroken support of the project by Germany and the EU shows that industrial interests are currently once again being placed above human rights, democracy and the participation of those affected," says Reckordt. In the end, this could prove to be a disservice if companies had to withdraw from the project in the worst case because of reputational risks. Read more (€)
06.10.2024, she drives mobility
Commodities at a turning point? Germany's dependency and the future of security of supply.
In this podcast episode, Katja Diehl, moderator of the podcast, and Hannah Pilgrim, who coordinates the civil society alliance AK Rohstoff at PowerShift, dive deep into the world of critical raw materials. They shed light on Germany's dependence on metallic raw materials and the challenges that come with it. Together, they discuss why our modern lives would be inconceivable without these materials – from cars to smartphones – and how dangerous our import dependency can become. Listening in
21.09.2024, Capital
This is what Germany's new risk fund for raw materials should look like
In order to secure important raw materials for the future, Germany is setting up a fund. In the future, it will enable direct state participation in raw material projects. KfW is responsible. Companies like Aurubis and K+S are already in the starting blocks. Read more
11.09.2024, JACOBIN
The EU turns Serbia into a mining colony
The people of Serbia are protesting against lithium mining in their country – it pollutes the soil and contaminates the water. Nevertheless, the EU has adopted the Lithium Pact. Because the German electric car industry needs the raw material. Read more
30.08.2024, Table.Briefings
Metallic raw materials: Why supply chains are not transparent
There is a "large transparency gap" in metallic supply chains, said Vanessa Fischer of the NGO Powershift on Thursday at the publication of the - according to the organization - first study on metallic supply chains in Germany. Read
29.08.2024, nd.Currently
Metals against human rights
The trade in copper and co is non-transparent, exploitative and hardly regulated, shows a research by the NGO Powershift.Read
09.07.2024, Revista YARUMO International
La politización de las Materias Primas
‘Las medidas no cambian, cambia es la retórica’ dice Hannah Pilgrim, del Círculo de Trabajo en Materias Primas, que reune numerosas organizaciones de la sociedad civil alemana. Read
01.07.2024, climate reporter
Secret tribunals are increasingly attacking climate policy
Private ISDS arbitration courts allow fossil companies and their investors to override the energy transition measures of entire states. The new Global ISDS Tracker from PowerShift, the Transnational Institute and the Trade Justice Movement has now revealed how big the problem is. A guest contribution from the three NGOs. Read
24.06.2024, frei-radios.net
Javier Milei's visit to Germany and what the political situation in Argentina has to do with the EU
The ultra-right-wing Argentine President Javier Milei, who describes himself as an anarcho-capitalist, has driven many people further into poverty with his austerity policy over the past six months, which has risen from 44.7 percent to 44.7 percent.% to 55.5% increased. Basic needs such as food, rent, health insurance, etc. can no longer be afforded by many people and homelessness has increased. And, of course, Milei's inhumane hate discourse reinforces discrimination against and violence against LGBTQI, women and indigenous groups, for example. Nevertheless, Javier Milei was received in Germany by Chancellor Scholz and even received an honorary medal from the AfD-affiliated Hayek Society. Studio guest Fabiana explains how Javier Milei can also be classified internationally politically and what economic interests Germany and the EU pursue in diplomatic relations with Argentina. In addition to those affected in Argentina, the organisers of the ‘Anti-Milei Month’ of the Asamblea en Solidaridad con Argentina en Berlin also have their say. Listening in
19.06.2024, Deutsche Welle
Argentina's controversial President Milei in Germany
The right-wing populist, libertarian politician and self-proclaimed anarcho-capitalist comes to Berlin. What does Javier Milei want to achieve with his visit? Oliver Pieper, DW reporter and editor, talks about this with PowerShift trade consultant Bettina Müller, among others. Read more
Also in Spanish, Deutsche Welle reported.
14.06.2024, energy future
Critical view of the Critical Raw Materials Regulation
The European Critical Raw Materials Act aims to secure resources for the green transition and make the EU more independent from imports. But crucial aspects such as the high consumption of raw materials are missing, explains PowerShift Raw Materials Officer Michael Reckordt. Read more
11.06.2024, The Raven Ralf June/July 2024
Networked turnarounds in Berlin
Like all major cities, Berlin consumes far more resources than the city itself can provide. This destroys the environment, fuels the climate crisis and exacerbates injustices, both within urban society and on a global scale. How can we create a sustainable, globally and locally equitable city? By understanding how the raw materials, energy, heating and mobility transitions are related and by tackling them together. Read more
10.06.2024, energy future
Investment protection fuels the climate crisis
Investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) lawsuits have risen rapidly over the past three decades. This is shown by the Global ISDS Tracker database presented last week by the non-governmental organization PowerShift, the Transnational Institute and the Trade Justice Movement. Both the number and the amount of compensation claimed have increased significantly, including in the case of dispute settlements between states and fossil-fuel companies. Read more
07.06.2024, RFI
Environnement: un mécanisme juridique peu connu profite aux sociétés de combustibles fossiles
Près de 114 billions de dollars, c’est la somme totale que des tribunaux d’arbitrage ont fait payer par des États à des entreprises privées à ce jour. Pour parvenir à ce chiffre, plusieurs ONG ou groupement d’organisations, dont Trade Justice Movement et Powershift, ont compilé des années de données et les ont synthétisées sur un site lancé jeudi 6 juin. Le nombre d’affaires s’est accru à partir des années 2000 et a explosé depuis une quinzaine d’années. Parmi les requérants les plus gourmands figurent les compagnies du secteur fossile. Read more
06.06.2024, taz
Argentina's President Milei in Hamburg: The Chainsaw Man is Coming
The self-proclaimed anarcho-capitalist Javier Milei comes to Hamburg. The Argentine President is awarded the Hayek Medal by the right-wing libertarian Friedrich August von Hayek Society. He will also meet with Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD). Protests are raging against the visit of the market-radical political rebel. Read more
06.06.2024, courier
So far, corporations have sued states for $857 billion.
A total of 857 billion dollars (788 billion euros) have so far been claimed by corporations before international arbitration courts of states, reports the non-governmental organization Attac. She refers to the transparency database Global ISDS Tracker, which was created by the non-governmental organizations PowerShift, Transnational Institute and Trade Justice Movement. Read more
06.06.2024, The Guardian
Secretive court system has awarded over $100bn public money to corporations, finds new analysis
More than $100bn of public money has been awarded to private investors in investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) courts, according to the most comprehensive analysis yet. The controversial arbitration system which allows corporations to sue governments for compensation over decisions they argue affects their profits is carried out behind closed doors, with some judgments kept secret. But, according to a global ISDS tracker which launches today, $114BN has so far been paid out of the public purse to investors.
The Global ISDS Tracker was developed and published by PowerShift, the Transnational Institute and the Trade Justice Movement and in collaboration with the International Accountability Project and the Institute for Policy Studies. Read more
The Global ISDS Tracker has also been reported in other international media: Mother Jones, Counterpunch, Common dreams, One green planet, Wirenew's fax.
03.06.2024, EU RENEW
Critical Raw Materials Act – a regulation in the interests of the European economy?
European industry accounts for more than 20 per cent of total European value added and “generates over 80 per cent of EU exports”, writes the German Ministry of Economic Affairs. These shows the production and economic systems in the EU are designed to import raw materials, process them further and then export the finished products. Between 25 and 30 per cent of the metals produced globally are used or consumed in Europe. But most of these metals and minerals are mainly extracted outside the EU. That was not always the case. At the beginning of the last century, Europe was still responsible for 40 per cent of global mining production; Today it is around three per cent. Read more
30.05.2024, Deutschlandfunk
Controversial agreement - EU decides to withdraw from the Energy Charter
With its approval of the EU's withdrawal from the Energy Charter Treaty, the European Council has finalised this agreement. Fabian Flues, Trade and Investment Policy Officer at PowerShift, spoke with Jule Reimer about what this exit means for the EU and the other European Member States. Listen to
30.05.2024, Nachrichtenpool Lateinamerika
Investment protection: Human rights don't matter
In spring 2023, Minister of Economic Affairs Robert Habeck travelled to Colombia. Shortly thereafter, Germany agreed a climate and energy partnership with Colombia. But what is the reality on the ground? And what if corporate lawsuits hinder attempts to improve human rights and the environment? Newspool Latin America spoke about this with Fabian Flues, speaker for trade and investment policy at PowerShift, among others. Listen to
21.05.2024, News pool Latin America
Parallel Justice for Coal
Through the Investment Protection Act, companies are able to undermine the work of environmental protection. Fabian Flues, PowerShift's Trade and Investment Policy Officer, explains what the Investment Protection Act is all about. Read more
02.05.2024, agricultural talks
FTA
Bettina Müller, trade officer at PowerShift, talks about free trade agreements and their dangers for people and the environment in the podcast Agrar-Gesgespräche. Read more
02.05.2024, taz
Resources consumed for 2024
This year, Germans are already living at the expense of other countries with their consumption of raw materials from 2 May. There are ideas to save resources. One of them is raw material reduction. PowerShift has commissioned the ifeu Institute to calculate concrete savings potentials. Read more
31.03.2024, zdf Today
Investment Protection Agreement: How Companies Complain About Environmental Protection
Investment protection agreements allow companies to sue countries in which they invest in arbitral tribunals. In environmental matters, lawsuits against states weighing millions are on the rise. Fabian Flues, Trade and Investment Policy Officer, criticises, among other things, the composition of these arbitral tribunals and demands that arbitral tribunals be excluded from commercial contracts. Read more
28.03.2024, Table.Media
Metals: Mobility and construction are levers for savings
Due to the increasing demand for raw materials for the energy transition, it is necessary to reduce consumption. This should make Germany more independent of imports and conserve resources. A new study commissioned by PowerShift at the ifeu Institute for Energy and Environmental Research in Heidelberg looks at the potential of the most important metals. Read more
27.03.2024, DER SPIEGEL
Researchers see great potential in raw material recycling
Copper, aluminum, iron, nickel and other raw materials are critical to the development of the domestic economy. Germany's dependence on raw material imports could be significantly reduced by more recycling. This is the result of a study by the Ifeu Institute on behalf of the non-governmental organisation Powershift, which is available to SPIEGEL. Read more
25.03.2024, oekonews.at
CETA failed in France / Studies: Agreement undermines climate targets
The French Senate has clearly rejected the ratification of the EU-Canada trade agreement (CETA) by 211 votes to 44. This is good news, because recent studies by the German NGO PowerShift and the French Veblen Institute show that CETA is undermining the Paris climate targets and harming the environment. Read more
13.03.2024, Europe – Table.Media
Surprising verdict: Romania does not have to pay compensation to mining company
Due to a withdrawn concession for gold mining, Romania threatened high claims for damages. Now an international arbitral tribunal has decided the investor protection procedure differently. Read more
06.03.2024, ESG – Table.Media
European Commission: Reform the Energy Charter, then withdraw
Shortly before the end of the legislature, the Commission is trying to resolve a dispute over reform or withdrawal from the Energy Charter Treaty. Now both are to be made possible. Investor protection should no longer hinder climate policy. Read more
04.03.2024, NANO
Contribution on investor-state arbitration
In the program NANO, 3sat addresses investor-state arbitration proceedings and also speaks with our trade and investment policy speaker, Fabian Flues. A noteworthy contribution about the madness and dangers of ISDS lawsuits. From 6:10. View
29.02.2024, Tagesspiegel
Wood instead of coal: Environmental associations criticize district heating plans of Vattenfall and Berlin Senate
In order to bring the coal share in district heating and electricity production to zero as far as possible, Vattenfall relies on renewable wood plantations. A mistake at the expense of the climate, say critics. Read more
Further articles on this report have been published, among others, in the Taz, in the Frankfurter Rundschau and in the case of Climate reporter.
29.02.2024, Rosa Luxemburg Foundation
EU supply chain law fails at federal government
The EU Supply Chain Act fails due to the federal government. The Rosa Luxemburg Foundation spoke with Hannah Pilgrim, coordinator of the AK Rohstoff at PowerShift, about the U-turn of the traffic light coalition and the impact of the failure of the bill. Read more
20.02.2024, JACOBIN Magazine
Human rights along supply chains – not with the FDP
The FDP wants to prevent the EU supply chain directive, which would make it possible to prosecute companies for offences in their global production networks. Merle Groneweg, a freelancer at PowerShift, writes about the blockade of the bill. Read more
20.02.2024, Table.Media
More and more lawsuits based on investment protection agreements are directed against climate and environmental legislation
A Canadian mining company has sued Romania for several billion euros in damages for an undisclosed mining license. The lawsuit is based on international treaties designed to protect investments by companies abroad. One consequence of this process is that states shy away from ambitious environmental regulation. Our trade consultant Fabian Fluss spoke to Table.Media about this challenge for climate protection. Read more
16.02.2024, POLICY
“When it comes to primary materials, we need to think more about reduction”
In an interview with POLITIKUM, our raw material expert Michael Reckordt explains why the concept of reduction is not yet sufficiently anchored in the consumption of primary materials – and how this could be changed. Buy magazine
15.02.2024, Capital
How Germany wants to secure raw materials with a sovereign wealth fund
As part of the Raw Materials Fund, the Federal Government has commissioned the State Bank KfW to invest in raw materials projects. However, what the procurement procedures will look like is still unclear. It is clear: Germany must ensure human rights and environmental standards, according to our raw material expert Hannah Pilgrim. Read more
24.01.2024, Deutschlandfunk
Lithium, Cobalt and Co. – What about the new mining?
Lithium, cobalt or nickel are irreplaceable for the energy transition. So far, China controls much of the world's production. That's supposed to change. These and other raw materials are to be extracted in Germany and Europe in the future. In an interview with Deutschlandfunk, our raw material expert Michael Reckordt ranks these efforts and their consequences. Read more
31.12.2023, News Pool Latin America
Decisive year 2024 for EU-South America trade agreement
The main criticisms of the various EU agreements with Mexico, Chile and Mercosur are similar. What dangers do civil society actors see and how do activists around the world organise themselves to take action against these trade agreements? More on this in this article. Read more
06/12/2023, Young World
Exploitation of the Global South: Lula is surrounded by market radicals
The EU-Mercosur agreement between Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and the European Union has long been criticised for endangering nature and human rights. Nevertheless, Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva urges the conclusion of the negotiations during his visit to Berlin. Our trade expert Bettina Müller explains how these ambitions are to be assessed, what role the presidential elections in Argentina play in this and the background of the criticism of the agreement by civil society. Read more
04/12/2023, Frankfurter Rundschau
Against ‘cow trade with Mercosur’
Non-governmental organizations call on the federal government to renegotiate the agreement with the South American Mercosur states. They see the deal as a fire accelerator for the climate crisis and species extinction and warn of consequences for indigenous communities. The FR reports on our criticism of the Mercosur agreement and our protest on the visit of Brazilian President Lula da Silva to Berlin, together with other civil society organisations. Read more
24.11.2023, iz3w
More mining in and for Europe?
The extraction of raw materials is usually only feasible with enormous ecological and social consequences. However, they are indispensable for the European climate protection goals and the energy transition. But how much mining is fair? The new EU law on critical raw materials now sets the course for the future of raw materials policy. What does this mean for the resource-rich countries of the Global South? Does it even help the climate? These questions are addressed in a guest article on our raw material expert Michael Reckordt. Read more
23.11.2023, Tagesspiegel Background
Indigenous peoples and affected communities may have a say in the future
In record time, the EU has agreed on a regulation on raw materials. The industry is cautiously optimistic, while civil society organisations lack concrete targets to reduce the consumption of raw materials or reject the regulation altogether. One expert doubts the EU's ability to act on commodity markets. Read more
15.11.2023, Tagesspiegel Background
Europe is building on itself
The EU's dependence on individual countries for the supply of rare materials is to be reduced. The Critical Raw Materials Act, agreed between the European Council and the European Parliament. Initial reactions are positive. Our raw material expert Michael Reckordt comments: "It is to be welcomed that the EU has agreed on higher recycling targets". Read more
15.11.2023, energy future
Produce more raw materials for Europe in Europe
The EU agrees on a new raw materials law at a record pace. The aim is to produce more raw materials for Europe, including in Europe. The agreement on higher recycling targets in this framework is to be welcomed. At the same time, it is unclear to what extent the globally unjust and ecologically destructive consumption of raw materials is also being addressed. Our raw material expert Michael Reckordt comments: "So far, the European Commission has refused to do so. This high consumption is the starting point for the violation of human and labour rights, indigenous rights and environmental standards”. Read more
15.11.2023, The Jolt
We are living in a raw material world
The race for raw materials is gaining momentum and is thus becoming more complicated. This edition of FORESIGHT Climate & Energy's The Jolt podcast takes a look at the global raw materials race and the role of the US in it, hosted by our raw materials expert Michael Reckordt. Listening in
14.11.2023, Edition Le Monde diplomatique
Green colonialism
According to the United Nations, global raw material consumption has increased from 43 billion tons in 1990 to 95 billion tons in 2019. And with it, global energy consumption: It has doubled since 1980. Is this development to be stopped or even reversed? What are the alternatives to disposable consumption and unbridled growth? This LMd edition booklet deals with these and many other questions. In the article, our raw material expert Hannah Pilgrim refers to the role of the German Act on Corporate Due Diligence in Supply Chains, which has been in force since the beginning of 2023, the EU Supply Chain Act, which is currently being negotiated, and the so-called UN Treaty on Business and Human Rights, which has been negotiated for years. Read more
14.11.2023, taz
Metals from domestic mining
More mining in Europe, less dependence on resource-rich countries, more recycling: This is how the EU responds to the new geopolitical situation. Read more
09/11/2023, Radio Dreyeckland
Indigenous and smallholder farmers will be particularly affected
Shocked by the breakdown of supply chains during the pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and tensions with China, the EU Commission has adopted a draft Critical Raw Materials Act. Michael Reckordt of the PowerShift association criticizes the fact that it is only about supplying the industry with raw materials, while human rights are not respected. Listening in
06.11.2023, Tagesspiegel Background
Withdrawal of the RWE arbitration suit meets with approval
RWE has now withdrawn a lawsuit under the Energy Charter Treaty. Read more
03.11.2023, EnergyFuture
RWE withdraws lawsuit against Dutch coal phase-out
Another lawsuit brought by a German group under the controversial Energy Charter Treaty is history. RWE does not want to pursue a lawsuit against the coal phase-out of the Netherlands. The withdrawal does not seem entirely voluntary. Read more
02.11.2023, taz
"An important victory for the state"
Following a BGH ruling, RWE withdraws its billion-dollar lawsuit against the Netherlands. This is a great success, especially for the climate movement. Read more
26/10/2023, Tagesspiegel Background
Several Energy Charter lawsuits against Germany
On Tuesday, the British refinery operator Klesch filed a lawsuit against Germany under the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) together with Heide Raffinerie, a German refinery belonging to the group. This is the second time in a few days that a company wants to bring Germany before an international arbitration court. Last week, a public energy company from Switzerland filed its lawsuit against the Federal Republic of Germany. Read more
24/10/2023, Frankly speaking
#32 by Michael Reckordt: Critical Raw Materials Act
In this episode of the Franky speaking podcast, Frank Bold talks to our raw materials expert Michael Reckordt about the emergence and impact of Critical Raw Materials Acts (CRMA). Listening in
01.10.2023, rbb inforadio
What about EU-Latin America relations?
The German government is currently trying to improve relations with Latin America. Spain is also looking across the Atlantic as part of its EU Presidency. But what could a common European strategy for Latin American relations look like? Sandra Schwarte discusses this with her guests. Listening in
01.10.2023, sheets
Hydrogen from Africa: Hope for whom?
The energy sector is responsible for more than three quarters of global greenhouse gas emissions. In the discussion about the energy transition, hydrogen is also coming into focus again and again. What are the conditions for fair hydrogen production in Africa? Read more
29.09.2023, Leaves Podcast
Hydrogen from Africa: Hope for whom?
The energy sector is responsible for more than three quarters of global greenhouse gas emissions. In the discussion about the energy transition, hydrogen is also coming into focus again and again. What are the conditions for fair hydrogen production in Africa? Listening in
23.09.2023, Deutschlandfunk
Mineral raw materials for a climate-friendly economy
For the energy transition and e-mobility, Germany and the EU need mineral raw materials. Intensified, domestic funding is now also coming back into focus. What kind of projects are there, how calculable are the risks? Read more
22.09.2023, Tagesspiegel
Climate protection softened in Ceta additional declaration
Additional declarations on the Ceta free trade agreement do not protect states from claims for damages from corporations, Powershift and the Munich Environmental Institute warn. The environmental associations have presented a previously secret version of an interpretation aid, according to which climate protection could cost states dearly. Politicians disagree with the accusations. Read more
21.09.2023, Global magazine
PowerShift and Environmental Institute publish secret CETA interpretation statement
By means of an ‘interpretation declaration’, the contracting parties wish to address the ongoing criticism of the investment protection chapter of the European-Canadian free trade agreement (CETA). PowerShift and the Munich Environmental Institute today published the consolidated text of this interpretation statement and a detailed analysis. Read more
21.09.2023, endseurope
‘Countries can still say no’: Climate backstop weakened in draft CETA add-on
An interpretative text on investor-state dispute settlement under the 2014 EU-Canada trade deal has been watered down, according to a leaked draft, compounding doubts about the climate compatibility of the partially ratified agreement. Read more
18.09.2023, Rhein-Neckar newspaper
Germany is dependent on raw materials from other countries
“Thinking about savings”: The social scientist Hannah Pilgrim in an interview. Read more
10.09.2023, podcast: she drives mobility
The climate and raw materials crisis will not be driven away with the electric car!
The relevance of responsible raw material procurement by car companies has only received more attention in connection with the drive turnaround. The massive increase in demand for metals due to electromobility has brought human rights, social and environmental problems in the mining of these raw materials into focus. Listen to
04.09.2023, oekonews.at
PowerShift: Consequences of the EU's withdrawal from the Energy Charter Treaty
A study by PowerShift examines the responsibilities of EU member states under the Energy Charter Treaty if the EU, but not the member state, withdraws from the ECT. Read more
29/08/2023, Table.Europe
Tine Laufer - Climate action lobbyist in a fairer world
Portrait of Tine Laufer and PowerShift in Table.Europe Read more
July 2023, Policy Dispatch Podcast-Sam Morgan
Charting a new energy course
A controversial international energy pact could soon be a thing of the past after the EU unveiled a plan to exit the agreement. Fabian Flues joins the show to explain what the Energy Charter Treaty is and why it is so divisive Listen to the podcast
27.07.2023, Tagesspiegel
Federal Government adapts hydrogen strategy
For some it is a scandal, for others it does not go far enough: The revision of the National Hydrogen Strategy is a matter decided. Minister of Economic Affairs Robert Habeck stressed that blue H2 will be promoted in the meantime. Much now depends on the laws on the heat transition. Read more
11.07.2023, Tagesspiegel
What is the benefit of the EU Battery Regulation for child labourers in the Congo?
The EU Council of Ministers has adopted the new Battery Regulation. This also provides for complaint and redress mechanisms for miners in the Congo, for example. But these rights are difficult to enforce in practice, experts complain. Read more
04.07.2023, Plusminus (ARD)
Without cobalt fewer electric cars
Cobalt is a key raw material for the lithium-ion batteries of electric cars. 70% of the world's production comes from the Central African country of Congo. German companies have little direct access to this important mineral. This is due, among other things, to the Supply Chain Act, which has been in force since the beginning of the year. It obliges companies to respect human rights in global supply chains. However, the mining conditions in the Congo are not determined by protection against child labour, fair wages and environmental aspects. Read more
04.07.2023, Bonner Umweltzeitung
Raw materials turnaround is resource protection
In this interview, Michael Reckordt (PowerShift) answers questions about raw materials in the EU and worldwide contexts as well as about PowerShift's campaign work for a raw materials transition. Read more
03.07.2023, ENDS europe
Member states set out negotiating position on critical raw materials
National capitals have reached a compromise on the Critical Raw Materials Act with a raised overall ambition, more flexible timelines for environmental impact assessments and a slightly wider list of materials covered. Read more
29.06.2023, Bread for the World Blog
Access to raw materials - In the name of sustainability
The European Green Deal aims to make Europe climate-neutral by 2050 and promote sustainable growth. However, concrete strategies are lacking to decouple economic growth from resource use. A comprehensive turnaround in raw materials is needed to change global consumption patterns and enable equitable and sustainable development.Read more
23.05.2023, TableEurope
CRMA: Rapid action by the Council and Parliament
The Competitiveness Council and the European Parliament's Industrial Committee discussed the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) yesterday. Even before the summer, both institutions want to agree on their positions. In particular, the debate on mining in nature reserves could get in the way of the ambitious timetable. Read more
02/05/2023, Tagesspiegel
Hannah Pilgrim - Head of the Raw Materials Policy Network at Powershift
Hannah Pilgrim heads the Raw Materials Working Group at Powershift and is committed to a sustainable and socially fairer raw materials transition. She sees the decisive levers for this in politics. Read more
03/04/2023, TableMedia
Hannah Pilgrim – Raw materials as a life theme
For them, there is no responsible mining: Hannah Pilgrim coordinates the network of the Working Group on Raw Materials at the NGO Powershift. Read more
30.03.2023, Deutschlandfunk
Organisations criticise ‘leaked’ documents on EU-Mercosur Treaty addendum
The planned free trade agreement between the European Union and the South American economic community Mercosur suggests a new dispute. The reason is a previously secret supplementary agreement, which became public on the occasion of the EU summit in Brussels. Read more
29.03.2023, Latin America21
Free Trade Agreement with the EU: Mercosur rejects environmental regulations as too harsh and unbalanced
Additional chapters leaked. Environmental organisations criticise "little confessions" and unrealistic measures on climate protection and human rights. Read more
17.03.2023, Deutschlandfunk
The EU Raw Materials Strategy: Big ambitions, few instruments
For some raw materials, the EU is almost completely dependent on China. With its own raw materials strategy, Brussels wants to change this and strengthen its self-sufficiency. However, raw material expert Michael Reckordt is ‘very sceptical’ about the targets. Read more
16.03.2023, climate reporter
EU Raw Materials Act with vacancies
The European Union wants to improve self-sufficiency with critical raw materials for the energy transition and digitalisation. In today's law, critics lack the development of environmental and human rights standards. Read more
15.03.2023, Frankfurter Rundschau
Draft EU: More raw materials to come from Europe's mines
The European Union wants to become more independent from imports and increasingly self-promote more minerals such as lithium. Critics: there is a lack of strengthening of human rights in the traditional supplier countries. Read more
15.03.2023, TableMedia
Chile's long road to sustainable copper
Germany is increasingly relying on copper from Chile. The step is inevitable, as it is one of the most important raw materials of the transformation. But dismantling damages people's health and the environment. Read more
13.03.2023, Tagesspiegel
EU for more recycling and extraction of raw materials
The European Commission wants to set minimum quotas for the extraction, processing and recycling of critical raw materials. This is the result of a leaked draft of the Critical Raw Materials Strategy, which is due to be officially presented this week. Reactions are mixed. Read more
03/2023, commondreams.org
US and EU Groups Call for ‘Ceasefire’ on Trade Challenges to Climate Policies
A coalition of more than three dozen progressive advocacy groups based in the United States and the European Union on Monday implored E.U. policymakers to stop pursuing challenges to the Inflation Reduction Act and urged governments on both sides of the Atlantic to start prioritizing decarbonization over corporate-friendly trade rules. Continue reading
09.03.2023, Tagesspiegel Background Traffic & Smart Mobility
Industry praises draft for European raw materials law, blame of NGOs and the Greens
The EU Commission wants to set minimum quotas for the extraction, processing and recycling of critical raw materials. This is the result of a leak of the strategy for critical raw materials, which is to be officially presented next week. Reactions are mixed. Read more
17/01/2023, Frankfurter Rundschau
Energy transition needs a lot of metal
The demand for lithium and cobalt, for example, will rise sharply. However, this is not dramatic, according to a recent study. Read more
5 January 2022, Deutschlandfunk
Study: Metal consumption for the energy transition
The Federal Government's raw materials strategy also states that the demand for metals for the energy transition will increase. Experts at the energy policy association PowerShift have looked at the connections between the expansion of renewables and metal consumption. Listen to
1.12.2022, ZDF Morgenmagazin
Bundestag votes on Ceta agreement
Since September 2017, the controversial EU trade agreement with Canada has been provisionally in force. After years of debate, the Bundestag is now voting on the ratification of Ceta. look at
30.11.2022, German Bundestag
Measures to safeguard raw materials discussed in the Economic Committee
How to safely supply Germany with raw materials was the subject of a public hearing of the Economic Committee on Wednesday, 30 November 2022. Specifically, the experts commented on requests from the CDU/CSU (20/4042) and AfD (20/4065). Hannah Pilgrim was on the committee for PowerShift/AK Raw Materials. Read more and watch
28.11.2022, taz
Ceta is wrong.
This week, the Bundestag should give the green light for Ceta. Hundreds of thousands took to the streets against the EU-Canada trade agreement. Read more
25.11.2022, EnergyFuture
Metals for energy production
Energy production, whether fossil or renewable, requires large quantities of metals, but the demand for wind power and photovoltaics is lower than for gas-fired or coal-fired power plants. Renewables are also not a driver for mining. Read more
25.11.2022, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Treasure Island of Japan
Concerns about the availability of scarce raw materials are justified. What Germany could learn from Japan's strategic raw materials policy. Read more
23.11.2022, EnergyFuture
Is the Energy Charter coming to an end?
The reform of the Energy Charter Treaty has not found a majority among the EU member states in a landmark vote. Withdrawal of the EU significantly reduces the risk of lawsuits by foreign investors. Good for climate protection. Read more
22.11.2022, nd
Long way out of fossil gagging
When the members of the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) meet on Tuesday in the Mongolian capital Ulan Bator, it's about the sausage: A decision is to be taken here on a reform of the agreement, which entered into force in 1998 and was followed by more than 50 countries, mainly in Europe. Read more
14.11.2022, The Guardian
Revealed: secret courts that allow energy firms to sue for billions accused of ‘bias’ as governments exit
Secret Court Set Up Under Energy Charter Treaty Considered of Conflicts of Interest, Self-Regulation Issues and Institutional Bias Continue
13.11.2022, taz
Farewell to the Energy Charter!
Germany is withdrawing from the controversial Energy Charter Treaty, the members of which guarantee groups special investment protection. Read more
12.11.2022, Wind Power Journal
Germany announces withdrawal from the Energy Charter Treaty
After years of protests by climate activists against the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) and two years of unsuccessful negotiations on its reform, the Federal Government now announces: Germany will withdraw from the ECT anti-climate agreement. Read more
10.11.2022, nd
Cycle instead of exploitation
The increased use of renewable energies is not an alternative, but must be accompanied by a turnaround in raw materials. Read more
2.11.2022, Europe Calling
“ECT: Reform or Exit?”
Note from the 137th edition of Europe Calling of 2 November 2022 in cooperation with Anna Cavazzini MEP on “ECT: Reform or Exit? – What's next for the climate-damaging Energy Charter Treaty”, guests: Anna Cavazzini, Christina Eckes and Fabian Flues Watch on YouTube
26/10/2022, taz
Do not allow fracking
Open letter from 50 organizations: Fifty organizations are calling for a clear positioning of the federal government. Fracking should remain banned, even if calls for it become louder.
Read more
20/10/2022, taz
The way out of the China trap
The energy transition depends largely on raw materials. Economics Minister Habeck focuses on cooperation and the circular economy.
Read more
17/10/2022, nd
Long road to the turnaround in raw materials
The demand for metals is increasing sharply. NGOs are calling for a rethinking of procurement and consumption.
Read more
06/10/2022, taz
Lawsuits against climate protection expected
Strong protection for investors is the big point of contention in the free trade agreement Ceta. An expert opinion shows that lawsuits against climate protection measures threaten. Read more
26.09.2022, odysso – Knowledge in SWR, SWR Television
How sustainable is the turnaround in raw materials?
As an NGO, the Berlin-based association PowerShift fights for the rights of people who lose their livelihoods through the promotion of raw materials. look at
24/08/2022, Table Europe
Sanctions against Russia must also include imports of metals
Europe continues to import large volumes of metals such as nickel, copper and aluminium from Russia – from companies owned by Putin-affiliated oligarchs. The EU and the German government must stop these imports and drastically change raw materials policy, writes Michael Reckordt of the NGO PowerShift.Read more)
10.08.2022, energy future
Recycling and sustainably promoting raw materials
The overexploitation of raw materials worldwide destroys the environment and habitats. For a green future, significantly more raw materials must be recycled, sustainably used and promoted. Instead of hunger for raw materials, a change in raw materials is needed.(Read more)
28.07.2022, climate reporter
Almost two earths needed
Earth Overshoot Day was reached one day earlier. A part of humanity lives on far too large a foot. Metal consumption must be reduced as a matter of urgency, warn non-governmental organizations. (Read more)
27.07.2022, Frankfurter Rundschau
From now on the earth is overloaded
For the rest of the year, humanity is living on pump when it comes to resource consumption. That is why environmental organisations are calling for a turnaround in raw materials from traffic lights. (Read more)
15.07.2022, Guest post in the Forum Newsletter
Insurance for Fossils
Following the arbitration actions brought by RWE and Uniper against the Dutch coal phase-out, the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) has been heavily criticised. His reform is now in its final stages: In the coming weeks, it will be decided whether Germany and other countries will leave the agreement. But regardless of how the reform process ends, the conflict between investment protection treaties and climate protection will continue if the German government and the EU do not initiate a U-turn. (Read more)
14.07.2022, Table China
Germany remains dependent on raw materials from China
German imports of raw materials from the People’s Republic have not decreased, despite appeals to reduce dependencies. It is difficult to move away as long as prices are low and trade relations are reliable. Comparisons with Russian gas are emerging. (Read more)
07.07.2022, tagesspiegel
neighbourhood
Why the traffic turnaround in Berlin Pankow is halting and how to proceed with our parklets. (Read more)
05.07.2022, taz
Ratification at gallop
The Greens want to ratify the economic agreement Ceta quickly - despite the disputed arbitration courts and the legal privileges for corporations. (Read more)
05.07.2022, Frankfurter Rundschau
Trade agreement with Canada not approved
Anyone who is serious about climate protection must not ratify Ceta! (Read more)
30.06.2022, Energy future
The end of reform
The outcome of the reform negotiations of the Energy Charter Treaty is disappointing. Crucial points of the anti-climate agreement remain. Civil society organisations, academics and politicians from several countries are calling for the withdrawal. (Read more)
29/06/2022, Telepolis
Back to Coal
Last week was not good for climate protection. The role of energy policy backwards in Germany (and not only there) continues. (Read more)
25.06.2022, Handelsblatt
Success for climate defenders: Investment protection for coal, oil and gas to be eliminated
For years, the Energy Charter Treaty has been sharply criticized for protecting dirty power plants and pipelines. Now there will be reform. (Read more)
24.06.2022, Tagesspiegel Background
The EU's withdrawal from the Energy Charter is more likely
(Read more)
23.06.2022, Guest article in the Climate Reporter
Why the EU should withdraw from the Energy Charter
At the end of this week, the reform of the Energy Charter Treaty is to be in dry cloths. But the EU will not achieve its own reform goals. If it wants to pursue a Paris-compliant climate policy in the next few years, it must now withdraw from the Energy Charter Treaty. (Read more)
21.06.2022, Tagesspiegel Background
Fighting for the Energy Charter
A decision on the reform of the Energy Charter Treaty is pending. Climate defenders are sounding the alarm and calling for an exit of the EU from the conciliation system. Meanwhile, the EU is trying to push through a special clause to exclude fossil projects. (Read more)
19.06.2022, Reutlinger General-Anzeiger
The Tübingen Human Rights Week begins
Discussion events, workshops and a cooking evening are planned. The keynote speech will be given by Hannah Pilgrim, PowerShift consultant for raw materials policy and head of the working group on raw materials. (Read more)
07/06/2022, macronome
Without a turnaround in raw materials, we will not achieve the climate targets
It is often done as if the fight against climate change ‘only’ requires a transformation of the current economy. But the climate crisis is a crisis of the dominant production model – and of the resources needed for it. (Read more)
02/06/2022, taz
Free track for combustion engines
According to a study, the car lobby has influenced a trade agreement between the EU and South America. She wants to continue selling incinerators there. (Read more)
01.06.2022, Tagesspiegel (paywall)
Spain's solar debacle is working
When the reform of the Energy Charter Treaty is voted on in three weeks' time, Spanish government officials are expected to pay particular attention to what is happening. No other EU country has been sued so often on the basis of this treaty. But renewable investors are also taking action against Germany. (Read more)
23.05.2022, Business & Human Rights Resource Center
Billions paid out to coal companies show how investment rules are obstructing the green transition
The transition away from fossil fuels is urgent. But existing investment agreements mean this transition will be pricey and difficult, as illustrated by German coal companies using the Energy Charter Treaty to get rich on taxpayer money. (Continue)
23.05.2022, Climate reporter
Has the reform of the Energy Charter failed?
Without tangible progress, the latest round of negotiations on the Energy Charter Treaty seems to have come to an end in Brussels. Environmentalists are now talking about a final failure of the desired reform. The co-negotiating EU has so far been covered. (Read more)
19.05.2022, Friday
Energy Charter Treaty: Three business lawyers determine global climate policy
Will Germany finally withdraw from the Energy Charter Treaty? It protects corporations from democratic climate policy. It will be decided in June. (Read more)
04/05/2022, taz
The ‘fossil dino’ is to be removed
The Energy Charter Treaty aims to provide investment protection for businesses. They see it as a means of corporate action against climate change. (Read more)
25.04.2022, Green phase – the sustainability podcast of ARD
E-car sharing vs. public transport How do you get to your destination more sustainably and faster?
In the pulse podcast, Merle Groneweg (PowerShift) explains whether electric cars are really the solution for sustainable mobility and why the production of batteries for electric cars is still a major problem at the moment. (listen)
15.04.2022, Frankfurter Allgemeine
High recycling rate: Where Gold Comes From in Germany
With the change in the fashion industry, something has also happened in the gold sector: The gold produced in Germany comes almost 100 percent from recycling. At least that's what the Association of Precious Metals says. (Read more)
14.04.2022, Future Moves - New Mobility Podcast
FUTURE MOVES #13 – Merle Groneweg, Project Lead Sustainability at Power Shift
Merle Groneweg, Project Lead Sustainability at the NGO Power Shift deals with raw materials. In the podcast, she explains which metals are involved in environmental and human rights conflicts – but also how the car industry can use its purchasing power to advocate for a fairer global economy. (Listen to)
24.03.2022, Deutschlandfunk
Too much coal for the coal phase-out? Interview with Fabian Flues, Powershift
As part of the lignite phase-out, the two lignite companies RWE and LEAG will receive compensation payments of EUR 4.35 billion. Together with two other NGOs, PowerShift has filed a lawsuit against the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection at the Administrative Court in Berlin. (Read more)
03.03.2022, Europe Table
Imports of raw materials: Industry fears rising prices
A part of European industry relies on Russian raw materials. Lieferungen könnten künftig spärlicher ausfallen oder sogar ganz gestoppt werden, Preisanstiege wären unvermeidlich. Where problems threaten. (Read more)
02.02.2022, Climate reporter
Reform of the Energy Charter is not progressing: Fossil investors to be protected at state cost
The fossil industry is the most suing internationally, thanks in particular to the Energy Charter, according to a new report by the think tank IISD. Despite all the reform debates, the Charter will continue to hold its protective hand over fossil investments for years to come and will also further increase the cost of Germany's coal phase-out. (Read more)
01.02.2022, nd
Continued protection of investments in fossil fuels
On the basis of the Energy Charter, the Nord Stream 2 company sued the EU in an arbitration court in September 2019. Reason: Gas suppliers on EU territory and thus also in Germany are required to produce, transport and distribute in legally separate, "unbundled" companies. Under certain circumstances, Nord Stream 2 would have to involve third parties in the business. The supplier considers this to be a violation of the Energy Charter.(Read more)
30/01/2022, Taz
Circular economy and climate crisis: The potential of the garbage dump
Getting our garbage problem under control would also be good for the climate. It is not just waste management that has to change. (Read more)
26.01.2022, Salzburger Nachrichten
Investment protection inhibits phase-out of fossil energy
International agreements on investment protection could slow down or make the phase-out of fossil fuels much more expensive. This applies in particular to the Energy Charter Agreement (ECT), criticized attac and the German environmental organization PowerShift on Wednesday in a press conference. These agreements guarantee companies damages if their investments suffer losses as a result of legislative changes – or even if only expected profits are not made ().Read more)
25.01.2022, Energy future
Hot iron – mining drives climate crisis
Iron, copper, aluminium – the economy’s hunger for raw materials is unbroken. But mining and ore processing use a lot of energy. The climate crisis is forcing a turnaround in raw materials. We need to use valuable resources for a long time and keep them circulating.(Read more)
12.2021, Forum Umwelt & Development – Circular 3/2021
ECJ versus Energy Charter Treaty
On 2 September, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) declared that arbitration proceedings under the Energy Charter Treaty between investors from the EU and EU Member States violate European law and are therefore illegal. However, while the judges of the CJEU did not cast any doubt on their point of view, the effects of the judgment on current and future arbitration proceedings are difficult to foresee.
20.12.2021, Energy future
‘Individual mobility consumes large quantities of raw materials’
Metals and minerals are needed for electric cars, wind power and solar systems. However, the hunger for raw materials of industrial societies has been growing for half a century. In the conversation, Michael Reckordt stretches the big arc for a turnaround in raw materials. (Read more)
14.12.2021, World views
Beijing is also weak.
China's communist government is dealing with maladministration in global supply chains. However, it has not yet introduced binding standards for companies and foreign investors. (Read more)
10.12.2021, young world
China is no longer an excuse.
Beijing pays no less attention to standards in international supply chains than Western countries. (Read more)
6.12.2021, Deutschlandfunk
How the Coal Compromise Was Increased Without Need
By 2038, Germany wants to phase out coal burning, for which companies will receive 4.35 billion euros in compensation. This is contractually stipulated. This is not good for the new government and the climate. (Listen to)
25.11.2021, taz
More mining, less waste
The Traffic Lights Coalition is committed to a circular economy with specific requirements. Conflicts between the extraction of raw materials and nature conservation remain. (Read more)
16.11.2021, ak analysis & criticism
Values are not at stake here
The China-EU Investment Agreement continues the rules of global trade – labour rights are not included. (Read more)
02.11.2021, Change my Climate
#7 Techniques
In this episode of the podcast on the project “Sustainable Goals. "Sustainable Cities" by Soned e.V. is about smartphones and the metallic raw materials needed for production. In the interview, Michael Reckordt (PowerShift) explains how and where metallic raw materials are mined, how the ecological costs are externalized so far and how the global trade of these raw materials works. (Listen to)
15.10.2021, wide angle
The raw material crisis will not be driven away by an electric car
When talking about electromobility, the criticism of it is usually not left out. But whether combustion engines or electric cars, both need raw materials that are mined at the expense of people and the environment. One way out of this can only be a climate- and raw material-friendly mobility transition. (Read more)
08.10.2021, Tagesspiegel Background
The forgotten raw materials
The new EU battery regulation should set wide-ranging standards. But it could be outdated by the time it enters into force, environmental and human rights organizations warn. One point of criticism: The new due diligence requirements do not yet apply to the ‘trend raw materials’ copper, bauxite, iron and manganese. (Read more)
30.09.2021, Tagesspiegel Background
Energy Charter is a Dispute for New Coalition
The safeguard clauses of the International Energy Charter Treaty are regarded as an obstacle to the phase-out of fossil fuels. If the Greens come under governmental responsibility, they want to lead Germany out of the treaty. For the potential coalition partner FDP, this would be a problem. (Read more)
13.09.2021, nd
Solidarity through the East
Activists campaigned for an open society when cycling through Brandenburg. (Read more)
03.09.2021, Deutschlandfunk
ECJ judgment: RWE lawsuit against Dutch coal phase-out gone?
RWE has sued the Netherlands in an international arbitration court in the USA over the planned coal phase-out there. It is based on the Energy Charter Treaty of 1991. In an interview, Fabian Flues (PowerShift e.V.) talks about the problems of the agreement and explains why non-governmental organizations and environmental associations are calling for a withdrawal from the treaty. (Read more)
09/03/2021, Süddeutsche Zeitung
So big is the ecological footprint of German cars
German cars are getting bigger and heavier, but this is also increasing the demand for raw materials from all over the world. A study examines their origins – and calls for a radical change of course. (Read more)
05.08.2021, RiffReporter
Mining of raw materials: The sore point of the energy transition
Fair raw materials for the energy transition: What needs to change so that the mining of minerals does not harm people and nature. (Read more)
06.07.2021, Climate reporter
EU threatens to capitulate to Energy Charter
As of today, more than 50 countries are negotiating a modernisation of the controversial Energy Charter Treaty in Brussels. The climate and environmental movement is calling for the legal fossil to be buried – the EU seems more willing to capitulate. (Read more)
16.06.2021, Jacobin Magazine
A supply chain law does not yet make fair trade in raw materials
The recently adopted Supply Chain Act is intended to hold companies accountable for serious human rights violations. But it is precisely in the brutal raw materials sector that the pro-business law will have little effect. (Read more)
15.06.2021, Deutschlandfunk
All good in the EU-Canada free trade agreement CETA?
In this interview, Alessa Hartmann (PowerShift e.V.) talks about the lack of transparency, climate protection and human rights standards. (Read more)
02/06/2021, nd
No more deals for German companies
One million people and an alliance of 50 non-governmental organizations are calling for the termination of the Energy Charter Treaty. (Read more)
25.05.2021, Freies Radio Stuttgart
EU-Mercosur Agreement
In the programme of the Inforedaktion im Freien Radio für Stuttgart, trade experts Regine Kretschmer and Bettina Müller as well as a Greenpeace campaigner will have their say. (Read more)
17.05.2021, taz
Government money only for fair companies
The foreign trade promotion must be in the supply chain law, say development organizations. This is the only way to strengthen human rights. (Read more)
05/2021, The newspaper Paraguay
EU-Mercosur deal bad for Paraguay?
The EU-Mercosur trade agreement is controversial. In this interview, Bettina Müller (PowerShift e.V.) sheds light on the effects and possible dangers. (Read more)
06/05/2021, left-hand traffic
Raw materials policy is everyone's concern
For a long time, commodity policy was a niche topic. But awareness campaigns about the smartphone or the debate about electromobility sharpen the eye. (Read more)
03/05/2021, Enviro News Nigeria
Germany responsible for mining related displacements in Guinea
A team of campaigners has said that Germany should be held responsible for large scale loss of livelihood and displacement of farmers in Guinea. According to them, besides being a buyer of bauxite, Germany is also a financier by providing a $293 million loan guarantee for the expansion of the Sangaredi open-pit bauxite mine in the West African nation. (Read more)
25.04.2021, Spectrum
The high price of aluminum
Aluminium is one of the most important industrial metals. The largest reserves are in West Africa. There, the environment and the population pay an enormous price for the supply of raw materials to the industrialized countries. (Read more)
04.2021, Verso Books
Beyond the Ruins - The Fight Against Environmental Breakdown
We are hurtling towards total climate breakdown. Extractive capitalism has wreaked havoc on our planet, and countries in the global south pay the heaviest price for a crisis they contribute to the least. But we are far from powerless in the face of this catastrophe. How can the left build a more sustainable future, and win back a world fit for life? This collection brings together key thinkers, activists, researchers and writers who are leading the conversation on the urgent, global response that is required.
Contributors include Adrienne Buller, Pia Eberhardt, Fabian Flues, Dalia Gebrial, Antonia Jennings, Harpreet Kaur, Laurie Laybourn-Langton, Mathew Lawrence, Cecilia Olivet, Julia Steinberger and Olúfémi Táíwò. (free download)
04.2021, Career Leader - Engineers
Saving raw materials: "Driver of change"
Germany is the export world champion. But: In order to be able to export a lot, German companies also import an enormous amount of raw materials for production. We are one of the world's largest consumers of metallic raw materials. Not only do we import the metals, but we also consume the land and water on site and emit CO2. Mining destroys enormously large areas and thus very often leads to land conflicts, environmental pollution, human rights violations, for example through child labour, non-compliance with international labour laws, repression or the criminalization of environmentalists. At the same time, we are a true disposable company, especially in the electronics sector. As a result, enormous quantities of raw materials are lost or no longer used. In electronic devices such as mobile phones or laptops alone, up to 50 or 60 different metallic raw materials are processed. (Read more)
26.03.2021, Jacobin
The EU-Mercosur deal cannot be saved
The free trade agreement between the EU and the Mercosur countries is controversial. Even within the EU. An additional document on climate targets is intended to appease the criticism. But that doesn't change the neocolonial structure of the deal either. (Read more)
16.03.2021, analysis & criticism
Gold mine for RWE & Co
With the Energy Charter, corporations can earn billions more in fossil raw materials despite the climate crisis. The energy group RWE is demanding a total of 1.4 billion euros from the Netherlands as "compensation" for the coal phase-out decided by 2030. RWE operates two coal-fired power plants in the Netherlands, which will no longer be allowed to power coal from 2025 and 2030, respectively. One of these power plants was only put into operation in 2015, the year of the Paris Climate Agreement. Now a company spokesman claims that at that time it was not foreseeable that coal-fired power generation could not continue for several decades. In addition to RWE, the German energy group Uniper, which commissioned a coal-fired power plant in 2016, also threatens to sue the Netherlands. (Read more)
16.03.2021, taz
Criticism of Mercosur agreements: Cars against beef
Resistance to the free trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur countries Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay is growing. An alliance of 450 European and South American organizations called on Monday in a statement to stop the agreement. The EU and South America agreed on the treaty as early as 2019. This is to eliminate four billion euros of tariffs annually and thus increase the import of meat and soybeans into the EU as well as the export of cars to South America. With dramatic consequences for human rights and the environment. (Read more)
10.03.2021 Radio Dreyeckland
Supply Chain Act in Germany: “Implement an effective supply chain law now”
On 03.03.2021, the Federal Cabinet adopted a draft of the Supply Chain Act. Germany depends on supplies in the field of metallic-mineral raw materials, because the automotive and electronics industry is based on materials such as lithium, copper, cobalt and rare earths. Mining is still a very dirty business on several levels. There is a massive lack of transparency in many areas. Hannah Pilgrim on the legal side of metallic-mineral supply chains and an assessment of the approved draft. (listening)
05.03.2021, mdr Podcast
Our electrical appliances are real gold mines
Year after year, the world's mountain of e-waste grows by more than 50 million tons. This garbage holds many valuable resources, precious metals and rare earths that can be a real gold mine – if we were to recycle them better, including interview with Michael Reckordt. (listen)
04.03.2021, Radio Dreyeckland
Implement an effective supply chain law now
The Supply Chain Act is available to the Bundestag and was adopted by the parliamentary groups on 03.03.2021. In conversation with Hannah Pilgrim, we arrange the developments on the legal side of supply chains. (Read more)
04.03.2021, Ende Gelände news
What does South American lithium have to do with the energy transition?
Electromobility is to become one of the central pillars of the German energy transition, although the mining of lithium is destroying the livelihoods of indigenous communities in South America. Instead of facing up to their global responsibility, German industrial companies are diligently securing mining rights. This exploitation of raw materials does not lead to long-term social prosperity, nor is it environmentally friendly. (Read more)
03.03.2021, New Germany
No trace of prevention
On Wednesday, the German government passed a draft supply chain law. The aim is to force companies to fulfil their responsibility to uphold human rights. The draft law is problematic because it will not prevent many violations, especially in the area of metallic raw materials. The protection of the environment and human rights cannot be achieved in this way. (Read more)
02.03.2021, New Germany
Left fails in Karlsruhe
Federal Constitutional Court rejects lawsuit against EU free trade agreements with Canada. Specifically, the complaint concerned the Bundestag's right to participate in the entry into force of the agreement. Ceta has been in force in parts since 2017, but only in areas of undisputed EU competence. The left-wing group had accused the Bundestag of having decided only a statement on Ceta, and no law. The judges in Karlsruhe rejected the lawsuit on Tuesday as inadmissible. (Read more)
23.02.2021, open Democracy
This obscure energy treaty is the greatest threat to the planet you've never heard of
The Energy Charter Treaty allows fossil fuel companies to sue governments for taking action on climate change. It must be stopped before it’s too late. On 4 February the German energy giant RWE announced it was suing the government of the Netherlands. The crime? Proposing to phase out coal from the country’s electricity mix. The company, which is Europe’s biggest emitter of carbon, is demanding €1.4bn in ‘compensation’ from the country for loss of potential earnings, because the Dutch government has banned the burning of coal for electricity from 2030. (Continue reading, English only)
10.02.2021, Clean Energy Wire
Energy transition’s resource needs difficult to reconcile with clean supply chain ambitions
The appetite for metals and minerals that sustain the mass rollout of renewables, e-cars and storage units raises questions whether greening one country’s economy comes with social and environmental damage in others. The conflict between clean energy production and a clean supply chain Germany is faced with showcases what other countries set to ramp up their renewable power capacity will have to eventually deal with too. (Read more)
04.02.2021, Handelsblatt
RWE sues Netherlands over coal phase-out for billions in compensation
RWE is demanding billions in compensation from the Netherlands for the coal phase-out initiated there. The energy company has now filed a suit with the International Arbitration Court of the World Bank, as the arbitral tribunal announced on its website. RWE confirmed the complaint on request. The Group emphasized its explicit support for the energy transition in the Netherlands. (Read more)
04.02.2021, taz
RWE sues the Netherlands
The German energy company RWE is suing the Netherlands over the coal phase-out. In 2019, the Dutch government decided to end coal-fired power generation by 2030. RWE operates two coal-fired power plants in the Netherlands, one in Geertruidenberg and one in Eemshaven. They will no longer be allowed to burn coal from 2025 or 2030. (Read more)
18.01.2021, New Germany
It's important, but please don't go too fast.
In Germany, the implementation of an effective supply chain law is awaited. It would be urgent. The human rights and environmental organisations, trade unions and church authorities, which are united under the "Supply Chain Act Initiative", have long called for a binding legal framework. The coalition agreement also provides for the introduction of a corresponding law if voluntary measures by companies are not sufficient. That is obviously the case. Discussion and adoption in the cabinet are repeatedly postponed, and there was always a certain discrepancy between Merkel's statements in public and actions behind closed doors. (Read more)
09.12.2020, Handelsblatt
The Controversial Supply Chain Act
Companies should be held liable for human rights violations, according to the coalition. But there is a dispute over the details. The government is now making a final attempt to reach an agreement. Human rights organizations are also increasing pressure. The Supply Chain Act initiative, which brings together NGOs such as Oxfam, Powershift and Misereor, published a report on Wednesday documenting human rights violations in the foreign business of German companies. Bank ING Diba has therefore financed the expansion of a bauxite mine in Guinea with a million-dollar loan, in which people were forcibly relocated. ... But Minister of Economic Affairs Peter Altmaier (CDU) is turning a blind eye. He fears additional bureaucracy burdens for companies that are already suffering from the corona crisis. A central point of contention is the issue of liability. (Read more)
09.12.2020, Deutsche Welle
Guinée : the entreprises alleandes épinglées
En Guinée, la banque allesande ING DiBa est accusée d’avoir fait un prêt d’un million d’euros à la Compagnie de bauxite de Guinée, pour financer l’expansion d’une mine qui aurait provoqué des réinstallations forcées de population et la pollution des eaux locales. ... Qu’il s’agisse de bananes en Equateur, de ciment en Indonésie ou de bauxite en Guinée, il n’est plus acceptable, selon l’ONG Fian, que des entreprises alleandes acceptent que leurs profits nuisent à la population et à l’environnement. ‘Nous demandons au Gouvernement allesand l’adoption d’une loi qui obligerait les banques à examiner si les crédits qu’elles veulent accorder à certains projets ne risquent par de violer les droits de l’homme et provoquer la pollution et la dégradation du climat dans les pays bénéficiaires. Et si c’est le cas, elles ne doivent pas accorder ces crédits’, préconise Gertrud Falk. ... “Initiative Supply Chain Law” est une association de 118 organisations de la société civile, dont Oxfam Allemagne, FIAN, PowerShift et Misereor, ainsi que de nombreuses autres organisations de défense des droits de l’homme, de développement et de l’environnement, des syndicats et des acteurs religieux. (Read more)
04/12/2020, Watson
“Need a raw material transition”: Study reveals serious gaps in VW, BMW and Daimler supply chains - how companies react
It requires a lot of energy, emits a lot of emissions, takes up a lot of space: This auto is a relatively polluting means of transport – this has been discussed extensively in recent years. What was often forgotten: The production of the body, equipment and engine also requires resources, and these are often mined under ecologically and socially poor conditions in mines at the other end of the world. The development policy Inkota network and Powershift, an association for an ecological and solidarity-based energy and global economy, wanted to know that. Both have scrutinised the sustainability reports of Volkswagen, BMW and Daimler, as well as the raw material initiatives to which the Groups have subscribed. The conclusion: The awareness of the problem is present, the implementation is inadequate. Only “sluggishly and selectively do companies translate their responsibilities into individual concrete measures”, According to the publication. Moreover, its effectiveness remains questionable. (Read more)
28.11.2020, The mirror
Car companies need to catch up
BWM, Daimler and Volkswagen apparently do not sufficiently comply with their due diligence obligations to safeguard human rights, social and environmental standards when procuring raw materials. This is the result of an analysis of the organizations PowerShift and Inkota. No group has a detailed due diligence report that makes all risks transparent. Nor is there enough concrete documentation of the measures taken by the companies to remedy the situation and how effective they are. (Der Spiegel, No. 49, 28.11.2020)
19.11.2020, Jacobin
The Mercosur agreement pushes Latin America into dependence
Monocultures, empty factories, unemployment – the expected consequences of the EU-Mercosur agreement are devastating for South American countries. Nevertheless, the EU remains committed to the agreement. European industry is benefiting from the deal. (Read more)
06.11.2020, Telepolis
Oil in the fire of climate protectors
More than 250 parliamentarians from the European Parliament and parliaments of the EU member states have spoken out against a recast of the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) of the Union. With the planned - but hardly publicly discussed - revision of the agreement from the nineties of the last century, companies and investors in the fossil energy industry would be massively favoured by the signatories. "To defuse the Climate Killer Energy Charter Treaty, it would need to be fundamentally reformed," said Fabian Flues of PowerShift. However, the chances of such a reform are extremely poor. "Germany and the EU should therefore take steps to withdraw from the Treaty rather than engage in endless negotiations," Flues said. (Read more)
29.10.2020, evangelisch.de
New criticism of the EU-Mercusor trade pact
Civil society organisations have renewed their criticism of the planned EU-Mercosur trade agreement. The pact is in blatant contradiction to the EU's own goals such as climate neutrality by 2050 and a more sustainable food system, according to a paper published on Thursday by PowerShift in Berlin, in which the German Federal Government for the Environment and Nature Conservation (BUND), Attac Germany and others are also involved. (Read more)
28.10.2020, Süddeutsche Zeitung
Criticism of the Mercosur Treaty
Environmental organizations and anti-globalization groups have reiterated their criticism of the controversial Mercosur trade treaty. The EU Commission is trying to conclude additional agreements on climate protection with the four South American Mercosur states in order to counter accusations that the agreement harms the environment and climate. But Bettina Müller, trade adviser to Powershift's globalization critics, said on Wednesday that such agreements would not change the negative effects of the treaty. (To the article)
28.10.2020, OE24
Critics of Mercosur: Planned additional documents do not improve agreements
In the planned EU-Mercosur agreement, the EU Commission has been working on additional protocols since mid-October. This is intended to reshuffle countries with a negative attitude, such as Austria or France, say representatives of organisations critical of globalisation and agreements, such as Attac Austria and PowerShift Germany. However, it is not known which additional documents will be negotiated. “This is as non-transparent as the whole agreement”, criticises Bettina Müller of PowerShift. In any case, environmental and climate protection are not central elements in the agreement. However, additional protocols would not make the agreement more sustainable and would counteract deforestation and environmental degradation. If there are violations on these issues, unlike the human rights clause, no suspension of the agreement would be possible, criticise the opponents of the agreement. (OE24, 28.10.2020)
20.10.2020, Stadtanzeiger
Controversial free trade agreement CETA: Not yet decided
Alessa Hartmann, trade expert at the non-governmental organization PowerShift, criticizes: “Corporate litigation causes governments to think twice about enacting effective climate laws for fear of expensive corporate damages lawsuits. Climate protection must be placed at the heart of all political efforts. This includes stopping corporate litigation and not signing new trade agreements, such as CETA, that explicitly promote trade in fossil fuels.” (Read more)
13.10.2020, Le Monde Diplomatique Special edition on "Mobility and its future"
Kilograms of lithium
What are the consequences of the mining of lithium – which will be installed in high quantities in the batteries for electric cars in the future – in Argentina, Bolivia and Chile? Among other things, the special issue takes a look at forecasts, prices and energy geopolitics around the white metal. (Read more)
III/2020, Newsletter Forum Environment and Development
An experience of the possible: The coronavirus crisis and the transport transition
In times of crisis, there is always talk of winners and losers – and opportunities. Hope and despair are close together. One Freud's suffering is another Freud's suffering. This also applies to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on individual mobility behaviour and on the overall transport policy. (Read more).
30.09.2020, Frankfurter Rundschau
Bauxite mining in Guinea: Villages must give way to mines
Without aluminum, nothing works in the automotive industry. Bauxite is the raw material from which aluminium is obtained. And West African Guinea has about a third of the world's reserves. Western countries want to secure supplies. The World Bank therefore granted the semi-state Guinean mining company CBG a loan of EUR 722 million in 2016 for the expansion of a bauxite mine. Several international financial institutions are involved in the loan, including ING. And by means of a credit guarantee of 250 million euros also the Federal Government. In the eyes of the NGO Fian and Powershift, an association that advocates a more socially just global economy, the German government is helping to violate human rights and destroy the environment. By expanding the mine, 13 villages in the Boke region see their livelihoods threatened, the two organizations report. (To the article)
30.09.2020, Evangelisch.de
Human rights activists criticize credit guarantees for bauxite mine in Guinea
Human rights organisations have called on the federal government to ensure that state credit guarantees respect human rights. Fian and the association ‘PowerShift’ (Berlin) criticised German loan guarantees amounting to around EUR 250 million for the expansion of a bauxite mine in Guinea. PowerShift and Fian Deutschland announced a petition to Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier (CDU) under the motto ‘StopptUnFaireKredite’, which is scheduled to start on Thursday. In it, they appeal to the Federal Government to align foreign trade promotion with human rights criteria. (To the article)
23.09.2020, Deutsche Welle
Will critics of German Gigafactory slow down Elon Musk?
The complaints brought forward at the hearing also went to show that some critics — while welcoming the current campaign in Germany and beyond to switch to renewables and greener ways of transportation — question the philosophy of ‘clogging up the roads with even more cars, be they environmentally friendly or not,’ as Sophie Scherger from the Berlin-based PowerShift research team told DW. “The thing about Tesla is that we actually want fewer cars on the roads (...), and we definitely don’t want to see any mass production of big electric SUVs that consume a lot of material, while mining causes considerable damage to the environment,” Scherger suggested. (To the article)
22.09.2020, quellenwende.net
Global access – How trade policy should ensure access to raw materials
The crisis-proof supply of raw materials to the European economy has been a priority of the European Commission for many years. Environmental protection and human rights play little role in this. Neither the massacre of striking miners in Marikana, South Africa, the manifold social protests in Peru, the social and ecological catastrophe following the bursting of a retention basin in an iron ore mine in Brumadinho, Brazil, nor the environmental catastrophe of Baia Mare in Romania have led to a rethink. (to the article)
20/08/2020, Süddeutsche Zeitung
Mercosur Free Trade Agreement: Poisoned mood
On Thursday, an alliance of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) will present a protest note denouncing the trade in pesticides. Groups such as Powershift, Forum Umwelt und Entwicklung, Attac Deutschland, Campact and others are involved. They fear, among other things, that through closer trade even more highly toxic pesticides could be exported to the Mercosur countries than is already the case. “Many pesticides are not authorised in the EU for good reason. They are suspected of causing cancer, harming unborn babies and organs”, she says. Facilitating the export of these highly dangerous pesticides through a trade agreement is contrary to all European values. (To the article).
20.08.2020, taz
Mercosur contract promotes exports of pesticides
EU could even more easily sell dangerous chemicals to South America, activists warn. “Facilitating the export of these highly hazardous pesticides through a trade agreement is contrary to all European values," said Bettina Müller, Trade Officer at PowerShift. European consumers are also affected, according to PowerShift. "The EU-Mercosur agreement envisages further dismantling of food controls," the activists said. Therefore, residues of dangerous pesticides could end up on the plates of European consumers. "The Federal Government may not ratify the EU-Mercosur Agreement for this reason as well," Müller demanded. (To the article)
04.08.2020, Tagesspiegel Background Energy and climate
Court dismisses Germany in energy dispute
The Federal Government has no luck before the International Court of Arbitration ICSID. Once again, he rejected an objection from Germany. After Vattenfall, the construction group Strabag now achieves a stage success against the federal government in the dispute over an energy project. It is uncertain whether the EU will succeed in modernising the Energy Charter Treaty. Fabian Flues by the Non-Governmental Organization Critical of Globalization Powershift, who follows the development, says: “The situation is complicated. EU law is against international investment law.” Flues does not expect an early clarification. “It is likely that lengthy back and forth” This is also likely to be the subject of vehement criticism from the European Parliament Don't change anything. At the beginning of July, a group of deputies, including Michael Bloss The Greens and the French Pascal Canfin, Chair of the Environment Committee, warned that the Energy Charter Treaty threatens the EU's climate objectives: ‘The Threats of a Complaint can be enough to push states not to take ambitious measures to implement their climate commitments”. (Read more – Subscription only)
22.07.2020, Frankfurter Rundschau
Fully comprehensive for fossils
When politics gets out of oil and coal, corporations can often sue for huge sums. This is how it regulates a treaty – from which the EU should exit quickly. The fight against the climate crisis threatens to be slowed down and made more expensive by a barely known international agreement. The Energy Charter Treaty allows fossil fuel companies to sue states for billions of euros in damages if they enact regulations to combat climate change. (Read more)
23.06.2020, The Friday
Keep it up?
Actually, the German EU Presidency would be predestined to draw lessons from Corona and establish a climate-friendly trade policy – in fact. The interventions in the world trading system currently under consideration to combat coronavirus are also important for combating climate change. They must not remain short-term and unique, but must be permanently included in the world trade order in order to mitigate the impending climate crisis. (Read more)
18.06.2020, Jacobin
Companies could soon sue states for coronavirus protection - for "damage compensation"
Soon, investors will be able to sue states in arbitral tribunals over coronavirus measures. For example, because they have softened the patent protection for drugs. We have to decide: Democracy or neoliberal trade agreements. (Read more)
10.06.2020, WDR5
Aluminium – a metal with pitfalls
Aluminium cans, aluminium rims, aluminium windows. Aluminium is a product that we all live well from – in the kitchen, in construction, or in the car. But less and less aluminium is being produced in Germany. Too expensive, too energy-intensive, too polluting. The mining of the bauxite needed for aluminium leads to environmental destruction and displacement in Guinea. The dismantling of the Bauxit is also financed with a loan guarantee from the Federal Government, reports Michael Reckordt in the WDR5 broadcast ‘Neugierig suffices’. (To the feature (see consignment of 10 June 2020). To download. More information in the factsheet Expropriation for German cars)
06.06.2020, Radio Wüste Welle
ISDS – whose justice?
In the BigFatMealSession on 26.5. we interviewed Bettina Müller from PowerShift on the Investor-State Arbitration (ISDS), an instrument of the free trade system designed to help corporations enforce their claims against states – quite explosive in the current pandemic. (To the contribution)
04/06/2020, D+C
Corporations sue against state climate protection
On the basis of the Energy Charter Treaty, corporations sue states for compensation if they stop or restrict the use of fossil fuels. Civil society organisations have called on the members of the Treaty to reform, calling, among other things, for an end to the protection of investment in fossil fuels. According to the association PowerShift, however, climate protection hardly plays a role in the modernization considerations so far. (Read more)
20.05.2020, euractiv
EU trade policy: No hope of a change of course
At the end of April, the European Commission announced the conclusion of negotiations for a trade agreement with #Mexico. But the agreement does not stand for sustainable trade, but for a cementing of the status quo, write Nelly Grotefendt from the Forum Environment and Development and Bettina Müller from PowerShift e.V. – and call on the governments of the EU member states and the EU Parliament to stop the agreement. (Read more)
30.04.2020, Tagesspiegel Background Energy and Climate
New energy charter could make coal phase-out more expensive
The Energy Charter Treaty gives energy companies the opportunity to sue states in comparatively non-transparent arbitral tribunals for huge amounts of compensation. Coal opponents so far hoped that the planned modernization of the contract would exclude this option. But this will not result in the Tagesspiegel Background if the current renewal draft becomes legally binding. Powershift also criticises the fact that the new draft contract maintains the existing investor protection for fossil fuels. In particular, this enables lawsuits such as those threatened by the energy group Uniper in the autumn to the Netherlands, which want to end coal-fired power generation by 2030. That, Flues says, may be just the beginning. “There is a risk of a wave of lawsuits before arbitral tribunals if governments fail to meet the compensation claims of fossil power plant operators”. (Read more)
23.04.2020, young world
Only electric drive is not enough
Tesla factory Grünheide: Environmental and development groups criticize Group plans. The Berlin association PowerShift is one of the initiators of the declaration »Tesla Gigafactory: An electric motor does not yet make a change in traffic", which was published on the same day. "Instead of building millions of over-engineered and furiously fast Tesla SUVs and luxury cars, we need a departure from motorized private transport," Fuchs said. Fuchs added: "A pure drive change from the combustion engine to the electric motor is not enough. All cars, whether gasoline, diesel or electric, consume raw materials that are mined under ecologically and socially irresponsible conditions in the countries of the Global South.Read more)
April/May 2020, Rabe Ralf
A Tesla does not yet make a traffic turnaround
There are great doubts whether Tesla or VW and other car manufacturers are really building on the sustainable mobility of the future with their e-offensives. Electric cars have a smaller carbon footprint. With 100 percent renewable energies, they would have a "climate advantage" of 50 percent over combustion cars, because CO2 emissions would only be generated during the production of the vehicles. But the traffic and space problems in the cities would remain if the 47 million cars in Germany were replaced only by 47 million electric cars. In Berlin alone, parking cars require an area three times the size of Tempelhofer Feld. And the bodywork, technology and many other parts of e-cars are made of metals, which Germany has to import at 99 per cent, as is the case with combustion engines. The extraction of these raw materials regularly leads to human rights violations and environmental destruction. Read more (as PDF)
03.04.2020, Wirtschaftswoche
Supply Chain Act: Cut off by Corona
Federal Labour Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) wanted to present the cornerstones of a supply chain law in March. But instead, Heil is now in acute corona crisis mode. The plan is expected to become the first regulation to fall victim to the coronavirus. After all, Minister of Economic Affairs Peter Altmaier (CDU) heard a storm of indignation from the associations, especially from industry and employers. And switched to resistance. Michael Reckordt is not surprised. "But, of course, the associations are now arguing that such a law would put an additional burden on companies in the current crisis," says the expert of the organisation PowerShift, which has been dealing with the issue for a long time. It is not a question of every pencil manufacturer having to know where his wood comes from. But you can expect more from a Dax company than from small companies. "It's about everyone doing their best. Human rights also apply, and especially in times of crisis." (Wirtschaftswoche – issue 15/2020 – online link to follow as soon as articles are available)
29.03.2020, Deutschlandfunk background
Lithium in the Ore Mountains - Gold digger mood in Saxony
German industry is the world's fifth largest importer of metallic raw materials. In an interview with Deutschlandfunk, Michael Reckordt is instead continuing a turnaround in raw materials: "We need a consistent recycling of raw materials, less consumption, longer usable products and a Supply Chain Act“. He also points out that the further processing of metals consumes a lot of energy. ScIt is estimated that this will result in about 10% global CO2 emissions. To the background.
19.03.2020, Business week
Are people dying for electric cars in the Congo?
"It is good that the topic of cobalt gets a lot of attention through e-mobility and finally also focuses on the problem of child labour," says Michael Reckordt, who works at the NGO PowerShift e.V. on German raw materials policy. "Mining in developing countries is almost always problematic, far from just cobalt," says Reckordt. NGOs such as PowerShift or Amnesty are therefore pushing for comprehensive, far-reaching rules on human rights, which should apply to as many raw materials as possible. To the article.
05.03.2020, "hr Info"
Germany's demand for raw materials and its consequences
Germany is an industrial nation and the success factor for industry is raw materials. The raw materials we need to import. In the Bundestag, the supply of raw materials on 5 March was an issue, because every day we use products for which raw materials are needed: Smartphones, e-cars and Co. The mining conditions rarely meet our standards of environmental and human rights protection. Interview with Michael Reckordt.
18.02.2020, Tagesspiegel Background Energy and climate
CETA – Coffin gel for the climate
MEPs in the Dutch House of Commons recently debated the EU's trade agreement with Canada (CETA). The deal is due to be voted on Tuesday. Ratification would amount to a self-deprivation of politics in the fight against the climate catastrophe, warns Alessa Hartmann of the Berlin-based NGO Powershift The Netherlands could bring down the controversial agreement. Read more.
11.02.2020, Berliner Morgenpost
Karl-Marx-Allee: Remodeling to come in June
During a citizens' dialogue, the planned green stripes on Karl-Marx-Allee were discussed. Construction is expected to begin in June. The fact that the green strip on the Magistrale from Alexanderplatz to Friedrichshain is considered to have been identified was also understood by Peter Fuchs of the ‘Berliner Strasse für Alle’ alliance on Monday evening. In the run-up to the Citizens' Dialogue, the Alliance called for the avoidance of parking spaces. Read more.
28.01.2020, Bayern 2
Challenges in the recycling of lithium-ion batteries
The demand for lithium is increasing, complains Michael Reckordt of PowerShift. The main producing countries of lithium are currently Australia, Chile, Argentina and China. In the future, due to the large lithium deposits, it is expected that Argentina, Bolivia and Chile will be the most important. There, the salt lakes in particular are relevant for the lithium mining of the future. A major problem is the high water consumption of lithium mining and treatment. Groundwater levels are falling, so that the water is no longer available for livestock and your own food supply. The article was published in the ‘Notebook’ on Bayern2, on 28.01.20 (unfortunately not online).
17.01.2020, Handelsblatt
Lithium-ion batteries are a billion-dollar business – with a downside
"The electric car, like the combustion engine, consumes a lot of metallic raw materials," says Power Shift expert Merle Groneweg. Even if the electric car has the better environmental balance compared to the combustion engine, ‘that is a fundamental problem’. Groneweg therefore advocates a mobility turnaround. "To make the transport sector truly greener, we need to reduce the total number of cars," she calls for. But the decade of the lithium-ion battery has only just begun, and an end is far from in sight. To the article.
10.01.2020, Deutsche Welle
Germany's only factory for alumina
Germany imports bauxite for aluminium production from Guinea. “People have been relocated in the mining areas, water sources are contaminated by the use of chemicals in bauxite extraction, residents are complaining about air pollution.” The World Bank recently granted the country’s largest mining company a loan of $900 million to expand a large bauxite mine. The Federal Republic of Germany guarantees one third of the loan. To the article.
18.12.2019, Handelsblatt
Electric car production: "The extraction of raw materials causes serious pollution"
At Handelsblatt Live Merle Groneweg from the PowerShift association explains the impact of the production of electric cars on people and the environment: Both electric cars and combustion engines consume a lot of raw materials. A car, no matter with which drive, is a tin box. We need a drastic reduction in the number of cars and a strengthening of public transport as well as walking and cycling. To the video.
16.12.2019, SWR2
Germany's last factory for alumina
Michael Reckordt works as a raw material expert at PowerShift. “There is a lawsuit in Guinea against the World Bank for relocating to areas where they cannot farm. Water poisoning occurred during bauxite extraction.” The German Federal Government guarantees a third of a loan for the expansion of a mine, which had these negative consequences. (SWR2, 16.12.2019)
02.12.2019, NDR
Opportunities and risks of deep-sea mining
The demand for raw materials for e-mobility is huge. Previous sources of cobalt, lithium, copper or nickel are increasingly proving to be uncertain. Both for the German companies and for the people who often take the precious goods out of the earth under often unworthy conditions. The deep sea is being targeted as a new deposit. Michael Reckordt of PowerShift is not convinced: “We know less about the deep sea than we do about the moon. This means that we do not yet know what we are actually doing on site.” To the article.
21.11.2019, New Germany
Half as many cars by 2030
"We are the new car lobby," says Peter Fuchs, of the PowerShift association, which is committed to an ecologically and socially just global economy. "Berliner Strasse für alle" is the name of the alliance of several environmental associations and transport initiatives, which will present itself to the public with a press conference on Wednesday. To the article.
20.11.2019, taz
Fewer cars, better traffic
Mobility activists want to radically reduce the number of private cars in Berlin. The first reaction of the traffic management does not sound averse. Es lack of road space for all users without four wheels and internal combustion engine. For this reason, ADFC, Changing Cities, BUND, VCD and others had invited on Wednesday to present a plan for ‘Berlin streets for all’. "We are the new car lobby", said Peter Fuchs of the PowerShift climate protection initiative, which is also involved, ironically of course. With seven demands, the alliance wants to put the policy under pressure. At the top of the list is a significant decline in private cars. “We have far too many cars in the city”. To the article.
20.11.2019, Berliner Morgenpost
Parking in Berlin: Associations want to reduce 60,000 parking spaces annually
An alliance has set itself the goal of reducing the number of cars. In order to achieve this, the parking spaces should be tightened. The call is part of a list of seven measures presented by the associations and initiatives on Wednesday. How many parking spaces there are currently in Berlin is unclear, said Masurat. The associations estimated that their area, however, adds up to four and a half times the Tempelhof field. "We want to bring cars and the city and the view of a vibrant Berlin together," said Peter Fuchs from the Powershift Energy Transition Association. To the article.
15.11.2019, Deutschlandfunk Kultur
What are the benefits of electric cars for the climate?
They are the hope in the fight against climate change: Electric cars. The federal government lures buyers with premiums. Tesla plans to build a plant near Berlin. How environmentally friendly are the battery-powered vehicles? Are electric cars really the clean solution to the climate problem? The batteries consume valuable raw materials such as lithium and cobalt; won partly under inhumane circumstances, environmentalists warn. To the article with audio recording (see Play button in the photo)
06.11.2019, Deutschlandfunk
Mobility from the socket: Fast lane or dead end
The federal government provides a higher share of the purchase premium for new cars with electric drive, participates in the expansion of charging stations and makes the automotive industry responsible for all this. These are the results of the Auto Summit. But is that enough for the mobility of the future? At Deutschlandfunk we discussed: Merle Groneweg, Power Shift – Association for a fairer energy and global economy, Matthias Dürr, Head of the Competence Centre for Electromobility NRW, Axel Friedrich, International Transport Expert, formerly at the Federal Environment Agency, Christian Kunze, Deputy Head of the Drive Technology Research Association at the VDMA. To the article and audio recording (See the play button in the photo).
04.11.2019, taz
Climate protection in road transport: E-cars are not the solution
Replacing conventional vehicles with e-cars is not the solution to climate and mobility problems, according to activists. "A 1:1 exchange is sustainably not feasible", says Michael Reckordt, raw material expert of the non-governmental organisation PowerShift, the taz. Despite all the shortcomings: In case of doubt, Reckordt considers an electric car to be better than a conventional one. "There are also problems with the extraction of raw materials in conventional cars," says Reckordt. Overall, the number of cars must decrease, says Reckordt. Municipalities must fundamentally turn away from the concept of a car-friendly city, which gives priority to cars over pedestrians and cyclists. In addition, public transport must be drastically expanded. To the article.
21.10.2019, Deutschlandfunk Environment and Consumers
UNIPER vs. Netherlands: Companies complain about climate protection
The Netherlands wants to get out of coal. The German energy giant UNIPER, on the other hand, wants to bring a group lawsuit before a private arbitration court. Due to lost future profits, the Group is demanding ‘damage compensation’ of at least three-digit million euros. Our trade expert Bettina Müller says on Deutschlandfunk: Such corporate lawsuits slow down and increase the cost of political efforts to protect the climate. The investment agreements underlying the group lawsuits must be terminated immediately. Directly to the interview.
18.10.2019, euractiv.de
Number of investor lawsuits against states increases
Worldwide, 117 states are currently being sued by companies that see their investments in jeopardy. Governments often bow to pressure and weaken, for example, planned laws on climate protection, says the UN. The EU is pushing for a reform of the litigation system. Investors’ right to sue states is ‘poison for combating climate change’, says Bettina Müller, trade officer at PowerShift. Among other things, the Berlin-based NGO deals with questions about a fairer global economy and advocates the abolition of exclusive corporate rights. To the article.
04.09.2019, taz.de
Coal phase-out in Lusatia: "Concrete concepts are needed"
“Relocations as a result of the mining of raw materials have a long, sad tradition, around 250 villages have been dredged in Lusatia and Central German territory. Civil society work is primarily about strengthening the backs of people who want to stay: Their concerns are heard and legitimate, even if the state government sees it differently.” Read the full interview.
04.09.2019, iz3w – Südnordfunk, #64
Climate emergency: Trade policy is also climate policy
Cars against meat and soya – this is the unofficial version of the trade agreement between the Mercosur countries Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay and the EU Member States. Negotiators seem to have ‘forgotten’ the protection of the rainforest, indigenous rights and peasant interests. As a result of larger soy fields and cattle herds, indigenous people are also subjected to further persecutions and expulsions. We have with Bettina Müller, Trade and Investment Policy Officer at PowerShift, and with Nikolaus Geiler from ‘Energy hunger? No thanks!" to learn more about the economic rationale behind the quasi-finished agreement – and the risks to people and nature. Listen to the radio post.
25.08.2019, WDR
Lithium – the hunt for ‘white gold’ in Bolivia
Trauma for Bolivians: During the mining of their mineral resources, from silver to tin, they always ran out empty. This should change: The valuable lithium, a key raw material for batteries, is now to be processed in Germany – also with German support. In the study ‘Less cars, more global justice’, PowerShift, Misereor and Brot advocate for the world to drastically reduce the number of cars and cars driven. Read the transcript of the radio report.
24.07.2019, The Friday, 30/19
Investments against the future
With Group lawsuits, international investors are slowing down progressive efforts in the field of energy transition and climate change. They call for “damage compensation” for a policy aimed at saving the climate and the environment. So far, investors have resisted bans on oil drilling, taxes on fossil fuels and bans on oil pipelines. The special rights of investors make politics hostage to corporations. By threatening lawsuits, the legislator will twice consider whether to issue stricter climate and environmental regulations. Joseph Stiglitz, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, warns against "process terror" that corporations can use to force states to withdraw regulations. Read more.
18.06.2019, taz
340 NGOs against the Brazil Pact
The EU should break the agreement with the South American Mercosur. The reason: The hustle and bustle of extreme right-wing President Bolsonaro. "The EU must now send President Bolsonaro the unequivocal message that it will refuse to negotiate a trade agreement with Brazil unless there is an end to human rights violations, strict measures to end further deforestation and concrete commitments to implement the Paris Agreement," said an open letter from 340 NGOs, which PowerShift also supports. Read more.
08.06.2019, Tagesschau.de, ARD
The gold that pays for wars
The import of raw materials from conflict regions into Germany is to be monitored more closely in the future. This is provided for in a draft law of the Federal Ministry of Economics. Non-governmental organizations such as Germanwatch, Misereor or Powershift criticize the draft as too powerless. Johanna Sydow of Germanwatch, for example, calls him a ‘paper-maker’: “If we do not even know who imports the minerals at all, how can we ask how German companies select and verify their foreign suppliers?” Read more.
05.06.2019, New Germany
When it comes to environmental policy, Germany is a developing country.
Non-governmental organisations call for human rights to be respected when extracting and importing raw materials. Even when it comes to the import of mineral raw materials that are needed for the production of laptops, televisions, smartphones or electric cars, there is criticism of the federal government. Michael Reckordt is coordinator of the working group on raw materials and employee of the Berlin-based non-governmental organization »PowerShift«. He criticizes the fact that civil society can hardly have a say in Germany's raw materials strategy, while the economy sets the tone. The reason: the historical development of raw materials policy. Link to article and podcast.
03.06.2019, The Story in the First, ARD
Can the electric car save the environment?
Electric cars are considered climate savers. A billion-dollar market for the German auto industry. And emission-stricken municipalities hope to avoid impending driving bans with electric cars. But is that true? A documentation by the ARD shows which raw materials are contained in the (e-)car, how their extraction destroys the environment and violates human rights. The conclusion: “Simply replacing the tank with a battery is too short”. The automotive industry must be compelled by law to check its supply chains for human rights violations and to put them to rest, says our speaker Merle Groneweg. ARD Documentary. And here you can read our study “Less cars, more global justice” mentioned in the programme.
June 2019, Environment up-to-date
The CETA opinion of the CJEU: "Against wind for environmental protection"
The ECJ opinion on corporate litigation rights in CETA does not come as a political surprise. The ECJ thus supports the agenda of the EU Commission, which is trying to redesign and expand group litigation rights. Regulations to protect the environment are already under particularly strong attack. CETA is not a good model for future trade agreements. The journal Umwelt aktuell can be found at the following link: Here.
June 2019, southlink – the North-South magazine of inkota
Updraft for Group Lawsuits
The CETA opinion of the ECJ is a setback for the environment and human rights. The CETA agreement between the EU and Canada contains group rights. The European Court of Justice declared these rights to be lawful at the end of April. If the European member states agree to the CETA agreement, Canadian investors in Europe can face billions in lawsuits and, conversely, European investors in Canada. The Südlink can be found at the following link: Here.
10.05.2019, taz
Investors can only cheer
ECJ ruling on Ceta: Vattenfall claims 6.1 billion euros in damages before an international arbitration court in Germany. The nuclear phase-out had nullified the future profits of the group, according to the argument of the energy supplier. The Trade Agreement with Canada (Ceta) contains similar rights of action for corporations before arbitral tribunals. The European Court of Justice ruled it lawful at the end of April. If the European Member States agree to the agreement, then further billion-dollar lawsuits could follow the model of Vattenfall. Read more.
08.04.2019, The Raven Ralf
Fewer cars, more social justice
Berlin – There are over 1.2 million cars in Berlin. The number of cars continues to grow, even though they are in traffic jams and dense traffic in Berlin for an average of 154 hours per year, as long as in no other German city. Among the new registrations are more and more SUVs, i.e. particularly large and climate-damaging vehicles. Better said, ‘standbys’, as a car stands around for an average of 23 hours a day. PowerShift now wants to combine the commitment to global justice with local approaches to the transport transition. Supported by the EU-funded project ‘No Planet B’, we convened a ‘Berliner Autorunde’ together with the BUND Berlin and others. Read more.
12.12.2018, Frankfurter Rundschau
Human rights come under the wheels
The number of cars registered in Germany – 56.5 million vehicles, including 46.5 million cars – would have to be ‘drastically reduced’ and the priority of the car in urban planning and infrastructure financing would have to be ended. "Electric cars with battery storage are currently the best option for replacing internal combustion engines ecologically, but they also consume finite raw materials in high quantities," said the co-author of the study, Merle Groneweg of Powershift. Read more.
11.12.2018, Inforadio rbb Berlin
Berlin and the Coal / Close-up
Katowice – host of the ongoing climate summit – is notorious as Europe’s coal stronghold. The dirt that blows Polish vents into the air blows up into our region. But what sometimes gets out of sight despite all the criticism from the federal capital: The Berliners themselves have three coal-fired power plants on their own doorstep – in the middle of the city. A fourth, the Rummelsburg cogeneration plant, only left lignite a year and a half ago. Franziska Ritter and Kohleausstieg Berlin were present.
18.10.2018, Radio Dreyeckland
How does a real mobility turnaround work? What (electric) cars have to do with global justice
Climate change requires a shift away from the internal combustion engine. But are electric cars a reasonable alternative? No, so the club PowerShift, because they also contribute to a rapid increase in the consumption of raw materials – and thus to aggravating global injustice. In particular, raw materials such as cobalt or lithium, which are used for the batteries of electric cars, are mined with ecologically and socially fatal consequences. Rapidly increasing demand is amplifying these effects – and they are once again hitting the Global South. Interview with Merle Groneweg from PowerShift Listen to.
28.06.2018, New Germany
Coal phase-out becomes concrete
Interim results of the feasibility study on stopping the combustion of fossil fuels were presented. Read more
25.06.2018, Newsletter Movement Foundation
In the race against time: We need to get out of the coal!
“We are networking locally, activating urban society and trying to put pressure on politics and the energy supplier. We draw red lines, form human chains in front of the coal-fired power plants in the city and organize together with the raft collectives of the city once a year a large boat demonstration on the Spree in front of one of the power plants. We also ensure that city dwellers are directly involved in the fight against particulate matter and nitrogen slingshots in their neighbourhoods.” Read more on page 2.
27.05.2018, Climate reporter
Water protests against coal
“With about 50 rafts, canoes, hose boats and other boats, around one hundred people demonstrated in Berlin on Saturday for a rapid coal phase-out, the organisers said. The climate activists drove on the water from Berlin's Nordhafen, which is mainly fueled by hard coal and supplies the districts of Moabit and Wedding with heat and electricity. The demonstrators called for more efforts by the Senate for a rapid coal phase-out and more commitment by the Federal Government to climate protection.” Read more.
26.05.2018, rbb
Ahoi coal disembarkation
Environmentalists demonstrated in bright sunshine for the fastest possible exit from climate and health-damaging energy production. There is a Twitter link to the rbb post. here.
14.05.2018, New Germany
For example BASF – between responsibility and ignorance!
“The authors of the anthology investigate this and the question of why BASF is committed to responsible business on its own homepage and to the UN Global Compact. These include raw material experts such as Michael Reckordt of Powershift e.V. and María do Mar Castro Varela, who analyses the speech by BASF CEO.” Read more
02.05.2018, Deutschlandfunk
“Arbitration tribunals are a highly dangerous instrument” – discussions on TTIP light
Peter Fuchs in conversation with Jule Reimer
“Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Peter Altmaier relies on talks in the customs dispute between the European Union and the USA. Nevertheless, it is a difficult situation, he said this morning in the ARD morning magazine. “This is why we must try to find a fair negotiated solution between Europeans and Americans.” In principle, he is concerned with reducing tariffs in negotiations. To the background: US President Donald Trump yesterday extended the exemption for the EU from US import tariffs on steel and aluminium by one month. There is now a free trade agreement, a new free trade agreement, TTIP light. In the case of the real TTIP agreement, which had failed between Europeans and the US, the regulation of the Investment Protection Court was particularly controversial.” Read more / Keep listening
19.04.2018, EURACTIV
EU trade agreements with Japan and Singapore on the straight line
“On Wednesday, the European Commission presented the results of the negotiations on trade agreements with Japan and Singapore. We are now hoping for rapid ratification in Brussels. But the criticism is not silent. “Contrary to the Commission’s assertions that they learned from the protests against CETA and TTIP, Jefta was also negotiated in a completely non-transparent manner,” says, for example, Alessa Hartmann, trade officer at PowerShift, a German organisation that was already involved in the protests against the agreements with the US and Canada.” Read more
19.12.2017, SWR / ORF
The Marikana massacre. South African miners in search of justice. Feature by Johannes Gelich
“The phrase “Our products are fine” is plain scorn. Some of the raw material prices, which are at least suspected of having been manipulated, then the raw materials and the extraction of these raw materials themselves, are only possible because the wages are too low, which are paid, the local wages in Marikana, for example, are not enough to maintain a minimum standard of living there. And then there are those massive human rights violations, I don’t want to say that there is blood on it, because it is such a common pun that it is hard to bear, but the injustice that comes with extracting raw materials is also hard to bear.” Read more / Continue reading
29.11.2017, Schorndorfer Nachrichten (print)
“Digitalisation is a raw material eater”
“Industry therefore calls for the reduction of trade restrictions on raw materials and for more rights of action for companies. For Michael Reckordt, however, this is the completely wrong way. Instead, PowerShift wants to hold companies liable for the social and environmental consequences they contribute to.”
03.11.2017, euractiv.de (online)
“Anniversary: The GATT Agreement on Tariffs and Trade turns 70"
[Excerpt:] For Alessa Hartmann of the German non-governmental organization PowerShift, this is a central reason for the increasing insignificance of the trade organization: “The WTO is still the backward-looking place where developed countries, including the EU and its Member States, maintain and enhance their trade benefits. This is to the detriment of the poorer countries who are trying to resist it," the trade expert told EURACTIV. Read more ….
28.10.2017, Spielgel (print)
“Raw materials – Too many loopholes”
“The Working Group on Raw Materials, a network of non-governmental organisations, criticises parts of the Regulation. “It offers too many loopholes”, says working group spokesman Michael Reckordt. For example, Brussels removes the obligation to work, such as the electrical and automotive industries.”
27.10.2017, WirtschaftsWoche (print and online)
“The dark secret of the car industry”
[on the UN-Treaty Process:] “The EU and Germany have torpedoed the process so far”, says Michael Reckordt from the Working Group on Raw Materials, an association of political organisations. [...] “Germany, however, has a special role: The scheme must come from the countries where multinationals are at home.” Reckordt believes that this will take years. Read more ...
19.10.2017, bizz energy.com (online)
“Conflict minerals: Federal Ministry of Economics prepares law”
“Criticism of non-governmental organisations: The Federal Institute for Geosciences and Raw Materials (BGR) in Hanover will be responsible for the implementation in Germany, says the Federal Government’s raw materials expert, Thomas Gäckle, at a specialist event during the ‘Alternative Raw Materials Week’ at the Heinrich Böll Foundation (bizz energy, 19.10.2017).
18.10.2017, new Germany (print and online)
“For a different raw materials policy”
"The raw materials policy must be "fundamentally reformed", calls for a broad alliance of human rights, environmental and development organisations that have joined forces in the "Working Group on Raw Materials". As part of the third "Alternative Commodity Week", which began on Monday, ..." Read more …
11.10.2017, Frankfurter Rundschau (print and online)
“Ecological footprint – Resource curse 4.0“
“In a study, the non-governmental organization Power Shift shows in detail how Industry 4.0 could soon become a resource curse 4.0. In the production of electronic devices, not only ‘rare earths’ are consumed – in general, the expected ‘dematerialisation’ is already flanked by energy-intensive material battles.” Read more ...
03.07.2017, Deutschlandradio (Radio and Podcast)
“EU-Japan Free Trade Agreement: JEFTA lacks concrete binding commitments”
The EU wants to conclude the JEFTA free trade agreement with Japan. But there are criticisms: For example, binding agreements on the environment, sustainable development and labour law were missing, complained Alessa Hartmann of the organization PowerShift in the Dlf. At present, JEFTA is also not beneficial for the consumer. Read more. The podcast can also be downloaded here.
08.06.2017, Deutschlandradio (Radio and Podcast)
“Conflict minerals “The Regulation still has significant loopholes”
“Michael Reckordt from the Working Group on Raw Materials pleads for the rules to be improved as soon as possible. In any case, violations must be sanctionable, he said in the Dlf.” Read more ...
08.06.2017, Taz (print and online)
“Processing of raw materials – stealth for blood gold”
“Michael Reckordt from the development organization Powershift sees it similarly: "Many companies will not comply with their supply chain due diligence," he fears. Neither the German government nor the EU has any ideas on how to prevent small-scale miners from being displaced in the countries concerned.” Read more …
05.05.2017, Hufftingon Post (online)
“The dark side of digitalisation: How technological progress is detrimental to the environment”
“According to a study by the German NGO Powershift, Industry 4.0, i.e. technological change, will devour more raw materials and energies than is often assumed.” (Hufftingon Post, 05.05.2017)
02./03.05.2017, Reutlinger General-Anzeiger, Badische Zeitung and Pforzheimer Zeitung (online)
‘What is done to prevent blood from sticking to gold’ / ‘To prevent blood from sticking to gold wedding rings’ / ‘To prevent blood from sticking to gold’
“PowerShift’s raw materials expert, Michael Reckordt, sees the EU regulation as only a first step. However, the manufacturing industry is exempt from due diligence and the EU has created loopholes with the rather high thresholds, he criticises.” Reutlinger general indicator, the The Badian newspaper or the Pforzheim newspaper
02.05.2017 Wirtschafts Woche (online and print)
“EU Regulation – So that there is no blood on the gold”
“PowerShift’s raw materials expert, Michael Reckordt, sees the EU regulation as only a first step. However, the manufacturing industry is exempt from due diligence and the EU has created loopholes with the rather high thresholds, he criticises.” Read more …
22.04.2017, New Germany (print and online)
“Forcing companies to take responsibility – New study highlights human rights abuses in nickel mining and calls for consequences”
“Beim Abbau wertvoller Ressourcen wie Nickel kommt es in Ländern wie den Philippinen zu schweren Menschenrechtsverletzungen. This is evidenced by a study published by the Cologne Philippine Office on Thursday together with the trade and energy policy organisation Powershift.” Read more …
21.03.2017, Taz (print and online)
“And now comes “Jefta””
“However, there is no such restriction in the consolidated text of the relevant chapter of the February 2017 EU-Japan Agreement. “The planned regulatory cooperation in the agreement with Japan is even worse than in Ceta,” concludes Alessa Hartmann of the free trade-critical organisation Powershift, which has already analysed the text.” Read more …
20.03.2017, Taz (print and online)
‘Regulation of deep-sea mining: Restricted hunting for raw materials”
“Michael Reckordt, coordinator of the Raw Materials Working Group network, pointed out another problem of deep-sea mining: “NGOs do not have submarines. This means that monitoring is left to states that are often overwhelmed on land.” It is often journalists or civil society who document environmental degradation and human rights violations in the mining of raw materials on land. "Deep-sea mining is the completely wrong step," said Reckordt. Read more ...
20.03.2017, radioWelt Bayern 2 (on air)
"Magazine in the morning"
“Conversation with Michael Reckordt, graduate geographer at PowerShift e.V., on non-transparent raw materials policy” (radioWelt Bayern 2,20.03.2017)
16.03.2017, Deutschland Radio Wissen (online and on air)
“EU Conflict Minerals Regulation – Bloody Raw Materials”
“There are minerals in our laptops and smartphones. With the dismantling and sale, conflicts and thus the killing are partly financed. The European Parliament is voting on a new regulation, but critics want more. They include Michael Reckordt, raw materials expert at the NGO Power Shift.” Read more ...
24.02.2017, Enorm Magazin (print and online)
"Progress eats up resources"
“More growth and at the same time more environmental protection: What sounds promising is past reality, criticized Powershift from Berlin. In its study ‘Resource Curse 4.0’, the NGO analysed various industry forecasts – and comes to the opposite conclusion: Thereafter, Industry 4.0 and digitalisation will consume far more raw materials and energy than before – and this will have consequences: The new hunger for raw materials increases the pressure on deposits in ecologically highly sensitive areas in the deep sea, the Arctic or in remote rainforests.” Read more ...
02/01/2017, Süddeutsche Zeitung (online)
“Enterprises shall evade any jurisdiction”
“Ironically, we have arbitral tribunals before which companies can sue states. But we do not have mechanisms for victims of human rights violations to sue companies internationally. As soon as companies withdraw from the respective country, they evade almost any jurisdiction.” Read more ...
18.11.2016, Frankfurter Rundschau (print)
Raw materials for war - Development organisations criticise planned EU regulation on conflict minerals
"So far, however, they are more likely to see scandalous passivity, according to Mcihael Reckordt, coordinator of the Working Group on Raw Materials of German Non-Governmental Organisations. However, following the agreement in principle on a conflict raw materials regulation in June of this year, the Federal Government now appears to be idly watching ‘as its previous efforts for human rights are being undermined by the installation of huge loopholes”.
31.10.2016, Taz (print and online)
Raw materials promote upgrading – blood gold from the dentist
"There is a threat that the entire regulation will be eroded at a crucial point", fears Michael Reckordt of the human rights association PowerShift. Because the thresholds are too high, from when the raw material importers meet a reporting and control obligation.Read more ...
27.10.2016, Frankfurter Rundschau (print and online)
Raw materials: Anything but gold
Non-governmental organisations such as Powershift had already criticised the German-Mongolian raw materials partnership at the outset because it was unilaterally oriented towards the access of German industry to raw materials, while it did not require compliance with human rights and environmental standards. Read more ...
14.09.2016, New Germany (print and online)
International Alliance warns against CETA
Berlin. An alliance of European and Canadian organizations warns of the planned European-Canadian free trade agreement CETA. The disputed legal rights of foreign corporations are hardly limited, a climate policy in the sense of the global climate agreement is endangered, it said on Tuesday. Read more ...
14.09.2016, JungeWelt (online)
CETA threatens dumping
Few details are known to the public about CETA so far. The trade agreement between the European Union and Canada is being prepared by lobbyists behind closed doors. Various consumer protection organisations warned of the risks when presenting an analysis of the planned contract in Berlin on Tuesday.Read more ...
13.09.2016, klimaretter.info (online)
NGOs call for a stop at Ceta
The planned free trade agreement between Canada and the EU threatens the common good on both sides of the Atlantic. European and Canadian non-governmental organisations are convinced of this. The alliance of environmental and consumer activists as well as globalization critics, including the BUND, Attac and Powershift, issued a statement on Tuesday. A study that predicts the impact of the agreement. (klimaretter.info, 13.09.2016)
13.09.2016, Evangelisch.de (online)
Study: Ceta threatens climate protection and sustainable agriculture
An alliance of European and Canadian organizations warns with a study of the European-Canadian free trade agreement Ceta. The disputed legal rights of foreign corporations are hardly limited and a climate policy in the sense of the Paris climate agreement is threatened, the organizations explained on Tuesday in Berlin. Editors of the study include the German Federal Government for the Environment and Nature (BUND), PowerShift and the Working Group on Agricultural Development.Read more…
13.09.2016, Deutschlandfunk (online, Radio)
Criticism of Ceta does not stop
The final draft text for the EU-Canada Ceta Free Trade Agreement is available. Criticism from environmental groups remains – for example on investment protection. They even fear that US companies will have access to the investor lawsuit mechanism anchored in Ceta – and do not need TTIP at all. Read more and continue listening...
14.07.2016, Frankfurter Rundschau (online, print)
Mongolia – The Curse of Gold
Angela Merkel will also travel to ASEM, Germany has had a raw material partnership with Mongolia since 2011. NGOs such as Powershift criticize the agreement: Because it is geared towards the access of German industry to raw materials, but environmental standards and human rights do not play a role in it, it poses the risk of advancing mining and thus human rights violations and environmental destruction. Read more ...
04.07.2016, TAZ (online, print)
Raw materials in sustainable smartphones – almost fair after all
"It is a step in the right direction if four of the raw materials used in a smart phoenix are conflict-free," says Micha‐el Reck‐ordt, raw materials expert at Ver‐ein Powers‐hift. However, ‘conflict-free only means that dismantling or dismantling can cause bloody conflict, and that it is far from being possible for any human rights to be more violated or for the environment to be affected as little as possible’. It is therefore still a long way to go to the more effective Telefon. Read more ...
17.06.2016, Radio Dreyeckland (live and in blog)
Participate in financing murderous paramilitaries when buying a computer? New EU directives on conflict minerals do not go far enough
The European Commission, the European Parliament and the member states agreed on Wednesday after one year of negotiations on the guidelines of a regulation that should regulate trade in the so-called conflict minerals. A step in the right direction, but far from enough, I mean 130 non-governmental organizations. Even the USA, which was often accused of lax regulations in the TTIP debate, was faster and more consistent here, reports Michael Reckordt, coordinator of the AK Raw Materials. Read more / listen ...
15.06.2016, TAZ (online, print)
Conflict minerals: "The EU releases companies from their responsibilities"
The European Parliament, the Development and Cooperation Organisation, the UN, all say that it is necessary to act responsibly on the basis of the whole set of principles. The EU is failing to set out a specific policy in this area. Many enterprises which use raw materials are thus not held responsible. Read more ...
18.05.2016, ZEIT and ZEIT ONLINE
TTIP: Federal government tricks in arbitral tribunals
“It is a scandal: Whether in TTIP, Ceta or now also within the EU, the German government is constantly pushing for special rights for foreign investors”, says Peter Fuchs of Powershift, an organisation that critically monitors current global trade policy. Fuchs calls for the immediate, replacement-free termination of these contracts. This is exactly what the European Commission has been promoting to governments in recent months. (The full article can here can be viewed on TIME ONLINE).
09.03.2016, Aachener Nachrichten (print only)
The dark side of extremely valuable natural resources
Voluntary regulations are not an option for Reckordt. “OECD standards have been in place for five years. Industry could have been active for a long time. This has not happened”. That is why, like many aid organisations, but also the parliamentary groups of the Greens and the Left in the Bundestag, he calls for binding regulation that covers the entire supply chain from the mine to the final product.
16.02.2016, Frankfurter Rundschau (online, print: 17.02.2016)
Modern colonialism
The unequal distribution of costs and benefits and the aggressiveness of the EU in securing global access to raw materials through investment and free trade agreements is shown by the study ‘Everything for us!? The global impact of European trade and investment policy on the exploitation of raw materials", produced by geographer Nicola Jaeger for Powershift.
02.02.2016, Taz
Control: It's about gold
The development NGOs in Germany also criticise the positions of the Council and the Commission: Michael Reckordt from the NGO PowerShift: “China has been implementing the groundbreaking OECD standard on due diligence throughout the supply chain since 2015, and it would be a poverty testament for the EU if its regulation were to fall behind.” read more ...
21.01.2016, All Electronics
Conflict materials – delicate raw materials for capacitors and other components
“Power Shift, the association for an ecological and solidarity-based energy and world economy, sees this as a great danger [...]: "Many small-scale smelters and small-scale miners are active in mining in the Congo," said Michael Reckordt, coordinator of the AK Rohstoff at Power Shift, Deutschlandfunk. “This means that if you start calling for a boycott against the country, the country would be bypassed and people would lose their jobs and thus their livelihoods; that's a bit of the challenge as to why you should be very sensitive.” read more ...
2016, Caspar Dohmen, Eichborn Verlag
Profit greed without borders
“Nevertheless, the unions, with their millions of members, are by no means the main architects of resistance to free trade agreements, but various NGOs, such as Friends of the Earth, BUND, Greenpeace or Brot für die Welt, but also tiny NGOs, completely unknown to most citizens, such as Powershift or CEO.”
(page 212, see also pp. 214 et seq.)
02.12.2015, TAZ
Report on raw material imports - Demand is falling
"For some time now, we have been witnessing an increasing fall in prices for almost all raw materials, especially copper and gold," says Michael Reckrodt [sic!], coordinator of the Working Group on Raw Materials. [...] What is good news for the German economy, however, is causing massive problems where raw materials are mined, especially in countries of the Global South. "With world market prices falling, mining companies are coming under pressure and lowering social and environmental standards," says Reckrodt [sic!]. read more
10.11.2015, Deutschlandfunk
“Regulate trade in conflict minerals in a binding manner”
In many everyday objects are tantalum, tungsten, tin and gold. In the Republic of the Congo, but not only there, the business of these commodities keeps the struggle of rival groups going. A voluntary self-certification of companies is not enough, said Michael Reckordt of the network working group raw materials in the DLF. read more
19.10.2015, New Germany
Companies must disclose their supply chain
The EU is discussing whether companies will have to report where the raw materials they use come from in the future. Transparency obligations should help, among other things, that no more conflict minerals, with which civil war armies finance themselves, come into circulation. read more ...
24.11.2014, Deutschlandfunk
Controversial handling – raw materials from conflict areas
The planned EU regulation is now intended to prevent this. For Michael Reckordt of Power Shift – Association for an Ecological – Solidarity Energy and World Economy, however, the draft does not go far enough in this regard. read more...
31.10.2014, Deutschlandfunk
Why there are no fair mobile phones
However, Powershift's Michael Reckordt does not go far enough: “On the one hand, it must not be voluntary, but must become mandatory for companies to report and exercise due diligence. The second would certainly be that it should not be limited to the raw materials gold, tantalum, tin and tungsten. There are also human rights conflicts or conflict financing for other raw materials – copper, nickel and others.” read more...
25.09.2014, Frankfurter Rundschau
Rules for fracking softened
The organization PowerShift finds this particularly problematic because fracking and the pressing of toxic reservoir water should also be allowed in the vicinity of public water abstraction points and food production sites subject to conditions.
28/08/2014, Süddeutsche Zeitung
Dark energy from Colombia - Controversial RWE transactions
Because people are murdered for coal in South America, the German company RWE got a bad conscience for a short time. Now, however, he is probably relying on a company that maintains contacts with brutal paramilitaries. read more...
26.08.2014, 3sat
The dirty business of coal
With the nuclear phase-out of Germany, the demand for hard coal is increasing. But the last German mines are closing in 2018. Where does the coal that is being burned in Germany come from? read more...
14.08.2014, daily show
Towards Parallel Justice - Free Trade Agreement with Canada
In the shadow of the EU-US TTIP free trade agreement, a similar agreement with Canada is about to be concluded – CETA. The text of the contract shows: This agreement, too, could expose governments to complaints from private investors. read more...
17.07.2014, New Germany
New contract on raw materials partnership
In any case, German non-governmental organisations, which are part of the working group on raw materials, see the danger that the raw materials partnerships will deepen existing conflicts in mining activities [...]. read more...
07.06.2014, General newspaper
40. Open ear festival in Mainz - Opening podium at Drususstein - "Wars in the Future"
Applause, however, only the audience contribution reaps: “Capitalism is fomenting conflicts over raw materials with reckless violence, and we are all falling into 'benevolent complicity' for fear of losing jobs”. read more...
21.03.2014, The Nation (USA)
Europe Goes Soft on Conflict Minerals, Making Human Rights Optional
The European Union’s new plan for restricting conflict minerals in global trade starts with good intentions, but usually ends there. The European Commission’s draft legislation, slated for implementation in 2015, aims to designate ‘responsible importers’ that references keep their supply chains free of materials used to finance armed conflict, mainly sourced from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola and South Sudan. read more...
05.03.2014, TAZ
No gold from civil wars
Voluntary approaches already enshrined at UN level would not have brought about any change. In addition, an EU regime should not only cover importers and more than four raw materials. read more...
26.02.2014, Tagesspiegel
Raw materials strategy: When the iPhone Funds Wars
Critics such as Vogt and Reckordt therefore demand more responsibility from the German side. The government must address the raw materials strategy more strongly as a cross-cutting task, for example by integrating development policy more, Vogt demands. Reckordt sees a growing need for political pressure on companies that source raw materials from crisis areas. read more...
