Wolfgang Obergassel
obergassel.bsky.social
Wolfgang Obergassel
@obergassel.bsky.social
Husband, father of three,
Co-Head Research Unit Global Climate Governance at the Wuppertal Institute
Reposted by Wolfgang Obergassel
One thing about climate change: it disproves the capitalist ideology that poor people's suffering is their own fault.

Billionaires emit as much in a day as the world's 4 billion poorest emit in a yr, yet those 4 billion humans suffer most from climate impacts.

This is inequality, and it is evil.
December 8, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Reposted by Wolfgang Obergassel
The weaponisation of the "freedom of expression" concept in the infosphere is part of a larger authoritarian project designed to suppress any forms of counter-powers (NGOs, academic research, media)

So, for me, this decision is unsurprising, and I do expect things to get even worse quickly.
The US State Department is instructing its staff to deny visas to those engaged in activities like combatting misinformation, disinformation or false narratives, fact-checking, content moderation, compliance, and trust and safety.

www.npr.org/2025/12/04/n...
State Department to deny visas to fact checkers and others, citing 'censorship'
The order is focused on applicants for H-1B visas, which are frequently used by tech companies and is part of a campaign by the Trump administration against online content moderation.
www.npr.org
December 6, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Interesting-looking new study on how #EastAfrica - Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda - is emerging as a pioneer of #electricmobility thanks to ambitious national policies www.agora-verkehrswende.org/news/towards...
Towards Electric Mobility in East Africa
A new study by Agora Verkehrswende examines current trends in Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. Forward-looking governments are promoting domestic EV assembly with ambitious policy target...
www.agora-verkehrswende.org
December 4, 2025 at 7:41 AM
Very much looking forward to discussing the #COP30 #Belém outcomes and potential ways forward tomorrow with @annaperezcatala.bsky.social, @aygoswami.bsky.social, Bernhard Pötter, Max Schulze-Steinen. To register, visit us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
December 3, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Reposted by Wolfgang Obergassel
Kenya is one of Africa's clean energy leaders:

In 2000 60% of electricity came from fossil fuels.

Today:

- 8% is from fossil fuels
- 43% is from geothermal
- 28% from hydro
- 14% from wind and
- 4% from solar.
December 2, 2025 at 9:49 AM
Reposted by Wolfgang Obergassel
Our assessment of the Hashtag#BelémCOP is now available (wupperinst.org/fa/redaktion...):

"The Bitter (COP of) Truth - Belém 2025 climate conference not up to the challenge".

Some key #mitigation messages (for more see our report):
November 28, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Our annual Wuppertal report on the #COP in #Belém is out. The conference once again illustrated that mitigating climate change is more of a distribution and transformation problem rather than a collective action problem wupperinst.org/en/a/wi/a/s/...
COP30 Failed to Meet Expectations
Despite increasing need for action, the international community fails to find adequate solutions – Wuppertal Institute presents analysis report on the World Climate Conference in Belém
wupperinst.org
November 28, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Reposted by Wolfgang Obergassel
This is a BIG deal and a hopeful message: countries can cooperate to avoid a race to the bottom.
New OECD data, just out today:

For the third year running, the average global corporate tax rate *increased* - and more countries now *raise* than lower their corporate taxes.

This follows the adoption of the global minimum tax and essentially reverses four decades of racing to the bottom.
November 25, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Reposted by Wolfgang Obergassel
“With this declaration, Colombia protects more than 483,000 km² of the Amazon biome, which corresponds to 42% of its national territory & 7% of the total South American Amazon. The Colombian govt has emphasized that “the magnitude of the gesture reaffirms its environmental & climate leadership...”
November 24, 2025 at 6:56 PM
Reposted by Wolfgang Obergassel
In case you missed this it, we published our in-depth summary of COP30 yesterday
🚨 JUST PUBLISHED: CARBON BRIEF’S #COP30 SUMMARY 🚨

It's an EPIC 20,000 words of top-notch, plain-english reporting…

–Global mutirão
–Adaptation finance
–Fossil-fuel roadmap
–China
+Much more

Very proud of team CB for getting this out so fast

www.carbonbrief.org/...
November 24, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Reposted by Wolfgang Obergassel
Happy to see that the SI on "Locating the ‘Global South’ in Earth System Governance" is available: lnkd.in/esACVWfA
I contributed a paper on "Exporting norm interpretations from the Global South: Explaining India's reasons for contesting and reshaping international climate norms" lnkd.in/eUQAUhNd.
LinkedIn
This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn
lnkd.in
November 21, 2025 at 9:45 AM
Reposted by Wolfgang Obergassel
It’s very hard to see what the opposition is to a roadmap beyond ‘we just want to burn lots more fossil fuels’. It’s just a promise to discuss a roadmap and it’s for a ‘transition away’ from fossil fuels, not a full phase out.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Cop30: dozens of countries threaten to block resolution unless it contains roadmap to fossil fuel phase-out
Exclusive: The Guardian understands Brazil had been planning to drop a roadmap to a transition away from fossil fuels amid opposition from petro states
www.theguardian.com
November 21, 2025 at 7:28 AM
Kudos to @drsimevans.carbonbrief.org and the whole @carbonbrief.org team. So a very weak draft decision. But so was the second to last draft of the Dubai GST outcome decision
COP30 BREAKING NEWS

The presidency has just dropped a new package of texts including the "global mutirão" cover, which makes no mention of fossil fuels or roadmaps

Here's my snap analysis (pic)

unfccc.int/sites/def...
November 21, 2025 at 8:18 AM
While the outcome remains to be seen, #COP30 will probably once again demonstrate that the COP Presidency is the key make-or-break factor. The Club of Rome was thus right to demand that future COP presidencies should only be given to countries that are actually committed to fighting #climatechange
"For Minister Silva, the fight against deforestation and fossil fuels is a lifelong political, ethical and very personal one. And it is this very fight that President Lula chose to endorse ..., recognizing that the Amazonian COP could not stay silent." - sehr schönes Stück über Marina Silva u #COP30
Marina Silva - COP30’s inner light
How Lula’s ambition - and Marina Silva’s lifelong mission - brought deforestation and fossil fuel phaseout to the heart of COP30 discussions.
backchannel1.substack.com
November 20, 2025 at 9:18 AM
I agree that the signal sent by the Paris Agreement to pursue low-emission development has had an impact. And one of the main things #COP can do is to further reinforce this signal, as in the #COP28 GST outcome, and hopefully now in #Bélem
In the decade since the #ParisAgreement was signed, #BigOil has been fighting hard to protect its business, pouring billions into lobbying & supporting climate-skeptic politicians, with success. BUT, the tide is turning & "the momentum isn't with the fossil fuel industry", @erikalennon.bsky.social.
November 20, 2025 at 8:58 AM
I really like Stefan's take on what's happening in #Bélem. "Roadmaps shift attention away from aggregated, quantified targets and gaps towards the messy, grounded questions of implementation... This is also why we see new forms of #obstruction in the negotiations"
November 20, 2025 at 8:45 AM
Reposted by Wolfgang Obergassel
Practice so you're ready.
I had the good fortune once of serving with a man who heard an insult to a woman colleague from the man in leadership.

He said, in his usual calm voice, “You know how you just said (insult)?”

Took a beat.

“Never say that again.”
November 19, 2025 at 5:14 AM
I think the most important issue at stake at #COP30 in #Bélem on mitigation is whether the #UNFCCC continues addressing the transitions needed to achieve the mitigation objectives of the #ParisAgreement - or gets forced back into discussing the global emissions gap only in abstract terms
November 18, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Reposted by Wolfgang Obergassel
Reasons for climate optimism – part 9

A broad variety of actors support clean energy technologies because of their cost advantages, their potential to create innovation and employment, and their contribution to energy security.
November 17, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Reposted by Wolfgang Obergassel
🌍 ACCLIMATE at #COP30 happening today! For those attending #COP30, join us at the side event “𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐀𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧"!

🗓 16:45–18:15 | Side Event Room 6

More details ▶️ wupperinst.org/en/a/wi/a/s/...
November 17, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Reposted by Wolfgang Obergassel
History doesn't repeat, but it rhymes, a #climatefinance story:

After the $100bn climate finance goal was agreed in 2009, the UN Secretary General created a High-Level Advisory Group on Climate Change Financing (AGF) to study potential sources of revenue to meet the new goal, led by the PMs of 🇪🇹&🇳🇴
High-Level Advisory Group on Climate Change Financing - Final Report
web.archive.org
November 14, 2025 at 11:25 PM
Reposted by Wolfgang Obergassel
“After the ICJ advisory opinion and the well-document six-decade playbook of climate obstruction, states at Cop should recognize the irreconcilable conflict of interest of the fossil fuel industry – which is similar to the tobacco industry,” -- Elisa Morgera
November 14, 2025 at 1:11 PM
I think this article by Michael Jacobs is a very good summary of the achievements and limitations of the #UNFCCC #COP process
’Undermining that confidence by dismissing UN climate conferences as pointless risks slowing this progress. Cop critics like to think of themselves as brave tellers of truth to power. They may end up merely being Donald Trump’s unwitting accomplices.’
theconversation.com/the-un-clima...
The UN climate summits are working – just not in the way their critics think
Many say UN climate summits are pointless. They’re wrong.
theconversation.com
November 14, 2025 at 10:58 AM
Reposted by Wolfgang Obergassel
🌍 ACCLIMATE at #COP30
On Monday, during the side event 𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐀𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, our colleague from @wuppertalinstitut.bsky.social will present insights from ACCLIMATE’s work on 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐄𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬.
🕓 17 Nov, 16:45–18:15
November 14, 2025 at 10:28 AM