BMBF-Brochure "Climate Protection Demands Action"

Climate change impacts not only the environment, people and their living conditions, it also affects their options for the future. The brochure "Climate Protection Demands Action" outlines the input, ideas and impetus provided by Social-Ecological Research programme.

In light of this, the German government has set clear-cut, wide-ranging goals for climate protection. Research is helping reach these goals through its scientific/technical solutions and sociological insights. Fostering and progressively developing the production and use of carbon-free energy and tapping the full potential of existing energy-efficient technologies can make a vital contribution toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However when one is clear about the challenges that arise in connection with the aim of limiting the rise in temperature to a maximum of two degrees, it is irrefutable that solving the problem of climate change will require more than technological innovation.

The brochure "Climate Protection Demands Action" from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research presents findings from research projects conducted as part of the Social-Ecological Research programme. These projects have generated a solution-oriented knowledge base regarding the dynamic interactions between society and its natural environment. These projects

  • bring climate research's scientific knowledge together with our knowledge on technological, economic and behaviour-oriented options for protecting the climate and assess it;

  • put the interplay between social and natural systems at centre stage while taking the options for action available to the various societal stakeholders into account, and develop suitable processes for dealing with climate-related uncertainties;

  • contribute a sociological understanding of heterogeneous interests;

  • develop flexible strategies which can be used to strengthen the ability of societies and societal groups to adapt to the effects of climate change and which, at the same time, take aim at the causes of climate change.

To order this brochure in printed form or to download it directly in PDF format, please visit the online order form of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research or write to:

Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung
Referat Öffentlichkeitsarbeit
Postfach: 30 02 35
D-53182 Bonn
Tel.: +49 (0) 1805-262 302*
Fax: +49 (0) 1805-262 303*
(*0.14 Euro/min. from the German fixed network)
E-mail: books(at)bmbf.bund.de

Documents