For scientists, the term “climate” encompasses weather patterns over a long period. Although this term is somewhat abstract, its impact is very real. What is the difference between weather and climate? And what are the climate factors and drivers?

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the global warming of the last 50 years is clearly attributable to humans. Due to emissions from the burning of fossil fuels, i.e. oil, gas and coal, as well as human land use, the natural greenhouse effect is intensified.

The greenhouse effect is basically a natural process that has a significant impact on the temperature on Earth. However, since the beginning of industrialisation, the presence of long-lasting greenhouse gases has been increasing dramatically.

The anthropogenic greenhouse effect is due to greenhouse gases emitted by humans, which amplify the natural greenhouse effect. This leads to global warming. This noticeable change in the climate has a significant impact on people and nature.

Greenhouse gases are the gases in the Earth’s atmosphere that produce the greenhouse effect. Most greenhouse gases can have either a natural or an anthropogenic (man-made) source.

A CO2 equivalent (CO2e) is a unit of measurement that is used to standardise the climate effects of various greenhouse gases.

Greenhouse gas emissions produced by people and the resulting global temperature increase are a key cause of climate change. Through decarbonisation – the switch from fossil fuels to carbon-free and renewable energy sources – states and companies worldwide want to reduce and avoid CO2 emissions. However, current global climate targets are still not ambitious enough to effectively stem climate change.

As a concept, sustainability goes far beyond just climate protection. It means dealing responsibly with the earth’s limited resources while creating a sustainable society and promoting social justice.

Climate protection projects support the use of renewable energy, realise energy efficiency measures or reduce methane emissions. This can be achieved through technological advances, the filtering of greenhouse gases from power plants and production facilities, but also through afforestation and other suitable measures in agriculture.

Forests play a crucial role in a functioning global climate and provide vital services. These include regulating the water balance, protecting against and mitigating natural hazards, ensuring clean air and habitats and refuges for animals and for humans, and providing sustainable raw materials. Unfortunately, the world’s forests are threatened for a variety of reasons. Global deforestation is a major driver of climate change and biodiversity loss. But climate change that is already being felt and its consequences – such as more frequent and prolonged droughts, fires, storms and pest infestation – are also affecting our forest ecosystems locally and internationally. To counteract this trend, climate protection organisations such as myclimate support impactful projects for reforestation, stabilisation and for the protection of existing forests. This article explains why forests are so important, and how they contribute to climate protection.

In view of the urgent climate crisis, a well-known but forgotten substance is coming back into focus: biochar. It is one of the most promising negative emissions technologies, i.e. a method of actively removing CO₂ from the atmosphere. But what is behind this black granulate and what potential does it offer for climate protection?

Nature-based solutions are increasingly coming to the fore, rooted in the protection, regeneration and sustainable management of ecosystems. This is because it is no longer possible to achieve the Paris 1.5°C target through mere reduction of man-made emissions and capturing and storing them using technological solutions. For this reason, nature-based solutions are increasingly coming to the fore, rooted in the protection, regeneration and sustainable management of ecosystems. Nature-based solutions are not only one of the most powerful tools to fight climate change, but they also offer a variety of other important advantages for people and nature, such as an unspoiled environment and the protection of biodiversity.

Both influence each other, which is why they must be tackled together. In this FAQ, we explain the connections and highlight what actions can be taken to help combat both crises.

myclimate and myclimate Germany are charitable foundations and are therefore tax-exempt in Switzerland and Germany. All private climate protection contributions and donations to myclimate are tax deductible in both Switzerland and Germany.

myclimate invests exclusively in projects that deliver measurable and long-term success. Only emissions reductions that have actually been realised and can be proven over a longer contract term of 7 to 14 years are counted in energy projects. Contributions to climate protection made to myclimate are generally paid out to the supported projects after the services have been rendered. The contribution amount depends on the volume of the project’s greenhouse gas reduction. Land use and forestry projects (agriculture, moorland, forest) are a speciality, as they naturally have a longer time horizon of 30 to 50 years.

The exploitation of Earth is increasing every year, with more resources consumed than the planet can provide. Earth Overshoot Day highlights this issue by precisely defining the date on which annual resources are exhausted. In 2025, it will fall on 24th July, seven days earlier than in 2024.

Sufficiency, often also referred to as frugality, starts with consumer behaviour. Based on the principle of "less is more", the general consumption of resources should be reduced to a level that can be reasonably sustained in the future, as the current distribution ratios for goods and resources are not only ecologically dangerous, but also internationally questionable.

Climate models are used together with emission scenarios to calculate the probable future climate, so-called climate projections. The climate models describe how the earth's climate functions, while the emission scenarios describe the impact of humans on the environment. If the climate models are combined with the emission scenarios, it is possible to predict with a certain amount of probability how the climate will be in the future.

The circular economy refers to a systemic approach to longer and more efficient use of resources and thus to avoidance of waste and pollution. Resources are kept in the material cycle for as long as possible with the highest possible value. This means that fewer primary raw materials are consumed, and the more efficient production processes lead to lower greenhouse gas emissions. The approach of the circular economy is not the same as that of recycling. A distinction is drawn between the technical and the biological cycles.

"Offsetting" means compensating for carbon dioxide emissions generated in one place by funding equivalent climate-effective reductions in another. This term can, however, create the wrong impression that no emissions are generated at all.

The term “climate neutral” is widespread, but it often causes misunderstanding and confusion. That’s because in most cases it doesn’t mean that no emissions are produced, “merely” that emissions are offset by climate protection projects. That’s why myclimate no longer uses this term. A more effective approach than calculating climate neutrality is transparent communication by companies and organisations about their own climate protection efforts.