In this project the Wuppertal Institute developed a comprehensive proposal for an effective and equitable climate change agreement. The proposal covers all building blocks of the Bali Action Plan that was agreed at the Bali climate conference in 2007: mitigation, adaptation, financing and technology cooperation.

The proposal as the following key elements:

• In order to prevent dangerous climate change, global emissions should be reduced by at least 80 % by 2050 compared to 1990 levels. In addition, per capita emissions should converge at the same level by 2050.
• As an interim step industrialised countries should reduce their emissions by at least 40 % by 2020. In addition, they should commit to assist the developing countries in emissions-saving development and also in coping with existing climate damages. The Marshall Plan can serve as an example of a successful strategic model of cooperation.
• A climate treaty should not only declare limits and demand reductions. It also has to show how a sustainable energy supply can be secured. Therefore, targets for the improvement of energy efficiency and the expansion of renewable energies should also be part of the treaty.
• Declarations alone will not save the climate. The industrialised nations and the emerging economies will have to agree to action plans elaborating in which ways and when they will reach the goals they have promised.

In preparation to the climate conference in Copenhagen (7 to 18 December 2001) the Wuppertal Institute developed a proposal that was broadly discussed with experts and that aims at an effective and equitable climate change agreement. The proposal was published as Wuppertal Special no. 40.