Klima-Allianz Deutschland (Climate Alliance Germany)
Founded in 2007 and based in Berlin, Klima-Allianz Deutschland is Germany’s largest civil society coalition working on climate action. It brings together more than 150 member organizations drawn from across German society — environmental groups, churches and other religious communities, development organizations, trade unions, social welfare associations, health bodies, youth groups, and consumer protection organizations. Collectively, these members represent approximately 32 million individual members in Germany. The coalition’s defining purpose is to demonstrate that climate protection is a whole-of-society priority, not a cause belonging to any single sector.
Klima-Allianz operates through political advocacy, coalition mobilization, and direct engagement with government. One of its most significant achievements was successfully lobbying the German parliament to pass the Climate Protection Law in 2019 — a piece of legislation that established legally binding emissions targets for individual sectors of the economy. The organization continues to monitor implementation and commissions independent research to assess whether Germany is on track to meet its climate neutrality commitments.
In October 2024, all 150+ member organizations aligned behind a joint policy manifesto ahead of the 2025 Bundestag election, covering 13 thematic areas ranging from investment and energy transition to agriculture, mobility, and climate justice. In 2025, Klima-Allianz led a coalition of twelve environmental organizations demanding that the German government direct its €500 billion special infrastructure fund toward climate-compatible investments, publishing a specific list of seven priorities that must be included and six uses that must be avoided.
The coalition also coordinates public mobilization, working alongside movements such as Fridays for Future to organize mass demonstrations, while simultaneously maintaining formal access to senior government. A delegation met directly with Chancellor Olaf Scholz in April 2023 to present the coalition’s demands.
Governance sits with a ten-member Speakers’ Council (Sprecher*innenrat), elected by member organizations for three-year terms. Since October 2025, the Council includes representatives from Germanwatch, WWF Deutschland, and SOS-Kinderdörfer, among others.
The organization has been led by Dr. Christiane Averbeck since 2015. Previously, she worked in development cooperation in Ghana, Uganda, and Zimbabwe, supported the Federal Government’s Council for Sustainable Development, and engaged in civil peace service work. She also sits on the German government’s National Hydrogen Council.
Klima-Allianz’s influence derives from the scale and diversity of its membership. A joint position endorsed by 150 organizations spanning trade unions, churches, and environmental groups carries a breadth of societal legitimacy that no single organization can replicate — and that politicians seeking broad mandates cannot easily ignore.
Website: www.klima-allianz.de/english | Lead contact: Dr. Christiane Averbeck — christiane.averbeck@klima-allianz.de
This Post was submitted by Climate Scorecard Germany Country Manager, Monique de Ritter.