In international cooperation we are increasingly facing complex, multi-layered issues, which cannot be resolved within a single department, country or project. GIZ was quick to recognise that comprehensive approaches were needed.
© GIZ / Pedro Branco
Joined-up working points the way forward
The challenges of the 21st century call for a holistic approach, which GIZ is already embedding in its strategy. Teams are working across national borders on transforming society and adapting to climate change.
How cooperation makes for efficient climate action
The Proklima programme is a good example. It was commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development in 1995 as one of the first climate action projects. Proklima was a response to the Montreal-Protokoll, a United Nations agreement that prohibited ozone-depleting chemicals worldwide following the discovery of a hole in the ozone layer in 1985.
The programme attracted a great deal of public attention. It quickly became clear that finding effective solutions requires us to bring together not only the many different commissioning parties, but also numerous partners from specialist disciplines such as health, transport, energy and food security. To manage this range of actors efficiently, we have created overarching structures.
A team of 20 employees at the GIZ office in Eschborn coordinate the Proklima initiatives worldwide, pooling tasks such as steering, finances, communication and knowledge management. Colleagues who work on Proklima initiatives in Africa and Asia, for instance, regularly share information with the team and with each other. ‘Different countries often face similar challenges,’ says Guntram Glasbrenner, Proklima Programme Manager. ‘We are constantly checking to see whether there are any areas of overlap.’
„The challenges in different countries are often similar. We check for interfaces on an ongoing basis.“
Proklima (project cluster)
Commissioned by
German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN), Clean Cooling Collaborative (CCC), Agence Française de Développement (AFD), UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)
As at: April 2026
Locations
Worldwide
Term
1995 – ongoing
Selected partners
United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), National Ozone Units (NOUs) in the partner countries
Disaster prevention through risk mitigation
© Jacqueline Begerow
The Global Initiative on Disaster Risk Management (GIDRM) is another example of joined-up working. The initiative operates in Asia, Africa, the Caucasus and Latin America. People there are increasingly impacted by natural events such as earthquakes, storms, droughts and flooding, which jeopardise development achievements, including poverty reduction, climate action, peacebuilding and access to health care. GIDRM aims to ensure that development progress and the resources invested in it are not negated by disasters. To this end, it systematically integrates comprehensive risk management into development projects.
Comprehensive risk management
Comprehensive risk management combines climate action, climate change adaptation, disaster risk management and social protection in one approach. This supports people locally in assessing risks and factoring them into their decisions. In developing countries and emerging economies, in particular, people and infrastructure can thus be better protected against disasters.
In the past, these risks were often not given any systematic consideration. GIDRM is changing that. ‘We are working on transforming the way people think: away from merely responding to disasters, and towards risk prevention. Our aim is to create an understanding of risk in our projects that is integrated into all planning processes – both within our projects and among our partners,’ says Project Manager Jacqueline Begerow.
GIDRM serves as a role model for the transition to holistic approaches. As the number of individual cases analysed by staff members increased, the patterns and common issues emerged more clearly. Were local disaster management authorities and their expertise incorporated into the development planning process? What data on disaster risks is actually available? It quickly became clear that prevention requires disaster risks to be factored in from the outset in projects, and also when it comes to issues such as water use, urban development and public investment. These are the areas where comprehensive risk assessment can go a long way to making projects even more effective and sustainable. Equipped with this insight, GIDRM looked specifically for projects that might touch on disaster risk management. Today, many GIZ staff in these projects divide their time between GIDRM and other measures.
Global Initiative on Disaster Risk Management (GIDRM)
Commissioned by
German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Locations
Worldwide, focus on Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana and the South African Development Community (SADC), Colombia, Georgia, Laos, Pakistan
Term
2013 to 2026
Selected partners
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
Further information
This model works. To identify common threads more easily, country portfolios are examined specifically for possible synergies. Following several floods in Pakistan, for instance, colleagues on the ground and GIDRM risk experts were involved in planning two new projects. Nine national staff in Pakistan now also split their time, to work partly for GIDRM. Their task is to bring disaster risk management to their projects and their partner ministries. Meanwhile, they also use their specialist, process-related and country expertise to ensure that GIDRM can better identify and support local needs.
Strong alliances and standards for all
100 %
of refrigerators in the European Union (EU) and 70 per cent of refrigerators worldwide now use only natural coolants.
In long-term projects, cooperation is designed to be enduring. It provides the basis for stable alliances with common goals. This is a good thing since the major challenges of our time affect us all. Sensible global solutions are needed, to which all stakeholders can contribute.
The solution for eco-friendly refrigerators came from Germany. Before reunification, one company in the Ore Mountains in what used to be the German Democratic Republic was already experimenting with natural coolants, because some chemicals were not available in the country. In the early 1990s, engineers developed the world’s first chlorofluorocarbon-free refrigerator. This revolutionised the market and today spares the planet an immense volume of emissions. Proklima established a network of more than 200 partners to spread this green technology around the world.
Proklima has also been working for decades with National Ozone Units (NOUs), which manage programmes at the country level so that they comply with the Montreal Protocol. Together, Proklima and the NOUs have developed new minimum standards for energy efficiency, for instance. The programme also supports small and medium-sized German enterprises (SMEs) in entering foreign markets, so that German expertise in cooling technology can benefit other countries, too. Improving the training systems for cooling technology is another important building block. Over 600,000 technicians have learned how to prevent leaks, improve energy efficiency and use climate-friendly coolants. Many training institutes have received modern equipment and their curricula have been expanded.
GIDRM has alliances with many different UN institutions. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has been supporting GIDRM for years with implementation. It works with the project as a multilateral and political partner to make international cooperation more risk-informed.
The scalable standard solutions developed by GIDRM are a key instrument here. Eight technical offers with check lists and recommendations for action pool the knowledge accumulated over 13 years. As a result, disaster risks can, in future, be taken into account from the outset in new projects – both inside and outside GIZ.
‘The collaboration with GIZ within the GIDRM programme demonstrated the value of a partnership translating policy into actionable programmes and leads to better decision intelligence at the local level.’
More than
120
Million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent
was saved by GIZ’s work focusing on the use of natural coolants. This represents the annual emissions of more than 30 coal-fired power plants.
Joined-up working has a major impact
This is borne out by examples: adopting a comprehensive approach to complex challenges is more impactful. Proklima contributes to 15 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. GIZ’s own efforts to promote the use of natural cooling technologies have yielded savings of more than 120 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents. This equates to the annual emissions of more than 30 coal-fired power plants. To date, we have assisted 60 countries in implementing climate-friendly natural cooling technology.
In the case of GIDRM, the impact lies in an increased awareness of disaster risks and in standardised check lists, which will in future form part of every project’s DNA. The successes achieved by GIZ – and the investments made by German development cooperation – will thus be protected against destruction caused by natural hazards.
Individual initiatives of GIZ risk managers can also be far-reaching. At the instigation of GIDRM, garment workers at textile factories in Bangladesh are now protected by on-site fire services. The Philippines are safer because hotel staff have undergone training to prepare them for disasters, while people in Colombia’s Amazon region are better protected from forest fires thanks to GIDRM.
Using joined-up structures, pooled expertise and stable alliances, GIZ implements projects that produce results – in Germany, Europe and in partner countries around the world.
This is how we are creating synergies, accelerating implementation, and continue to shape a future worth living – even in times of international upheaval.
GIZ works worldwide - for this project here:
This project focuses on the following GIZ work priorities:
The project contributes to these Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations:
