It seeks to influence public policy on trade, the environment, and relations between countries in the industrialized north and underdeveloped south.
The organization collates a variety of economic and social data to formulate position papers, often in partnership with other NGOs.
[13] The annually published Global Climate Risk Index analyses to what extent countries have been affected by the impacts of weather-related loss events.
[15] Slow onset climate risks like rising sea levels and melting glaciers, which occur incrementally and over a long period are not factored in by the index.
[16] On 9 November 2016, Lutz Weischer of Germanwatch told Deutsche Welle, following the election of Donald Trump as US president, that "Germany's climate and energy policy stances are highly influential globally, and now must be strengthened".