Case Study: "National Interdisciplinary Climate Risk Assessment"
How are the climate crisis, security and geopolitics connected?
The “National Interdisciplinary Climate Risk Assessment” shows the risks of climate change for Germany’s national security up to the year 2040.
Research focus
Geopolitics and international security
Client
Metis Institute for Strategy and Foresight at the University of the Bundeswehr Munich
Responsibilities
Bilingual full-service support – details at bottom of page
Period
7 months, 2024–2025
Links
Press releases and reports
"Anyone thinking about security needs to think about climate as well"
Broken temperature records, devastating extreme weather events, climate-related crop failures: Every day we see reports in the news that inevitably make it clear that we are already living in the climate crisis. It is becoming increasingly clear that climate change not only has serious bio- and geophysical effects, but also far-reaching geopolitical and security implications.
In the coming years and decades, climate risks and climate impacts are expected to continue to unfold in Germany, Europe and worldwide. This will result in an intensification of existing conflicts over resources, an increase in humanitarian crises and migration movements as well as shifts in international trade in the context of the energy transition. The increased potential for conflict and the resulting increased pressure on government systems also harbors risks for Germany’s national security.
These risks are shown in the “National Interdisciplinary Climate Risk Assessment“. In accordance with the German government’s National Security Strategy (2023), the Metis Institute for Strategy and Foresight at the University of the Bundeswehr Munich, the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), adelphi research and the Federal Intelligence Service were tasked with presenting a report on the impact of the climate crisis on national security.
The consortium under the leadership of the Metis Institute published the report in February 2025 – in the form of a bilingual print publication, supplemented by an interactive PDF version and a scrollytelling microsite.
Infinity Loop – Visualizing the climate crisis
How can such a complex and multifactorial phenomenon as the climate crisis be depicted in a graphic? Together with researchers from Metis and PIK, we were able to collect the various aspects of the climate crisis and work out their connections in a short, iterative process. We had a lightbulb moment when it became clear that we were dealing with a feedback loop. – The aspects of the climate crisis are mutually reinforcing and interdependent: climate impacts meet low resilience, resulting in growing climate risks. The infinity loop is a suitable form of illustration here, as it makes it clear that this process is continuing to accelerate. Only a permanent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions can slow down the emergence of climate risks and break the cascading process.
Publication – print & digital
Editorial Design
One of the publishers’ fundamental requirements for the publication was its availability both in an effective printed form and online as a PDF. Easy to read and stringently designed everywhere.
A simple, effective colour scheme was developed based on the colour scheme of the Infinity Loop. The signal red emphasizes the urgency of the topic. The headlines in red support the perception. All-red pages provide space for large, important quotes set in white and serve as chapter starters. The selected black and white photographs emphasize the content of the research report and have an emotional impact.
The typography of the continuous text is deliberately set with less contrast to make longer reading less tiring. Part of the design concept are world maps (or sections thereof) in landscape format, which have been laid out in DIN A4 size for good readability. The handy 170x240mm book format contains fold-out pages for the four maps. They help the viewer engage more intensively and actively. The two-column text layout of the scientific part of the report enables an optimal reading experience on cell phones.
We met the need to be able to print the publication on A4 paper on office printers with a separate office print version as a PDF. It can also be downloaded from the scrollytelling website. For ecological reasons, no color areas and photos were used, the white space was reduced, the page backgrounds were left in white and the continuous text in black. This version has 43 pages. The maps were placed in portrait orientation on the DIN A4 pages.
Print finishing
The selection of the aforementioned signal red was intensively tested and precisely coordinated with our local partner print shop. This meant that a neon toner could be used effectively to print the pages with signal red elements. This increases the visual signal effect and helps attract the desired attention.
Deviating from standards is known to increase complexity. Our print shop succeeded in overcoming the challenges of the complex production process with the aforementioned fold-out pages. Everything was printed on 100% recycled paper, which is certified with the Blue Angel and FSC ecolabels.
Scrollytelling website
A complex topic needs time and space. This is why the full version of the National Interdisciplinary Climate Risk Assessment is just under 80 pages long. To provide an initial overview of the report’s key statements, we have also produced a summary in the form of a scrollytelling website. Like the report itself, this microsite is available in German and English.
The text had to be shortened considerably for this purpose: The microsite reduces the text of the report to 750 words. This corresponds to just under two A4 pages – or a reading time of around three to four minutes. The main challenge was to do justice to the complexity of the topic, even in the brevity. The result is three sections that focus on the national, European and geopolitical challenges of climate change.
The text on the microsite is supplemented by impressive photos and animated data visualizations that make the extent of the climate crisis tangible. The interactive visualizations, e.g. of warming trends or fatalities, ensure a quick, clear and effective understanding of the information that would not be possible with text alone. Nevertheless, it is possible to delve deeper, as all graphs data-rich, i.e. they are based on raw data that can be displayed with a mouseover for each point in time. The possibilities of online media are put to good use here.
Editing and proofreading
Shortening the text for the microsite required an intensive engagement with the content of the report. Our thorough editing and proofreading of the full version came in handy here. In several iterations, we checked the German and English text of the National Interdisciplinary Climate Risk Assessment for style, clarity and linguistic accuracy, which sharpened our own understanding of the content and contexts presented.
Our contribution
Services
Bilingual
Work process: German
Products: English & German
Presentation
Shares of the total scope of services
Products
Illustrations | Report in book and PDF versions | Scrollytelling microsite
Partners
- committed people at Metis, PIK, adelphi
- Lena Ackermann: Editing, proofreading, conception, research, consulting
- Jens Hofmayer: conception, consulting, illustration
- Colleen Zeller: Image research
- Laura Pütz: Editing, proofreading, conception
- Inga Luetgens: Graphic design
- Rudolph Weißbecker: Scrollytelling website: Design, research, implementation
- Daniel Hiepler: Website realisation
- DruckTeam Hannover: Print
- Christoph Nick: Consulting, conception, editorial design, webdesign
Further work
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