Article | Ecologic Institute: Science and Policy for a Sustainable World

Pages

Publication

Von Äpfeln und Birnen

The EU is discussing whether its 2030 climate target should be a net target or gross target. Net targets treat CO2 removal and greenhouse gas emission reductions the same, although they are fundamentally different. To avoid a major step backwards, the EU should formulate separate targets for emissions reductions and CO2 removal, argues Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf in his contribution to the Tagesspiegel.Read more

Publication

Resource Conservation + Circular Economy

Sustainability

Handlungsoptionen einer nachhaltigen Bioökonomiepolitik

Wo ein Wille ist, ist auch ein Weg

Bioeconomy currently enjoys a high political priority; at the same time, the concept, which last received a boost in 2018 in the form of the updated EU Bioeconomy Strategy, is not without controversy and contains many conflicting goals. This is where the article by Zoritza Kiresiewa (Ecologic Institute), Franziska Wolff and Martin Möller (both Öko-Institut e.V.) comes in. The authors argue that bioeconomy can only contribute to the achievement of sustainability goals if the political framework is appropriate. Whether or not strategies will have an impact depends on each individual case. Bioeconomy pathways should be designed and tested accordingly.Read more

Publication

Article

Climate

European Climate Law: Parliament sets the direction for Europe

Article in the Tagesspiegel

The European Parliament improves the Commission's proposal for a European Climate Law. Gross reduction target for 2030, legally binding climate neutrality targets, emissions budgets and a European Climate Council would make the European Climate Law what it should be: a reliable compass for the path to climate neutrality by 2050, writes Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf in his article for Tagesspiegel....Read more

Publication

Article

Biodiversity

Water

Strengthening Coordination in River Basin Governance in Southern Spain

cooperation, incentives and persuasion

This Briefing Paper examines coordination and implementation challenges between the water and agricultural sectors in relation to water quantity in the context of WFD implementation in the Spanish Guadalquivir river basin. The challenges are interlinked by the underlying difficulty of imposing unpopular decisions against the will of powerful actors in the agricultural sector. To address these challenges, the authors suggest various coordination instruments based on incentives, voluntary cooperation, persuasion and information exchange.The Briefing Paper presents one of six analyses of cross-sectoral coordination challenges that were conducted as part of the STEER research project and on which separate Briefing Papers are available.Read more

Publication

Article

Biodiversity

Water

Coordination and Cooperation of Water Management, Nature Conservation and Open Space Development in the Emscher Restoration

The completed governance analysis shows that coordination in the Emscher catchment area is already effective. There is room for improvement when it comes to involving citizens and planning processes should also be characterised by a higher degree of flexibility. The analysis provides recommendations. This paper constitutes one of six analyses of cross-sectoral challenges in water governance. These have been conducted as part of the STEER research project and results are published in separate analyses and position papers.Read more

Publication

How to Recover from Corona without Choking the Planet

The danger of a rebound in greenhouse gas emissions after the coronavirus crisis is looming on the horizon. Michał Dorociak and Michał Kamiński of 300Gospodarka, and Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf discuss in an OpEd for the EU Observer how the EU recovery programmes can avoid post-crisis emission increases.Read more

Publication

Article

Governance

Water

Perception of Bottlenecks in the Implementation of the European Water Framework Directive

In this paper the authors, among them Ecologic Institute's Ulf Stein, focus on the governmental bottlenecks in the Implementation of the European Water Framework Directive. The lack of horizontal, inter-sectoral communication; the insufficient land reserves; human resources and; the lack of financing were the areas that emerged as the most pressing issues. Further evidence suggests that the interaction of the WFD with other policy areas regulated at the European level might require closer inspection.Read more

Publication

Policy Matrix – Screening of Digital, Data and Water Policies

Starting points for untapped potential of ICT solutions in water managemen

In this publication, Doris Knoblauch (Ecologic Institute), Lorenzo Felicetti, and Ulf Stein (Ecologic Institute) shed light on the untapped potential of ICT solutions in water management across Berlin, Milan, Copenhagen, Paris and Sofia, the five cities analysed in the project digital-water.city. In the analysis, the cross-cutting nature of digital water governance, and thereby its multifunctionality in terms of policy goals became evident.Read more

Publication

Article

Climate

Finance

672 Milliarden Euro – was ist drin für den Klimaschutz?

The EU recovery and resilience facility marks progress but has some shortcomings in climate policy, argues Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf in his OpEd for the Tagesspiegel. A bigger role for the European Parliament in the distribution of recovery funds is important – for climate protection and democracy in the EU. The facility's spending rules must be clarified.Read more

Publication

Article

Governance

Plastics

Resource Conservation + Circular Economy

Mehr Kohärenz bitte!

Plastikpolitik in Deutschland, Europa und weltweit

This article (written in German) examines various policies and approaches that are currently being implemented or planned as solutions to the plastics crisis. It becomes clear that in national and international policies plastics are mainly described as a problem of waste management and that solutions are oriented accordingly. As a consequence, there are numerous regulations for the recycling of plastic waste in Germany, while waste prevention is rarely addressed. The perception of the plastics crisis as a problem of waste management also leads to a transfer of responsibility to individuals, who, however, have only limited room for manoeuvre compared to industry and politics.Read more