Regardless of its climate commitments, the EU has continuously failed to phase out fossil fuels. Ending fossil fuels has been one of the most protracted and deadlocked issues of EU climate and energy policies. The Conference on the Future of Europe could give new momentum to this deadlocked debate.

Stephan Sina 2021: Stellungnahme zum Entwurf der SPD für ein Gesetz zum Schutz von Menschen und Natur vor dem Klimawandel und seinen Folgen – Drucks. 20/5899 –1. Berlin: Ecologic Institute.

This status report was prepared within the framework of the cross-cutting issue 1 "Analytics and reference materials" of the research focus Plastics in the Environment. It summarizes the contents of the project discussions and coordination within the cross-cutting issue. The organization of this ongoing process of development or elaboration has been supported by several events between 2018 and 2020.

The Conference on the Future of Europe begins on 9 May 2021. The conference has great importance for EU climate policies. As a contribution to the start of the conference, think tanks from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Romania, and Poland make recommendations on how EU climate policy and the Conference on the Future of Europe can be mutually beneficial.

On 9 May 2021, the Conference on the Future of Europe (CFE) will start. The CFE will provide a new space for citizens to engage in the debate on the future of the EU. A new Ecologic report examines the experience with citizens' assemblies on climate policies in France, Ireland and the United Kingdom, and draws lessons for the CFE.

To deliver its climate targets for 2030 and 2050, the EU is starting to reform its climate policies. Extending emission trading to road transport and buildings is among the most consequential proposals for implementing the new targets. This proposal promises stronger economic incentives to reduce emissions, considerable certainties for target achievement and additional revenues to support Europe's decarbonization.

Langen, Nina et. al. 2021: Beispiel-Fragebogen zur Kooperation im Rahmen des Dialogforums private Haushalte: Reduzierung von Lebensmittelverschwendung. Ecologic Institute, TU Berlin, Slow Food Deutschland: Berlin.

The Climate Action Regulation (CAR aka Effort Sharing Regulation) regulates 57 % of the EU's greenhouse gas emissions. Consequently, the EU cannot achieve its new climate targets without major contributions from the sectors regulated by the CAR. This makes reforming the CAR one of the EU's most important legislative processes in 2021. There are various ideas about how to turn the CAR into a strong driver for achieving the EU's climate targets. This Ecologic Institute paper discusses these ideas, and makes proposals for reform.

A robust framework is a precondition for the EU to become climate neutral by 2050. Such framework includes, for example, enhanced gross reduction targets for 2030, emission budgets, independent scientific climate advisory bodies, phasing out fossil fuel subsides, and strong support to ensure a just transition in Member States. The spread between national targets from currently 0 % to 40 % should be scaled up, taking into account previous individual emission reduction performance and national capabilities.

This user manual supports the members of the German Roundtable on Marine Litter in using the internet platform https://muell-im-meer.de. In the internal area of the platform, members have various possibilities to present their organization and its activities for reducing marine litter as well as to participate in working groups. Distribution list maintenance and communication within the Roundtable on Marine Litter is also handled and documented via the platform.

The new EU climate architecture should include a separate CDR target that builds primarily on restoring degraded ecosystems. This target should be legally binding and quantified – for the EU and Member States. It should not be a combined target which treats reductions and CDRs equally. This EU's CDR target should be enshrined in the European Climate Law.

Sina, Stephan, 2020: Schriftliche Stellungnahme des Sachverständigen Dr. Stephan Sina, Ecologic Institute, zum Gesetzentwurf der Staatsregierung für ein Bayerisches Klimaschutzgesetz (Bayklimag) (Drs. 18/7898). München: Bayerischer Landtag.

In July 2020, the European Council agreed on an unprecedented EU recovery package – dubbed Next Generation EU. This agreement contains elements that will advance EU climate policies. However, if it is to pave the way to climate neutrality by 2050, it needs to improve.

This commentary contributes to the discussion on the recently released Draft Guidelines on Uniform Framework for Extended Producers Responsibility (EPR) by India's Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. The authors argue that the draft guidelines fall short of fulfilling its purpose for three reasons. Basing their recommendations on learnings from experiences of developed countries with mature EPR ecosystems and contextualizing the same for ground realities of India, authors provide a 6-point agenda to address the issues raised.

This paper aims to explain to the failure of six carbon capture and storage (CCS) demonstration projects installed at coal power plants within the European Union. The projects were funded across six different members with varying suitability to coal-based CCS, which raises the question of whether common domestic factors can be identified that explain the failure of all projects. The perspective of Europeanisation is adopted to examine this question.