Olfert, A.; Schiller, G.; Brunnow, B.; Walther, J.; Hirschnitz-Garbers, M.; Hölscher, K.; Wittmayer, J. (2020). Prozessbegleitende Nachhaltigkeitsbewertung als Werkzeug für ein nachhaltigkeitsorientiertes Infrastrukturmanagement. InfrastrukturRecht 17 (2020) 1, p. 17-20

Ecologic Institute has been ranked third worldwide among Environment Policy Think Tanks in the University of Pennsylvania's 2019 Global Think Tank Ranking. This marks the 10th consecutive year under the top 10 in this category. Ecologic Institute was also ranked among the Top 10 in the category "Best Quality Assurance and Integrity Policies and Procedures" for the fourth consecutive year.

To mark the launch of the 2019 Global Think Tank Ranking report on 30 January 2020, Ecologic Institute convened and hosted a breakfast discussion of think tankers and policy experts to discuss "The Future of Think Tanks and Policy Advice". The event, co-hosted and sponsored by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, was part of a worldwide launch of the report in over 130 cities around the world, with over 500 think tanks hosting or co-hosting.

The seventh episode of the environmental podcast "Knowledge for Future" is about transdisciplinary research. The focus is primarily on cooperation between research and private sector companies. What does this cooperation look like in practice? What advantages can be gained and what challenges need to be overcome?

Certain opinions, people or parties should not be made "socially acceptable". This is a problematic notion, writes Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf in the Süddeutsche Zeitung.

The European Stakeholder Workshop on Fish-friendly Hydropower will be held on 28 and 29 January 2020 in Brussels (Belgium). This event will serve as a platform for consultation and exchange between FIThydro scientists, policy-makers and technical experts working on the assessment of impacts from hydropower plants and the planning of mitigation measures.

This report presents for the first time an overview of anthropogenic pressures and their combined effects on Europe's seas. The assessment covers the period of 2011 to 2016 and presents how human activities and pressures on seas have changed over a longer time horizon. The highest potential combined effects are found along coastal areas of the North Sea, Southern Baltic Sea, Adriatic and Western Mediterranean. However, there are also positive developments and the report points to improvements in nutrient levels, hazardous substances and northern fish and tuna stocks.

Dr. Camilla Bausch provided live comments for the news service WELT during Ursula von der Leyen's keynote address on the European Green Deal (EGN) at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Von der Leyen presented tenets of the EGN – her key political project as the new EC President. The EGN aims to set a path for a climate neutral economy by 2050.

The WDR reports how Europe can become climate neutral by 2050. Quoting the Ecologic Institute, WDR presents the European Green Deal and an EU climate protection law, two flagship initiatives to make the EU climate neutral by 2050. The German article "Green Deal – "green Europe" not an overnight success" is available for listening on the WDR website until 15 January 2025.

The German article "Seven at one blow! Regional Food Strategies as key to more sustainable Urban-Rural cooperations" deals with the role of regional food strategies as a promising approach for an integrated, sustainable development of urban and rural areas. The article, written by Stephanie Wunder, Coordinator Food Systems at the Ecologic Institute and Franziska Wolff, Head of Environmental Law & Governance at Öko-Institut summarizes the results of the UBA project "Rural Urban Nexus", led by Ecologic Institute. The text is part of "The Critical Agricultural Report". Since 1993 "Der kritische Agrarbericht" is an annually published flagship book, that critically reflects about agriculture in Germany in the context of the EU Common Agricultural Policy. The 2020 edition focused on the changing relationship between rural and urban areas.

Public opinion seems to have settled on the conviction that the climate crisis is Europe's latest political divide - after migration, the Euro and conflicts over the rule of law. But there is another story that needs to be told. Climate policies have always been contentious. They are bound to be. But contrary to the growing perception of climate policies as Europe's new political divide, climate is a policy field where Europe works together, writes Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf in the Tagesspiegel.

Dr. Stephan Sina, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Legal, has published an article on the Federal Climate Protection Act in the first edition of this year's Neue Zeitschrift für Verwaltungsrecht (NVwZ). The contribution is a joint effort by several authors, two of them officials at the Federal Ministry of the Environment, Nature Protection and Nuclear Safety (BMU) who have worked on the Climate Protection Act. The article presents the main elements of the new law and discusses its legal and practical impact. It can be obtained via the website of the NVwZ.

The European Commission will propose a European Climate Law in early March 2020. This 'Law' is a critical step to make Europe climate neutral. It can close gaps in existing EU climate rules. These gaps will impede the EU from becoming climate neutral before 2050. A new Ecologic paper presents a draft European Climate Law. The paper is available for download.