In December 2019, a new European Commission took office in Brussels, and president Ursula von der Leyen has pledged to put climate policy at the center for the next five years. But how ambitious are the Commission's plans? What is the business sector's take on the new climate drive? How do international climate experts assess the plans? And how will EU decisions shape national energy, mobility and climate debates and actions in the member states? This research tour for journalists from 2 to 4 December 2019 to Brussels, jointly organised with Clean Energy Wire (CLEW) and the European Climate Foundation (ECF) offered an introduction to relevant institutions, actors and topics that equipped participants with background and contacts to cover EU climate, energy and transport policy.

Ursula von der Leyen, the new President of the European Commission, took office today, on 1 December 2019. As one of her first proposals, she promised to propose a European Climate Law in the first 100 days of her term in office. 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 paper by Ecologic Institute discusses what a European Climate Law should look like, and how it could close existing gaps. The paper is available for download.

The consequences of climate change are much more visible in the Arctic than in other regions of the world. The increasing loss of sea ice allows to use parts of the Arctic Ocean for a longer time and more intensively than before. This could threaten biodiversity in the polar region critically. Ecologic Institute and its partners are analyzing how a network of marine protected areas in the region could help to conserve marine biodiversity and ensure the functioning of marine ecosystems and their effective management.

Ecologic Institute starts dialogue with conservative climate and energy policy makers. The dialogue aims to build bridges for effective climate action through all segments of society. The project is carried by Ecologic Institute in cooperation with Szazadveg Foundation, a Hungarian Think Tank. The dialogue consists of a number of meetings, publications and a concluding conference in Brussels.

The report "Integrated approaches for sustainable urban-rural development" published by the German Federal Environment Agency at the end of 2019 summarizes the results of the three-year research project "Rural Urban Nexus – Global Land Use and Urbanization" (RUN). The findings of the project, that was led by Ecologic Institute, show that there is already a wide range of strategic approaches, instruments and institutional forms for better collaboration between cities and their surrounding areas. Rather than establishing new instruments, administrations and policy makers should make greater use of existing possibilities – especially informal instruments of regional planning – and to integrate sustainable urban and peri-urban development into existing policies. In particular, the development of regional food strategies can be an important entry point and catalyst for achieving sustainable urban rural development.

Technological developments and trends can contribute significantly to resource conservation. In addition to political framework conditions, social routines, patterns of action and consumption styles are important, as they have a considerable influence on individual and societal resource requirements. The present trend analysis therefore systematically examines how socio-economic and socio-cultural trends can affect the use of resources.

With the adoption of the Paris Agreement, the world of climate policy has changed, with important implications for the debate on carbon leakage. This report looks at how the risk of carbon leakage changes for different constellations of climate policy targets, how the incentives for countries have changed, and what carbon leakage entails for global emissions under these constellations.

This study shows that a commitment to a regional food policy promises positive effects in a whole range of policy areas, including environmental protection, sustainable land use, health, strengthening local value chains, education, and participation. Regional food policy in Germany requires the establishment of new structures and can only succeed if administrations work together across disciplines and sectors, if there is cooperation between the city and its environs and if it is shaped in a participatory process together with all the actors concerned. Due to the high media interest and the mobilisation potential that the topic of nutrition has to offer, it might be easier to set up these processes compared to many other topics.

With future climate neutrality in view green activists from Berlin's city districts discussed local climate action at the "#FromVisionToAction!" conference. In her introductory keynote, Dr. Camilla Bausch elaborated on the current global political trends as well as the meaning of "climate neutrality", and discussed options for local action in the subsequent panel discussion with Regine Günther (Berlin Senator), Sascha Müller-Kraenner (DUH), and Clara Herrmann (District Councilor).

In 2019, the European research project REFRESH has come to an end. Since 2015, the 26 project partners from across Europe and China have made considerable progress in tackling food losses and food waste along production and supply chains with an integrated approach towards a more sustainable and responsible food system. This video summarises the main activities and findings within the project's three focus areas.

The Arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the world. Lead by German research institutions, international researchers from 20 countries are now engaged in the largest Arctic exploration of all times: the MOSAiC Expedition. Research approaches, findings and the impact of the Federal Arctic Guidelines were presented and discussed in a packed high-level evening event at the Bremen State House in Berlin. Dr. Camilla Bausch of Ecologic Institute moderated the event.

This video summarises the main activities and findings of the five national platforms. In order to adapt actions and responses to food waste challenges nationally, REFRESH established national networking platforms in the following five countries: Germany, Hungary, Spain, the Netherlands and China. The national platforms set up voluntary agreements and started different pilot activities against food waste, which are presented in this video.

This video shows options studied within REFRESH of how to use food side flows in a more sustainable way than it is done today. One example is feeding treated surplus food to omnivorous livestock.

This video summarises the REFRESH project’s activities and findings in the field of consumer behavior. Households account for more than half of the food waste generated in the EU. A large survey conducted by REFRESH in four European countries revealed relevant information on consumer food waste behavior that was used to draw conclusions for policy makers.