There are numerous regulatory approaches for handling plastic products and plastic waste in various areas such as waste and recycling policy, marine protection or chemicals policy. During the workshop, Linda Mederake gave an insight into existing plastic regulations and initiatives at the international, European and national levels to reduce the amount of plastics entering the environment. She critically discussed what stages in the life cycle of plastics are targeted by political solutions and she also highlighted regulatory gaps.

The IPCC published a special report on Climate Change and Land (SRCCL) in August 2019. The report shows that climate change is increasing pressure on land systems. At the same time, however, land systems also play an important role in climate protection, for example through the preservation of ecosystems, more sustainable agriculture and forestry, more climate-friendly diets and the avoidance of food wastage.

This infographic visualises the evaluation results of various measures to promote electric vehicles. It specifies the corresponding measures and illustrates the evaluation criteria. The infographic is licensed under a Creative Commons license CC BY-ND 4.0, i. e. it can be used without any changes, if the author is mentioned.

Due to climate change, the Emscher region is expected to face increased challenges from low flows and drought in the coming decades. For affected water bodies, cooperation between different actors is crucial. The workshop discussed problems and solutions for their cooperation.

The German government has stated its intention to implement a climate protection law this year. Half of the German federal states already have such laws, and a good third of the EU's Member States, do too. So what does such a framework climate law actually do? And what has to be included in such a law in order for it to be effective? These are the questions addressed in the fifth episode of the environmental podcast "Knowledge for Future". It draws on the background information of several related publications produced by Ecologic Institute.

With the recent update of its Bioeconomy Strategy, the guidance of its advisory bodies and the engagement of regional groups and representatives, Europe has found a new track towards a sustainable bioeconomy, building on the notion that regions are the most appropriate territorial level at which to implement bioeconomy strategies. The BE-Rural project incorporates this regional focus into its core vision, putting its regional Open Innovation Platforms (OIPs) front and center in the process of studying the potential for regional bioeconomies, and articulating and implementing strategies to make them a reality.

While hardly anyone would argue against the importance of cities and local governments in the implementation of climate policies, what remains contested is their role in the international climate regime. This analysis by Ecologic Institute uncovers how the activities of cities and transnational city networks, which have been evolving over the years, have gradually broadened the international climate regime, although cities are not subjects of international law. The analysis is available for download.

This working paper identifies the main overarching trends affecting the food supply system, sets out the environmental and socio-economic implications of spatial decoupling of food production, consumption and disposal, and addresses the particular role of urbanisation in changing supply systems. The effects in industrialised and developing countries are considered in equal measure.

This report outlines the conceptual framework of BE-Rural and provides practical guidance to the design and implementation of the five regional Open Innovation Platforms (OIPs) within BE-Rural. This conceptual framework aims to provide guidance regarding the overall ambition of BE-Rural, and the foundations by which the project will operate throughout its duration. The first part of this document describes the context, objectives and regional focus to be taken within the project. The second part outlines key concepts and founding principles that lay at the heart of the project. Following this, the conceptual framework of BE-Rural is presented and discussed.

Since 2012, more than 200 experts from various fields of water management and nature conservation, the federal states and the federal government, the federal waterway administration, the energy industry, hydraulic engineering, fisheries biology, nature conservation, fishing and fishing associations and university science have been involved in the German Participatory Forum on Fish Protection and Downstream Migration. In the second cycle of the Forum, from 2015 to 2018, the productive dialogue was continued and a better understanding or various aspects of fish protection and downstream fish migration was compiled. This report documents the project work of the 2nd cycle and is available for download.

In Europe, limited information is available about the environmental characteristics of the vehicles stocks and of traded used vehicles in terms of vehicle's air pollutant and CO2 emissions. In this context and on behalf of the European Environmental Agency, Ecologic Institute and Fraunhofer ISI explore available national and European data sources of vehicle stocks and trade throughout Europe and compile the available vehicle characteristics. Based on the available characteristics, the project team derives the environmental performance of vehicle stocks and traded used vehicles and assess respective regional differences in the environmental performance of the vehicles stocks and of used vehicle trade flows.

The circular economy aims to maintain the value of products, materials and resources in the economy for as long as possible while minimising the generation of waste and material inputs through eco-design, recycling and reusing of products. The circular economy offers significant potential for climate change mitigation, as it helps reducing greenhouse emissions that occur over the life cycle of a product from production to disposal (or cradle to grave).

In this EFEX webinar Marijke de Roeck, lead project coordinator of the CIVITAS Portis initiative and Katia Kishchenko, local dissemination manager, discussed sustainable mobility in the city of Antwerp (Belgium). Their presentation touched on the importance of improving cooperation between relevant bodies – in the case of Antwerp, the port and municipal authorities – as well as the city's growing experience with shared mobility services. They also discussed major findings of the CIVITAS Portis project regarding transport choices and behavioral change. The webinar was moderated by Matthias Duwe, Head Climate at Ecologic Institute.

The new President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has promised a European climate law. What it should look like describe Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf and Katharina Umpfenbach in the Tagesspiegel. The law should close five gaps.

Hannes Schritt hold a presentation concerning water in Berlin and Virtual Water at the BUNDjugend German-Egyptian Youth Exchange in Berlin. As part of the presentation he explained the water cycle of Berlin: Treated waste water is reused as drinking water to ensure water availability. In addition, Berlin gets drinking water by river bank filtration from Havel, Spree and Dahme. As a result of both, Berlin's drinking water quality depends on good water quality of the effluent of the waste water treatment plants and the rivers crossing the city. After presenting primarily technical aspects Hannes Schritt talked about political conflicts and inititiatives concerning water in Berlin and the concept of Virtual Water. The presentation slides are available for download.