While diffusion patterns are quite well understood in the context of the Global North, diffusion research has only been applied to a limited extent to investigate how policies spread across developing countries. Ecologic Institute's Doris Knoblauch, Linda Mederake and Ulf Stein therefore analyze the diffusion patterns of plastic bag bans and taxes in the Global South and Global North to contribute to the further refinement of diffusion theory by specifically addressing the under-researched Global South. The article is available for download.

From 11 until 14 June 2018 transitions scholars and stakeholders from around the world met for the 9th International Sustainability Transitions (IST) conference in Manchester (United Kingdom). Dr. Grit Martinez of Ecologic Institute spoke in a dialogue session about cultural conventions, system reconfigurations and transitions.

The RECREATE Green Horizons Scoreboard is a website that presents relevant indicators for tackling societal challenges in the areas of climate action, resource efficiency and raw materials. The Scoreboard provides indicators on ten different Environmental Innovation Systems, or fields of knowledge, that are of high relevance to the areas of climate action, resource efficiency and raw materials.

This summary pocket book presents key recommendations gathered in the project RECREATE regarding future research and innovation needs in "Societal Challenge 5: Climate Action, Environment, Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials". The results include very concrete recommendations on selected topics, overarching recommendations which shall help integrating the different research areas better and recommendations regarding the use of various methodologies. The summary pocket book is available for download.

Krüger, Ina et al., (2016): Marine Strategy Framework Directive, AQUACROSS Policy Review, European Union's Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation grant agreement No. 642317.

Ecologic Institute's Elizabeth Zelljadt explained emissions trading systems (ETS) at a workshop on carbon pricing in Latin America and the Caribbean hosted by the environmental advocacy group World Wildlife Fund (WWF). As several Latin American countries are implementing carbon pricing policies – from carbon taxes applied to fossil fuels to carbon markets similar to the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) – Latin American WWF leaders brought their members together with external carbon pricing experts for a workshop on measures to price carbon around the world. The international group of participants, which included officials from the Mexican government and the United Nations, also addressed the status of global negotiations around this issue.

Bio-based industries aim to convert biological inputs, residue and wastes into greener everyday products. The industry is small compared to more traditional ones and it is a nascent industry undergoing rapid developments. Developing bio-based products demand technological innovations and market development. The fifteen success stories of specific bio-based products in this brochure, span over nine EU Member States, and they cover a wide range of products and applications. The brochure is available for download.

This brochure includes a set of infographics presenting the top 20 innovative bio-based products in Europe. Through an assessment of the active marketplace, EU-based development, innovation degree and market potential, the top 20 most innovative BBPs holding the greatest promise for commercial deployment within the next 5–10 years were identified. This selection includes engineering materials, new bioplastics, high added-value products for demanding applications in the pharmaceutical and biomedical fields as well as sustainable substitutes for critical raw materials. The brochure is available for download.

In April 2018, the second cycle of the Forum "Fish Protection and Downstream Migration" ended, which was devoted, among other things, to improving the implementation of measures. In this article, the authors, among them Dr. Ulf Stein of Ecologic Institute, summarize the intensive discourse between all stakeholders over the past six years and present the resulting twelve recommendations. The recommendations describe how to proceed with this topic in the future and how to avoid potential conflicts in practice. The article is published in WasserWirtschaft, Issue 06/2018, Springer Vieweg.

This conference looked into the innovative bio-based products sector. It presented key insights on the environmental impacts, investment potential and innovative aspects of selected bio-based products.

On World Environment Day 2018 the National Territorial Planning Agency of Albania (AKPT) held an event where government officials, NGOs, universities and research institutes as well as members of the general public gathered to discuss the progress of the BRIGAID H2020 project and its prospects in the Balkan country. Gerardo Anzaldúa, Fellow at Ecologic Institute, presented the first results of his working group on business development and financing support to climate innovators. The presentation slides are available for download.

Addressing climate change and natural resource depletion has been key to the international and national sustainability agenda for almost 30 years. Despite existing efforts, global CO2 emissions and raw material use levels continue to grow. This seems to suggest the need for more systemic approaches in environmental policy. The authors, among them Ecologic Institute's Dr. Martin Hirschnitz-Garbers, call upon policy makers to integrate rebound mitigation strategies and move beyond exclusively improving efficiency to tackling structural and behavioural changes. The article is available for download.

The SimRess project tested the potential effects of future developments and strategies relevant to resource policy on important environmental and economic indicators. The study summarises the main project findings of the project "Models, Potentials and Long-Term Scenarios for Resource Efficiency". It is available for download.

Within the Paris Agreement, the European Union (EU) committed to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions produced in the EU by 20% between 1990 and 2020, and by at least 40% between 1990 and 2030, with the aim of keeping the global temperature rise well below 2°C. In order to achieve this, Europe has to invest approximately 179 billion € additionally per year. The post-2020 EU budget could contribute to this sum and help to engage private investors. In this regard, the Ecologic Institute analyzes the EU Commission’s proposals on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2021-2027.

On 1 and 2 June 2018, Ecologic Institute's Lina Röschel, Hugh McDonald, and Philipp Voß participated in the European Parliament's European Youth Event as invited expert panelists. The event was attended by more than 8000 Europeans aged between 16 and 30, who gathered to learn, discuss, and generate ideas for change in Europe. Philipp Voß, Hugh McDonald and Lina Roeschel drew on their research at Ecologic Institute and spoke on three different panels under the topic of "Protecting our Planet", discussing oceans, fresh water, and climate change.