This document drafts a concept of the information architecture and user interface of the European Climate Neutrality Observatory (ECNO) website. It served to develop a common vision of the website and its data structure within the project team.
Animal products are an essential part of today's German diet, but they are associated with a variety of environmental problems, such as global warming, eutrophication of soils and waters, etc.. These cause external costs. The study, co-authored by Aaron Scheid and Benjamin Görlach of Ecologic Institute, estimates these external costs for animal products and examines policy measures to address them.
This document provides country specific information on key elements from the 22 national long-term climate strategies extracted for the cross-country analysis in table format. It allows for selection of specific criteria as well as for the selection of specific countries.
Indicators measuring progress towards climate neutrality must address the often structural, sectoral, and cross-sectoral changes implied by the transition, covering both the economic and social dimensions. To address this, Ecologic Institute developed this working document, testing an indicator framework for assessing the progress to climate neutrality by 2050. The document offers a glimpse at areas where developments are currently headed in the right direction or lagging behind.
Following four years of development negotiations, Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework on 19 December 2022, replacing the CBD's Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and its Aichi Targets. Ecologic Institute produced a series of policy briefs on ecosystem restoration, which is a key priority and specific target in the new global biodiversity framework. A separate publication on the outcomes of the CBD COP15 and their relevance to the UN Decade for Ecosystem Restoration is in preparation.
In this brief, researchers from Ecologic Institute and Öko-Institut critically assess the Commission's 2022 proposal for Framework for Carbon Removals Certification as it applies to climate-friendly soil management. In particular, they evaluate whether Framework's so-called QU.A.L.ITY criteria (Quantification, Additionality, Long-term storage, Sustainability) are sufficient to ensure high quality soil carbon removals. The brief summarises the specific challenge posed by soil carbon sequestration, identifies problems with the current proposal, and makes recommendations for improvements. The brief is available for download.
This report offers a critical and in-depth analysis of current financing and implementation practices for climate adaptation measures in Europe and provides strategic recommendations for optimizing these processes.
This policy brief explores the potential and benefits of marine restoration, as proposed in the regulation. Marine and coastal ecosystems are immensely important for biodiversity and human well-being. Restoring marine areas can enable the respective ecosystems to (once again) perform their natural functions, improving their overall health and resilience.
The Commission's proposal to certify carbon removals is a climate policy milestone, but it steers EU climate policy towards dangerous shoals. Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf – together with Anne Siemons and Hannes Böttcher from Öko-Institut – discusses how to circumnavigate them in the Tagesspiegel.
What is the task of sustainability research and what are its prospects for the coming years? And what are orientation points for the research policy agenda in the context of multiple crises? These are the questions that were discussed with guests from the political arena and civil society on January 24, 2023.
IEEP and the Ecologic Institute, as part of the Think Sustainable Europe network, have prepared a series of thematic policy briefs to inform policymakers of some of the key benefits of nature restoration.
The EU taxonomy regulation for sustainable finance has received much attention. As a living document, it requires regular reviewing and updating. So what's next in stall for the policy's development? On 16 January 2023, representatives from politics, industry (financial and non-financial), academia and the civil society came together to discuss exactly that. R. Andreas Kraemer moderated the event that featured an initial impulse from Korbinian Reiter (Kanzlei Redeker) and comments from Silke Stremlau (Hannoversche Kassen) and Sabine Pex (BMUV).
On 15 January 2023 Ewa Iwaszuk gave a lecture to the students of Intercollegiate Academy of Climate, a post-graduate diploma course jointly run by three universities in Poland. Ewa’s lecture presented key steps and elements that need to be considered by local governments when developing climate mitigation and adaptation strategies. It also presented a landscape of local governance instruments that can be developed and implemented to support integrated planning, cross-sectoral cooperation, participation of citizens and sustainable implementation of such strategies.
Ecologic Institute coordinated the organisation of the European event "Tackling microplastics in the environment". It focussed on specific results and policy recommendations from scientific research projects from Germany and other EU member states. We invited policy stakeholders at the EU level as well as other interested stakeholders to learn more about these new findings on microplastic emissions into the environment and how to reduce them. Social media cards were created to draw stakeholders' attention to the event.