The European Commission has proposed a carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) that would apply the carbon price prevailing in the EU emissions trading system to import-related emissions. In July 2021, the authors, including Dr. Michael Jakob of Ecologic Institute, conducted a survey to study perceptions of an EU CBAM among German key stakeholders from industry, civil society, and research. They find that substantial support for CBAM exists, as well as the expectation that the mechanism will eventually be introduced. Divergent views on key design options were found among stakeholder groups.

51 years ago, on 14 October 1971, the Federal Government's Environmental Programme was adopted and has lost none of its relevance to this day. On the occasion of the conclusion of the contemporary historical study on German environmental policy since 1971 conducted by Ecologic Institute, an exciting analysis is now available.

On 23 November 2022, Dr. Stephan Sina, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, participated as an expert in a hearing of the Hessian State Parliament's Committee for Environment, Climate Protection, Agriculture and Consumer Protection on the Government draft of a Hessian Act on the Promotion of Climate Protection and Adaptation to the Consequences of Climate Change. Together with about 40 associations and experts, he commented on the draft law and answered questions from members of parliament.

The study aims to provide the European Parliament with an overview of the challenges faced by the agricultural sector regarding the evolution of climate extreme events in the European Union. It highlights existing solutions to help farmers mitigate the effects of extreme weather events and recover from climate-related disasters.

Diverse crop rotation, mechanical weed control, beneficial insects to protect crops: According to a study commissioned by BUND, standard practice in organic farming could also be used more often by conventional farmers. Aaron Scheid from the Ecologic Institute and author of the study in an interview with Deutschlandfunk radio about non chemical plant protection measures.

Pesticide reduction, which is urgently needed, is already anchored as a goal in the German coalition agreement between SPD, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen and FDP and also in the EU Commission's Farm to Fork Strategy. However, in order to motivate farmers to use non-chemical alternatives, some adjustments are still necessary. A financial compensation is an important part of this. We cordially invite you to the launch of the BUND study "Alternatives to chemical-synthetic pesticides in agriculture" and appreciate your interest.

The project "Climate Adaptation Naturally Nature-based Solutions for Municipalities" aims to communicate the potential of nature-based solutions for climate adaptation in cities and municipalities in a targeted manner and to support cities and municipalities in the implementation of such solutions with the help of practice-oriented applications. The project primarily addresses climate adaptation managers in the municipalities, but also representatives from urban planning and development, green space offices and nature conservation authorities, education and culture, water and wastewater management.

This project analyzed different policy options that could counteract such export-related leakage, but which are problematic in different ways in terms of their environmental, political, and legal implications. The analysis identifies targeted innovation support as a promising option because it minimizes legal and political risks while also offering climate benefits beyond leakage protection for European industry. Guiding principles for technology support measures were derived.

This input paper delves into three selected policy approaches to support more plant-based diets.

On 21 November 2022, Ecologic Institute kick-started a new webinar series for young people in Europe. Participants entered the dialogue with the webinar hosts Ewa Iwaszuk and Aaron Best from Ecologic Institute and their expert guests Adam Wallin from We Don’t Have Time and Stefan De Keersmaecker, Coordinating Spokesperson for the European Green Deal from the European Commission to discuss what the European Green Deal means for young people in Europe.

Stephan Sina 2022: Stellungnahme zum Gesetzentwurf der Landesregierung für ein Hessisches Gesetz zur Förderung des Klimaschutzes und zur Anpassung an die Folgen des Klimawandels (Hessisches Klimagesetz - HKlimaG) – Drucks. 20/9276 –1. Berlin: Ecologic Institut.

Ewa Iwaszuk, a Fellow at Ecologic Institute, held a presentation "Policy instruments to promote implementation of nature-based solutions" at a side-event "Nature-based solutions for building performance" during the global climate conference COP27 in Sharm-el-Sheikh (Egypt). Ewa's presentation made the case that policy instruments and their governance act as critical enablers or barriers to adoption of nature-based solutions. She presented the Urban Governance Atlas that Ecologic Institute is currently developing in the frames of the INTERLACE project and discussed good practice examples of policy instruments from around the world that support the implementation of nature-based solutions at a building level.

The program "Bridging Global Divides" provides students from the University of Colorado Denver with the opportunity to spend three months in Berlin, while studying relevant contemporary issues such as the ecological crisis, the politics of injustice, international politics, and dictatorships.

This paper provides an overview of the process of developing an LTS and its challenges, examines the support available for countries undergoing this process, and presents some ideas on how the G20 could raise the political profile of the strategies. It has been included as input into the T20 process preceding the 2020 summit.

Leading institutes from the fields of sustainability and futures studies welcome the development of a "Future Strategy for Research and Innovation" by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. At the same time, they point out that, while the presented draft provides significant momentum, it does not yet fully consider the societal challenges and the urgency to act.