The Directorate-General for Climate Action of the European Commission hosted a half-day workshop on the design of an EU purchasing programme for permanent carbon removal. The workshop served as a platform to share ongoing research and to gather insights from funders, buyers, and policy experts about the motivations behind carbon removal investments and the prerequisites for a successful EU initiative.

This ECNO report assesses transparency and policy information in the final National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) of four EU countries: France, Ireland, Italy, and Sweden. The report evaluates whether these plans provide a sufficient blueprint for achieving national climate targets.

Rewetting peatlands – but how? This new guide provides an overview of the key steps involved in planning, financing and authorising peatland protection projects in Lower Saxony, as well as the associated measures. Commissioned by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, the brochure features contributions from Felix Dengler and Ulf Stein on behalf of the Ecologic Institute.

This document serves as an informational pre-read for the workshop Perspectives on a Purchasing Programme for CRCF Permanent Carbon Removal Credits, that took place on 21 May 2025 in Brussels, hosted by DG CLIMA.

The project analyses the development of environmental crime in Germany between 2013 and 2024, based on data from the Police Crime Statistics (PKS) and the law enforcement statistics of the Federal Statistical Office. The analysis provides both an overview of long-term trends and an in-depth assessment of individual categories of environmental offences.

In 2024, the EU comprehensively revised its Environmental Crime Directive (ECD). This report analyses how the 'ecocide' regulation of the ECD could be transposed into German law.

The Ecologic Institute-led SCALE-UP project played a central role in the European Rural Circular Bioeconomy Conference (EuRCBC), held on 13 and 14 May 2025, at Comet Louise in Brussels. As a member of the Rural Bioeconomy Alliance, SCALE-UP – together with five other EU-funded projects – brought together stakeholders from local communities, policymaking, industry, and rural regions to explore concrete pathways for accelerating Europe's rural bioeconomy. Representatives from Ecologic Institute – Holger Gerdes, Zoritza Kiresiewa and Gerardo Anzaldúa – delivered insightful presentations and contributed to dynamic panel discussions.

Nature-based solutions, such as green spaces or river restoration, can make a valuable contribution to municipal climate adaptation. The new topic page 'Nature-based climate adaptation' on the Federal Environment Agency's website highlights different aspects of such approaches and offers municipalities targeted support in their planning and implementation. In addition to information on the legal framework and funding issues, it also contains practical examples and helpful publications. Ecologic Institute designed and implemented the content of the website on behalf of the Federal Environment Agency.

As part of the annual Marine Nature Conservation Colloquium, scientists from the research projects commissioned by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) present their interim results and open questions. On behalf of Ecologic Institute, Dr. Grit Martinez presented initial results from the research project The German North Sea and Baltic Sea over 100 years ago (HISTOMAR). The "Shifting Baseline Syndrome" was the focus of the presentation and the subsequent discussion.

In the workshop we will explore resources such as a comprehensive guidance on developing ambitious local long-term climate neutrality strategies, present insights from working with small and medium-sized pilot municipalities in Poland, Hungary, Romania and Croatia to support their progress towards reaching climate neutrality and discuss ways forward for local climate action in the EU in the current dynamic political context.

This review explores the potential synergies between marine conservation and climate adaptation strategies, which are critical for addressing climate change impacts in European coastal and marine areas. The article, published in Frontiers in Marine Science, identifies and evaluates integrated approaches that support both marine ecosystem protection and climate adaptation.

Across Europe, cities are feeling the growing impact of climate change – from prolonged heatwaves to more frequent and severe flooding. For local planners and decision-makers, responding to these complex challenges often means navigating tough decisions with limited guidance. To bridge this gap, the REACHOUT project has developed two new explainer videos that bring climate service tools to life. These short, accessible films introduce the Triple-A Toolkit – a practical, science-based platform designed to support urban adaptation and resilience planning.

On 14 April 2025, 80 municipal representatives, researchers and urban planning experts came together to explore practical approaches to mitigating the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect. The workshop featured case studies from Athens, Milan, and Vienna, highlighting local adaptation strategies, analytical tools, and implementation mechanisms that support urban resilience.

A new paper by the Ecologic Institute and Oeko-Institut discusses how to design climate target for Member States. The paper explores seven options how to best design national climate targets for the time after 2030. This paper is available for download.