Against the backdrop of global supply chains, global environmental crises and climate change, the discussion on interrelations between trade and sustainability has increasingly come to the fore. Ecologic Institute supports the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) in developing politically enforceable options to strengthen sustainability obligations in trade agreements.

As a part of its co-design process, the COACCH project organized a series of interactive stakeholder workshops to discuss research objectives, activities, and outputs. The first three co-design workshops between 2018 and 2020 produced key insights to guide the COACCH project. In this fourth and final workshop, held on 9 and 10 September 2021, the project team presented their concluding research findings and together reviewed the final outputs to be produced. More than 40 participants from eight European countries joined the workshop.

Natural resource extraction and processing accounted for 23 % of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2015. Therefore, reducing resource use through resource efficiency promises significant contributions to climate protection. This "climate-resource-nexus" has mostly been explored from a scientific, Global North-oriented perspective. In this article, researchers from the Ecologic Institute analyze the potential interactions between climate and resource policy in different world regions. They did not find a generic climate-resource-nexus policy. The article is available online.

Regardless of its climate commitments, the EU has continuously failed to phase out fossil fuels. Ending fossil fuels has been one of the most protracted and deadlocked issues of EU climate and energy policies. The Conference on the Future of Europe could give new momentum to this deadlocked debate.

The Berlin Energy and Climate Protection Program 2030 gives solar energy a central role, as it is the most important renewable energy source that can be developed locally. The state government wants to cover 25 percent of Berlin's electricity supply from solar energy as quickly as possible. In the densely populated city, this also requires the roofs of apartment buildings to be used. In the discussion format Wandelwecker on 8 September 2021, Fabian Zuber from the Reiner Lemoine Foundation and Ecologic Institute's Katharina Umpfenbach discussed options transforming the regulation of tenant electricity and local solar power supply. The event was moderated by Valentin Tappeser from IÖW. It became clear that solar expansion can only be achieved at the required speed with a fundamentally new regulatory approach centered around joint self-supply that intelligently links on-site power generation via solar systems with charging of electric vehicles and heat generation.

Ecologic Institute together with the ICLEI African Secretariat and Durham University co-organized a session 'Urban Action Towards a New Deal for Nature' at the IUCN World Conservation Congress on 7 September 2021. The session, moderated by Ecologic Institute's McKenna Davis, demonstrated the success of urban action for biodiversity through evidence and experiences from around the world.

In this presentation, Ecologic Institute's International Climate Protection Fellow Mario Alejandro Delgado Galarraga reviews whether the evolution of Rights of Nature in America has influenced International Environmental Law, especially at a Regional level. It appraise and contrast national legal conducts with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights' Advisory Opinion "OC-23/17" (Environment and Human Rights). Thus, it centre on Comparative Law and International Environmental Law. The presentation was held during the IUCN World Conservation Congress 2021.

By 2030, 80% of the electricity generated in Germany is to come from renewable sources. For this to succeed, electricity market regulations must be further developed. On behalf of the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Environment, Ecologic Institute analyzes various fundamental questions regarding the marketing and promotion of renewable energies. In an interdisciplinary research team led by consentec, Ecologic Institute is responsible for energy law-related issues. Among the central topics are reform approaches for the Renewable Energy Sources Act, the regional steering of the development of renewable energy sources, the marketing of green electricity and the regulation on self-consumption of solar energy.

Coasts and seas both are characterized by intense social-ecological interactions, recently the industrial appropriation of coasts worldwide and oceans as a waste disposal site for port industries and land-based production facilities. In September, White Horse Press' transdisciplinary history journal Global Environment published a special issue dedicated to Coastal Cities and their struggle for coping mechanism to the recent crisis. The special issue was edited by Ecologic Institute and starts with an introductory chapter on the more-than-ever-growing need to consider different ideas, narratives and power relations of coastal and maritime actors and groups in order to shape a coastal management that is ecologically and socially sustainable.

Mexico took a significant step forward in January 2020 by initiating the pilot phase of its emissions trading system (ETS), making it the first country in Latin America to adopt such a system. The launch was a key milestone – eight years after the legal basis was established to develop the ETS. In this period the Mexican Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) has been developing the rules for the system, with the objective of reducing emissions efficiently, without affecting the competitiveness of national industries in the international market. To support this endeavour, a consortium of international and local experts came together to provide technical advisory services and capacity building for the successful implementation of the pilot phase and the design of the operational phase for the Mexican ETS.

On 1 September 2021, 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 draft of the SPD parliamentary group for a law to protect people and nature from climate change and its consequences. Together with twelve associations and experts, he commented on the draft law and answered questions from members of parliament. The written statement of Stephan Sina is published on the website of the Hessian State Parliament (Part 1, page 39 ff.) and is available here separately as a download.

Space and water heating accounts for almost one third of the European final energy consumption. Thus, the sector needs special attention in the decarbonisation process. This study aims to provide a better information basis for policy design targeting decarbonisation of the space and water heating sector.

The funding call "Municipal Networks" is part of the National Climate Initiative (NCI) of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. Since 2008, the NCI funds climate protection projects throughout Germany, thus contributing to the achievement of the Federal Government's climate protection goals. The funding call pursues the economic and sustainable unlocking of saving potentials in the field of energy efficiency, resource efficiency and climate-friendly mobility through cooperation between municipalities and administrative units. The two funding phases cover the recruitment of municipal participants in energy efficiency networks (recruitment phase) and the establishment and operation of these networks (network phase). The funding also serves to permanently maintain these networks beyond the funding period to continuously implement further efficiency measures within this framework.

The funding call for the Innovative Climate Protection Projects is part of the National Climate Protection Initiative (NCI) of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. Since 2008, the NCI funds climate protection projects throughout Germany, thus contributing to the achievement of the Federal Government's climate protection goals. The innovative climate protection projects impart new or disseminate existing knowledge to change behaviour, purchasing decisions, practices, and processes. To this end, the projects run campaigns or provide direct advice, facilitate knowledge exchange, and help with capacity building and education in the diverse climate-relevant fields of action.