What innovations are needed to develop a climate-neutral energy system of the future? How can the national and European climate targets be achieved in 2030? What can Germany do to advance the European Green Deal together with the other member states? These and other questions will be the focus of the virtual Copernicus Symposium on 9 and 10 June 2021.

A breakfast briefing to launch the Think2030 paper 'European food and agriculture in a new paradigm: Can global challenges like climate change be addressed through a farm to fork approach?', co-written by the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) and Ecologic Institute.

The recent decisions by the Constitutional Court and the German government on national climate legislation have brought new wind to the climate debate. But what does this mean for Berlin? Are the new targets suitable for transfer to the capital? Is the level of ambition sufficient to limit CO2 emissions "in line with Paris requirements" and allow Berlin to shoulder its fair share of the 1.5 degree target? And which areas of improvement do Berlin's politicians have to tackle now in order to set the course towards a climate-neutral Berlin 2045 without burdening the city's most disadvantaged residents in particular?

Reaching climate neutrality by 2050 in the EU requires strong policy making and monitoring to ensure all areas of the European economy get and remain on track. Over two years (2021-2022) Ecologic Institute completed several related research projects and policy assessments on the functioning and fitness of EU climate policy for a net-zero future. These included a first-of-its-kind assessment of the substance of national long-term strategies (LTS), a scoping paper for an EU Carbon Dioxide Removal strategy, the creation of a Climate Framework Laws Info-Matrix as a new resource to document the substance and status of these legislative instruments across Europe, and a net-zero scorecard as proof of concept for a net-zero monitoring framework developed under a previous project.

To achieve climate neutrality by 2050, EU policy will have to be reoriented – from incremental towards structural change. As expressed in the European Green Deal, the challenge is to initiate the necessary transformation to climate neutrality in the coming years, while enhancing competitiveness, productivity, employment. To mobilise the creative, financial and political resources, the EU also needs a governance framework that facilitates cross-sectoral policy integration and that allows citizens, public and private stakeholders to participate in the process and to own the results.

Various economical methods are available for the monetary assessment of the effects of environmentally induced diseases as well as the resulting deaths. This report serves as a basis for the development of concrete monetary valuations of environmental burdens of disease, which is illustrated by three case studies.

The Heinrich Böll Foundation, the book designer Gesine Grotrian and the Ecologic Institute as expert support have worked closely with young people to develop a book for people aged 12 and over that describes the history, production and risks of our plastic consumption in a straightforward, colourful and clearly understandable way. It also shows alternatives and ways out of dealing with plastic and its dangers. The book is available online.

Both Germany and Chile have decided to phase out coal – to slash greenhouse gas emissions and to modernise the power sector. In a new publication, Agora Energiewende compared the experiences of both countries to distill lessons for policymakers navigating the challenges of exiting coal in their own countries. Ecologic Institute contributed the case study on the German coal phase-out. It looked at the increasingly conflicted position of coal in the country's energy transition, the role of the coal commission and the process leading up to the coal phase-out decision. The analysis was done in support of the working group of the Chilean-German Energy Partnership.

This status report was prepared within the framework of the cross-cutting issue 1 "Analytics and reference materials" of the research focus Plastics in the Environment. It summarizes the contents of the project discussions and coordination within the cross-cutting issue. The organization of this ongoing process of development or elaboration has been supported by several events between 2018 and 2020.

Climate change, biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation are linked and interdependent challenges needing to be addressed in an integrated manner. Synergies can be enhanced by building on the multifunctionality and multiple benefits of biodiversity and healthy ecosystems, captured under Nature-based Solutions (NbS). These topics were explored in the session "Nature as a solution: For resilience, mitigation and sustainable development" during the 5th European Climate Change Adaptation Conference (ECCA2021). Ecologic Institute's McKenna Davis was a keynote speaker, presenting on the EU and global environmental policy landscapes and their role as a help or hindrance to NbS uptake.

The Conference on the Future of Europe is now in full swing. This political process could become a milestone in EU climate policy making – provided that its recommendations are specific and focus on the EU's ability to act, writes Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf in the EU Observer. He makes three proposals how the conference could become a success for EU climate policies. The article is available online.

How can result-based payments be designed to support scaling up of agricultural practices that reduce emissions and deliver robust carbon removals?  A technical guidance for setting up such payments has been published by DG Climate Action. Ecologic Institute co-wrote the guidance with its partners IEEP and COWI.

Plastic waste, plastic parts and microplastics can be found everywhere in the environment. Plastic particles are also detected in living organisms. But what exactly is the situation? To find out, the German Ministry of Research is funding the research priority "Plastics in the Environment" with around 40 million euros. Some of the results of the 20 funded research projects are presented in this video. Further results of the research projects as well as information on the activities of the research focus are available on the website.

For Germany to reach its climate targets, new ways of thinking mobility are essential. For the federal state of Lower Saxony, the mobility transition is particular challenging due the important role cars play in the region. The report "Ways to Sustainable Mobility" (WenaMoNi) analyses in detail where Lower Saxony stands and proposes next steps. Ecologic Institute analysed the legal framework and identified key actors promoting electric and hydrogen-based mobility. Katharina Umpfenbach and Ricarda Faber compared the existing policy instruments to best practices in other countries and to recommendations from science. The analysis shows that a policy approach built on subsidies which has been favoured so far, must be supplemented by pricing instruments if climate targets are to be reached.

This study by Ecologic Institute analyses the potential of areas of law beyond the water law to achieve the objectives of the Water Framework Directive. Germany has so far failed to achieve the various objectives of the Water Framework Directive. According to the thesis on which the study is based, reason for this is not only the lack of financial, personnel and organisational prerequisites, but also the lack of integration of water protection concerns into other areas of law beyond water law. The study is available for download.