The EU is discussing whether its 2030 climate target should be a net target or gross target. Net targets treat CO2 removal and greenhouse gas emission reductions the same, although they are fundamentally different. To avoid a major step backwards, the EU should formulate separate targets for emissions reductions and CO2 removal, argues Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf in his contribution to the Tagesspiegel.

As part of the Berlin Re-Use Initiative, the online expert dialog on the recycling of gypsum took place on 26 November 2020. This expert dialogue, to which the Senate Department for the Environment, Transport and Climate Protection of the State of Berlin invited together with relevant associations and companies, was dedicated to important issues around gypsum recycling. Eighty-five people took part in the expert dialog.

On November 2020, over 40 international experts with research and governance backgrounds on marine Arctic conservation and its governance frameworks discussed the protection of the Arctic maritime ecosystems as subject of the "Arctic Marine Conservation Dialogue". The experts converged in working groups on "Area-based management" under climate change, sustainable fisheries in the Arctic and oil, gas and biodiversity protection, identified the Status Quo and the specific challenges of the respective subject areas and turned towards potential solutions. The workshop proceedings are available for download.

Kraemer, R. Andreas; Benjamin Görlach 2020: After the Pandemic: Global Overheating to Take Centre Stage at T20 and G20. Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI): Milano.

What matters for the climate is the total amount of emissions and removals over time and corresponding levels of atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) concentration. The current focus on reductions achieved as of a specific moment in time disguises this. Emission budgets that quantify the total amount of permissible emissions would address this problem. The EU should establish an emission budget within its Climate Law. This emission budget should include all GHG emissions, not only CO2. These are some of the key findings of this briefing paper.

Within the framework of the Global Bioeconomy Summit 2020, Holger Gerdes and Zoritza Kiresiewa, together with the POWER4BIO project, organized a breakout session on "Local-Level Bioeconomy" on 18 November 2020. This session formed part of the workshop "Rebooting the economy – sustainability, growth, and climate action delivered by the bioeconomy," which the European Commission's DG RTD hosted in collaboration with BE-Rural, POWER4BIO, and other partners. Holger and Zoritza took charge of the program design: they introduced BE-Rural, implemented participatory methods, and coordinated the flow via digital platforms so that more than 30 participants engaged interactively.

Modernising the EU's building stock is essential to meet the twin goals of climate action and green recovery. The building sector is responsible for 27 % of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and for 36 % of energy-related GHG emissions when considering direct and indirect GHG emissions. According to the European Commission, building renovation rates must double to contribute to the envisioned 55 % emission reduction by 2030 – and this in turn is vital to go climate neutral by 2050.

The Think2030 Conference got off to an inspiring start with keynotes by Dr. Camilla Bausch of Ecologic Institute, Prof. Hans Bruyninckx, President of the EEA and Prof. Klaus Töpfer, founder of TMG and former Executive Director of UNEP. Their speeches marked the opening of the 2-day conference on "Harnessing the European Green Deal to address the Climate Crisis". The conference marked the occasion of Ecologic Institute's 25th anniversary.

On the occasion of its 25th anniversary, Ecologic Institute, together with the Institute for European Environmental Policy and TMG, hosted the Think2030 conference "Harnessing the European Green Deal to Address the Climate Crisis: Anticipating Risks, Fostering Resilience" on 16 and 17 November 2020. More than 300 participants from across Europe made the conference an interesting, stimulating and enjoyable event. Keynote speeches by high-level speakers and interactive breakout sessions provided new perspectives on how the European Green Deal can be harnessed to address the climate crisis and foster a green recovery.

Recent and historic high-impact events have demonstrated significant flood risks to many coastal areas in Europe and across the globe. Understanding the behavior of humans in relation to risk management poses grand challenges for both natural and social sciences and humanities. The study analyzes the cultural aspects of coastal risk management and illustrates path-dependencies of concrete disaster risk reduction measures in relation to local contexts in European coastal regions in Northern and South Western Europe. Dr. Grit Martinez from Ecologic Institute co-authored the journal article.

To fulfill its commitments under the Paris Agreement, the European Union plans to increase the ambition of its 2030 greenhouse gas emissions reduction target. As a basis for this debate, in December 2020, the EU Commission published the communication "Stepping up Europe's 2030 climate ambition" and a related Impact Assessment (IA) on raising the 2030 target in September 2019. In the communication, the Commission proposed to increase the EU target to -55% compared to 1990 and presents different policy approaches to reach this target.

This user manual supports the members of the German Roundtable on Marine Litter in using the internet platform https://muell-im-meer.de. In the internal area of the platform, members have various possibilities to present their organization and its activities for reducing marine litter as well as to participate in working groups. Distribution list maintenance and communication within the Roundtable on Marine Litter is also handled and documented via the platform.

In the Europe-wide FIThydro project, Ecologic Institute worked with research and industry partners to study existing hydroelectric power plants. Together the project partners developed new assessment methods and technologies such as a fish population hazard index, simulations for fish migration and an open-access decision support tool for hydropower planning. The goal: making hydropower more fish-friendly and environmentally sustainable. All project results are made available online.