The 2023 publication is Eurostat's seventh regular report monitoring progress towards the SDGs in an EU context. Ecologic Institute's authors covered the chapters on Zero Hunger (SDG 2), Clean Water and Sanitation (SDG 6), Affordable and Clean Energy (SDG 7), Climate Action (SDG 13), Life Below Water (SDG 14), Life on Land (SDG 15) and Partnerships for the Goals (SDG 17). The publication is available for download.

The 2023 edition of the EU SDG indicator set consists of 100 indicators structured along the 17 SDGs and covering the social, economic, environmental and institutional dimensions of sustainability as represented by the 2030 Agenda. Ecologic Institute's authors covered the chapters on Zero Hunger (SDG 2), Clean Water and Sanitation (SDG 6), Affordable and Clean Energy (SDG 7), Climate Action (SDG 13), Life Below Water (SDG 14), Life on Land (SDG 15) and Partnerships for the Goals (SDG 17). The publication is available for download.

As part of the Future Leaders' Global Policy Forum from 22 to 23 May 2023 in Milan, Benedict Bueb, Researcher at Ecologic Institute, took part in a panel discussion on tackling the climate crisis and its impacts. He was joined on the panel by Abla Abdel Latif, Director of the Egyptian Center for Economic Studies (ECES) and Nicola Monti, CEO of Edison. Keynote speeches by Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Vera Songwe, Co-Chair of the High Level Panel on Climate Finance of the World Economic Forum (WEF) completed the panel.

Carbon pricing is gaining traction around the world, as more and more jurisdictions implement emissions trading systems or tax carbon emissions to achieve their climate objectives. The annual "State and Trends of Carbon Pricing" is the flagship report of the World Bank to provide a concise, up-to-date overview of what is happening in this field. With over 70,000 annual downloads, it is one of the most prominent publications on this matter.

The INTERLACE Urban Governance Atlas was officially launched on 11 May 2023 at the INTERLACE Cities Talk Nature Conference in Chemnitz. The first of its kind, the online database showcases 250 policy instruments from 41 countries supporting nature-based solutions and ecosystem restoration. The interactive design invites policymakers, urban planners, researchers, civil society organizations, and others to explore and learn more about what made the instruments successful, lessons learned in their design and implementation, and their approaches to governance.

The workshop is part of a research project of Ecologic Institute and the German Institute of Development and Sustainability, funded by the German Environment Agency. They assess existing literature as well as about 80 globally representative Free Trade Agreements, combining the TREND database with a qualitative analysis of their provisions. The workshop will present and discuss their preliminary findings and open questions.

Our planet is experiencing a biodiversity crisis. And the problem across the EU is also severe, with more than 80% of habitats in the EU now in a bad or poor conservation status. To reverse this alarming trend, the European Commission has proposed the Nature Restoration Law, which aims to restore at least 20% of EU land and sea by 2030, and all ecosystems in need of restoration by 2050.

This policy paper aims to inform discussions about the new policy monitoring mechanism by providing an overview of policy consistency and how to assess it. It discusses the specifics of consistency elaborated in the EU Climate Law, considers the academic and policy understanding of policy consistency and examines how this fits with the provisions in the law.

This paper addresses a gap by providing a conceptual basis to further the understanding of security implications of the EU’s transformation to a net-zero economy. It first defines the aspects of security under consideration (Section 2) and proposes a typology to classify fossil fuel exporting countries based on their exposure to world market prices, their capacity to adjust and their importance to the EU in terms of security issues (Section 3). It then takes stock of policy options that can be adopted in other countries to reduce adjustment costs to a changed economic environment (Section 4) and discusses how the EU can support these policies (Section 5). Finally, it highlights key implications for EU policy makers (Section 6).

How do we classify which investments are the right ones to power the transition to a climate and nature-friendly economy? This is a pretty big question, and one that is crucial to a successful implementation of the European Green Deal. The EU Taxonomy Regulation specifies the various criteria that investments will need to fulfil to be considered sustainable. In practice, the taxonomy is a long list of economic activities with benchmark performance standards.

In this 1st episode of the "CLIMATE ON AIR – Discussing the future of EU climate policy" podcast, hosts Aaron Best from Ecologic Institute and Bradlie Martz-Sigala from the University of Eastern Finland discuss with Anuschka Hilke, Program Director at the Institute for Climate Economics (I4CE) and Benjamin Görlach, Environmental Economist and Head of Economics and Policy Assessment at Ecologic Institute, what "transformative policy" actually means and how it differs from traditional policymaking.

At the Expert Hearing in the European Parliament on "Sustainable management of water and resources in agriculture" on 25 April 2023, Dr. Ulf Stein, Senior Fellow of Ecologic Institute and Coordinator of the Water Studies, was invited as one of four experts. The aim of the event was to speak on the relationship between agriculture and water management in the context of the increasing scarcity of water resources due to climate change. The talk aimed to explore best practices and policy options that can help manage agriculture's impact on water resources, as well as address challenges to agriculture due to weather events such as droughts and floods.

On Thursday, 20 April 2023, INTERLACE hosted a Cities Talk Nature Talks webinar, aiming to strengthen cooperation, learning, and peer-to-peer interactions on the local, regional, and global scales. Natalia Burgos presented on governance instruments to mainstream nature-based solutions and shared best practices gathered in the Urban Governance Atlas.

This policy brief aims to support the work of NGOs and think tanks by developing elements of a green hydrogen agenda for the G20. Based on an analysis of the heterogeneous interests and agenda of the G20 countries, the first part discusses the challenges and opportunities of the G20 as a forum for shaping the emerging markets for hydrogen and hydrogen-based products into a direction that is compatible with climate neutrality. The second section outlines the governance challenge of ensuring the environmental and social sustainability of hydrogen production and use. Finally, it develops options on how to advance a green hydrogen agenda in the G20.

This report, co-authored by Aaron Scheid from Ecologic Institute, summarises the results of a series of assessments of the climate and environmental ambition of the Common Agricultural Policy's (CAP) Strategic Plans. It is based on the detailed study of four Member States (France, Spain, Poland and Germany). The analysis suggests that, while the new CAP structure provides more flexibility to Member States, countries did not take this opportunity to significantly increase support for environmental and climate action.