The INTERLACE Urban Governance Atlas was launched in 2023. It invites political decision-makers, urban planners, researchers, civil society organizations, and all interested parties to delve into the success stories of 250 political instruments from 41 countries. These instruments support nature-based solutions and tools for ecosystem restoration. The Atlas aims to showcase what has made them successful, the lessons learned in their design and implementation, and the governance approaches they employ. Developed by the Ecologic Institute, the infographic provides a clear overview of what the Urban Governance Atlas is and who can benefit from it.

This report summarises key aspects that should be accounted for in the design of policy instruments to support the implementation of climate-friendly soil management measures. It outlines overarching aspects that need to be considered for any type of policy instruments, including land use competition, impacts on soil health, biodiversity impacts, ownership and rights to use of soils and social impacts.

The Commission's proposal on the Carbon Removals Certification Framework puts the EU on a dangerous track that facilitates replacing emission reductions with removals. Integrating carbon removals into the EU Emissions Trading Scheme carries similar risks. Effectively, the debate on the role of carbon removals puts EU climate policies at a cross-roads.

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 was part of a research project of Ecologic Institute and the German Institute of Development and Sustainability, funded by the German Environment Agency. They assessed 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 presented and discussed 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.