At the Think2030 conference in Brussels, Aaron Scheid discussed the role of the agricultural sector in reaching climate neutrality by 2050 during a Science4Policy session. Despite some progress so far, efforts have stagnated, and current projections indicate only a modest reduction of greenhouse gases (GHG) by 2030, ultimately making the sector number one in terms of GHGs emissions. Therefore, shifting support away from emission-intensive practices and transitioning into a low-emission agricultural sector must be our first priority, while making farmers the driver of the transition.

In this webinar, ECNO invites stakeholders to reflect on the changes in approach to industrial transition that have been taking place over the last year.

In the finale of "Green Deal – Big Deal?" Season 1 we dive deep into EU ETS2, the EU's expanded emissions trading system, now encompassing buildings and transport sectors.

In this 5th episode of CLIMATE ON AIR, we discuss with climate policy integration experts Kati Kulovesi (University of Eastern Finland) and Sebastian Oberthür (Vrije Universiteit Brussels) about the essential role of climate policy integration on the path to the EU's climate neutrality transition. We delve deeper into the EU's legal and governance aspects that are necessary for successful climate policy integration, highlighting the significant role of the European Climate Law in setting a legally binding climate neutrality target, alongside the EU Governance Regulation.

On 13 March 2024, Doris Knoblauch (Ecologic Institute) gave a lecture on "Plastics and the Environment" highlighting the need for a global plastics treaty at a postgraduate course, where 21 experts from ministries, authorities, municipalities, non-governmental organizations and industry from low-income countries and emerging economies were represented and exchanged. The focus was on why plastic pollution is a problem and why we urgently need an international, legally binding plastics treaty.

Niepołomice, a Polish city with almost 30,000 inhabitants, has received customised training on how to tackle challenges in their community with nature-based solutions. Marcela Gutierrez (University of Costa Rica), Natalia Burgos Cuevas and Doris Knoblauch (both Ecologic Institute) presented concrete options for the municipality to representatives of the city of Niepołomice in March 2024, after the city representatives had presented the urban challenges in December 2023.

Organized by the Euro-Mediterranean Climate Change Center (CMCC) in close collaboration with the EU Climate Change Adaptation Mission, the European project Climateurope2 celebrated a festival uniting science, services and standards for a climate resilient future from 11 to 13 March 2024. Dr. Grit Martinez of Ecologic Institute contributed to the festival with a set of activities spanning from facilitation of fishbowl discussion and break out groups with practitioners to an interview with the media team of Climateurope2. Climateurope2 team wishes to thank all participants for actively participating in the Climateurope2 Festival. The insightful discussions, presentations and debates that took place over the three days of the event laid the basis for fostering new connections within the European climate services community.

Ecologic Institute was part of the first European Carbon Farming Summit, which took place from 6 to 7 March 2024 in Valencia. This event gathered hundreds of people from academia, the private and public sector, farmers and farmers associations who engaged in the discussion around the upcoming EU Carbon Farming Certification Framework (CRCF). Aaron Scheid and Julia Pazmiño Murillo shared the outcomes of their work as part of the CREDIBLE Project and hosted a breakout session to discuss the minimum requirements to ensure carbon farming delivers sustainability benefits within the CRCF framework and beyond.

This document compiles useful sources for MS to inform nature restoration planning. It aims to support MS in the contextualization, design and planning of nature restoration measures in their NRPs and includes links to established (i) guidelines and standards, (ii) key platforms and networks, and (iii) databases.

The report "Research and Monitoring Activities on Litter in Groundwater, Rivers, Lakes, Transitional Waters, and Soil" discusses the results of a questionnaire that was distributed to European countries via the German Federal Environment Agency. The report focuses on current and planned research and monitoring activities as well as strategies to control litter in different environmental compartments.

The negotiations of the Carbon Removals Certification Framework (CRCF) have put EU climate policies at a critical juncture. These negotiations raise some essential questions concerning the further development of EU climate policy.

The KOPOS criteria set serves to make the sustainability and transformation impacts of initiatives in the food sector measurable and visible. It provides a basis for evaluating and improving the sustainability of projects, and is useful both for initiatives themselves and for institutions wishing to promote sustainability projects. In addition to the actual set of criteria, this working paper provides an introduction and a derivation of the criteria.

In this episode of "Green Deal – Big Deal?", we tackle the complex world of natural resources, a topic that underpins many aspects of Europe's ambition for a green future. In conversation with guests Florika Fink-Hooijer, Director-General of European Commission’s DG Environment, and Janez Potočnik, Co-chair of the International Resources Panel, hosts Ewa Iwaszuk and Aaron Best discuss how the use of natural resources is closely linked to the climate and biodiversity crises, highlighting the global nature of resource use and its impacts.

On 22 February 2024, Dr. Benjamin Kupilas and Fenja Kroos gave a presentation at the 6th ad-hoc meeting on future national restoration plans (NRPs) organized by DG ENV. They presented their work on the Compilation of Existing Guidance on Ecosystem Restoration commissioned by DG ENV.

McKenna Davis, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute and Coordinator of Nature-based Solutions, held a keynote at the online webinar ‘Engaging the public in GBGI projects’, where she spoke about inclusive governance and how to learn from real world policy practices to support co-governance in practice. She also presented the Urban Governance Atlas.