Ecologic Institute has been ranked third worldwide among Environment Policy Think Tanks in the University of Pennsylvania's 2019 Global Think Tank Ranking. This marks the 10th consecutive year under the top 10 in this category. Ecologic Institute was also ranked among the Top 10 in the category "Best Quality Assurance and Integrity Policies and Procedures" for the fourth consecutive year.

To mark the launch of the 2019 Global Think Tank Ranking report on 30 January 2020, Ecologic Institute convened and hosted a breakfast discussion of think tankers and policy experts to discuss "The Future of Think Tanks and Policy Advice". The event, co-hosted and sponsored by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, was part of a worldwide launch of the report in over 130 cities around the world, with over 500 think tanks hosting or co-hosting.

Dr. Camilla Bausch provided live comments for the news service WELT during Ursula von der Leyen's keynote address on the European Green Deal (EGN) at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Von der Leyen presented tenets of the EGN – her key political project as the new EC President. The EGN aims to set a path for a climate neutral economy by 2050.

The WDR reports how Europe can become climate neutral by 2050. Quoting the Ecologic Institute, WDR presents the European Green Deal and an EU climate protection law, two flagship initiatives to make the EU climate neutral by 2050. The German article "Green Deal – "green Europe" not an overnight success" is available for listening on the WDR website until 15 January 2025.

The 2-day workshop, funded within the framework of the BMU’s (Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety) Environmental Research Plan, took place from 3 to 4 December 2019 in Augsburg at the Bavarian State Office for the Environment.

On 2 December 2019, Doris Knoblauch and Dr. Stephan Sina, Senior Fellows at Ecologic Institute, held a presentation on "Tackling Plastic Pollution – Introduction to Global Plastic Pollution and the Discussions at the International Level" for 21 experts from ministries, authorities, local government, and non-governmental institutions of low-income countries, including newly industrialized economies.

With future climate neutrality in view green activists from Berlin's city districts discussed local climate action at the "#FromVisionToAction!" conference. In her introductory keynote, Dr. Camilla Bausch elaborated on the current global political trends as well as the meaning of "climate neutrality", and discussed options for local action in the subsequent panel discussion with Regine Günther (Berlin Senator), Sascha Müller-Kraenner (DUH), and Clara Herrmann (District Councilor).

The Arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the world. Lead by German research institutions, international researchers from 20 countries are now engaged in the largest Arctic exploration of all times: the MOSAiC Expedition. Research approaches, findings and the impact of the Federal Arctic Guidelines were presented and discussed in a packed high-level evening event at the Bremen State House in Berlin. Dr. Camilla Bausch of Ecologic Institute moderated the event.

A delegation of Vietnamese government representatives took part in a study tour on "Air Quality Management in Germany" in Berlin from 24 to 30 November 2019. The Independent Institute for Environmental Issues organized the study tour together with Ecologic Institute on behalf of GIZ.

On 20 November 2019, Doris Knoblauch of Ecologic Institute was invited as an expert to a hearing on "Climate Protection in the Pankow District" at the Pankow District Assembly in Berlin. The expert's presentation dealt with possible climate protection measures in terms of content (e.g. how the change in mobility or nutrition can succeed), but focused on organisational aspects, such as how climate protection can be anchored as a cross-sectional task in the district administration and within the population.

Meeting the Paris climate targets and transitioning to a climate-friendly, more sustainable society cannot be achieved without extended social alliances. This raises the question of how organizations should position themselves in the future: Will the disputes become sharper and fiercer? Which approaches are taken regarding current social and ecological problems? Is it possible to balance tensions and make compromises that are coherent with ecological and social interests? The Ecological Research Network (Ecornet) invited the public to join in discussing these questions.

On 4 November 2019, Dr. Stephan Sina, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, held a lecture on "Climate Change Law – Overview of the Legal Frameworks at the International, European and National Level" at the Berlin School of Economics and Law. The lecture was part of a lecture series during the International Students’ Week. The aim of the lecture was for students to gain an understanding of the legal frameworks at the different levels and their interaction.

On 25 October 2019 the Ecologic Institute supported the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) in a webinar on the IPCC Special Report on "The ocean and the cryosphere in a changing climate" (SROCC). The Ecologic Institute, together with the project Partner Climate Analytics, supported the UBA in defining and formulating the core messages of the SROCC published in September 2019.

In a broadcast on SWR2 on 23 October 2019, Stephanie Wunder, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, says the EU's agricultural policy is setting the wrong incentives. Changing consumer choices is important but needs the right political framework. She notes that a transition in agriculture can only work if municipalities take greater responsibilities and if there is a change in diets towards less meat.