On 24 October 2019, research partners and stakeholders from the COACCH (CO-designing the Assessment of Climate CHange costs) project met in Brussels for the second interactive co-design workshop. In this second stakeholder workshop, the COACCH researchers presented first findings on climate change costs in different sectors, and explored ideas for the next phase of work focused on the assessment of policies and tipping points.

Democracies need a compass, writes Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf in the ipg-journal. To find their way in the haze of polarised debate, the compass must offer four things. First, it must help to understand pluralism – it must help to endure and respect different opinions. Conversely, it must recognise that some positions are outside the democratic spectrum. Thirdly, it must ensure precise language. And fourth, it must identify trends in democracies. The article is available online.

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.

The circular economy aims to maintain the value of products, materials and resources in the economy for as long as possible while minimising the generation of waste and material inputs through eco-design, recycling and reusing of products. The circular economy offers significant potential for climate change mitigation, as it helps reducing greenhouse emissions that occur over the life cycle of a product from production to disposal (or cradle to grave).

In Europe, limited information is available about the environmental characteristics of the vehicles stocks and of traded used vehicles in terms of vehicle's air pollutant and CO2 emissions. In this context and on behalf of the European Environmental Agency, Ecologic Institute and Fraunhofer ISI explore available national and European data sources of vehicle stocks and trade throughout Europe and compile the available vehicle characteristics. Based on the available characteristics, the project team derives the environmental performance of vehicle stocks and traded used vehicles and assess respective regional differences in the environmental performance of the vehicles stocks and of used vehicle trade flows.

Over 90% of German rivers and streams are straightened, constricted, piped or interrupted by structures such as weirs or barrages. Restoration can improve the ecological status and attractiveness of water bodies. This interactive infographic lists and visualizes restoration measures for four different starting situations.

The project schedule for river restoration projects can vary greatly. This flow chart shows the most important project steps. Natural river development is a complex undertaking. A well-structured planning management creates the prerequisites for a balanced solution and an efficient and successful implementation of measures.

Many interests come together when considering rivers. For restoration projects, new compromises must be reached and conflicts of use must be resolved through planning processes. Early, open and regular communication between all stakeholders increases the satisfaction with the restoration result.

River restoration costs money, but there are many funding instruments and grants that can be combined. In addition, compensatory measures and overlapping interests with other departments and stakeholders (e.g. flood protection, nature conservation) can be utilised. The infographics give examples of concrete support programmes and instruments for the financing of river restoration by the German Federal States, the German Federal Government, the European Union, local authorities and others.

The European Union and the United States share many values, principles and interests, and there is a rich tapestry of transatlantic relations at many levels and across a range of policy fields. At present, however, on climate change and climate action, – as well as other important areas of policy – the EU and the US are pulling in different, sometimes opposite directions. Led by keynote comments from author and academic Bruce Stokes, a small group of experts engaged in a round-table discussion to explore the prospects for post-election transatlantic relations and cooperation across a range of related policy fields.

Whether and how to pursue “geo-engineering” as part of climate policy is a controversial and complex issue. The generic term describes a range of concepts that spans decreasing radiative forcing to removing CO2 from the atmosphere. Dr. Camilla Bausch moderated a two-day international workshop on the governance of geo-engineering in Brussels during which Dr. Ralph Bodle outlined the structure and criteria for addressing governance.

As hydromorphological aspects between the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the Floods Directive refer to the same fluvial processes, the issue of hydromorphology and flooding has been addressed several times within the Common Implementation Strategy (CIS) process. In this context, a workshop on hydromorphological measures under the Floods and Water Framework Directives – "Finding synergies and addressing challenges" took place on 4-5 December 2018, in Budapest (Hungary). After the workshop, this background paper was updated to include conclusions from the meeting. The background paper is available online.

Profound societal transformations are needed to move society from unsustainability to greater sustainability under continually changing social and environmental conditions. A key challenge is to understand the influences on and the dynamics of collective behavior change toward sustainability. In this paper, the authors of whom Grit Martinez of Ecologic Institute is one, demonstrate how affective narrative expressions influence transitions to more sustainable collective behaviors.

As part of the 'Sustainability 2030 Science Platform', Ecologic Institute has published a study on oceans as a global commons. An overview of the different governance mechanisms in regard to the Global Commons "Oceans" area are discussed. The study is available for download and will be presented at the beginning of December at the Annual Conference 2019 of the Science Platform.

The aim of the project is to provide technical support and assistance for the tasks of the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) in implementing the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) and the necessary cooperation on a regional, national and EU level. As a subsidiary authority of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), UBA plays a leading or lead role in the corresponding committees of the cooperation structures for all MSFD action areas (monitoring, assessment, quality and environmental objectives, measures) and EU reporting (electronic reporting, INSPIRE-compliant data provision).