In September 2015, the UN General Assembly adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including target 15.3, which aims to strive towards land degradation neutrality (LDN) by 2030. This has opened a "window of opportunity" for many countries to strengthen policies for sustainable use of land and soils. This chapter first outlines the concept, the main elements and the current international framework for assessing the progress towards SDG target 15.3. Ecologic Institute's authors propose a stepwise approach to further tailor national requirements with the overall goal of LDN implementation. Since both the concept of LDN and the internationally agreed implementation framework leave room for national interpretation, the example of Germany is used to illustrate how the implementation process can be set up at the national level and what experiences have been made.

Europe's energy sector transformation is now well on its way. Yet, to reach the EU's ambitious decarbonisation target for 2050, more fundamental changes will be required in the energy and transport system after 2020. To provide a solid basis for decision-makers, the Ecologic Institute supports Agora Energiewende in developing a report that delivers a snapshot of how the EU’s energy system could like in 2030. The new report "Big Picture of the European Clean Energy Transition in 2030" builds on the successful German predecessor "Energiewende 2030: The Big Picture". In a concise and accessible fashion, the report specifies key challenges in EU energy policy and shows the way forward towards higher ambition.

This book, edited by Ecologic Institute's Brendan O'Donnell, Max Gruenig, and Arne Riedel, highlights both the diversity of perspectives and approaches to Arctic research and the inherent interdisciplinary nature of studying and understanding this incomparable region. The chapters are divided into four liberally-defined sections to provide space for dynamic interpretation and dialogue in search of sustainable solutions to the issues facing the Arctic. From governance to technology, scientific research to social systems, human health to economic development, the authors discuss fundamental questions while looking toward the Arctic’s future. Whether the reader is well-versed in the history and complexity of Arctic policy or looking for an insightful introduction to the vast world of Arctic research, everyone will find answers that lead to new questions and even more discoveries in these pages, laying the foundation for tomorrow’s discussion on the future of the Arctic.

The workshop "Car Sharing in Germany" took place on 8 March 2018, hosted in Berlin by Ecologic Institute. In the first part of the workshop experts addressed the current state of affairs of car sharing in Germany, confirming the dynamic nature of the industry and the difficulties involved in assessing its size and effects. In the second portion of the workshop they focused on future developments as well as the importance of policy for a societal transition away from privately owned vehicles. Ecologic Institute co-organized the workshop as part of the CIRCULAR IMPACTS project and in collaboration with Service Innovation Labs.

The video "Innovative Bio-based Products: Investment, Environmental Impacts and Future Perspectives" invites you to the eponymous conference, which will take place in Brussels on 6 June 2018. In addition to providing logistical information, it contains information on the conference's content and the target audience.

The CIRCULAR IMPACTS project website has been updated with an evidence library on the circular economy. The Circular Impacts online library created by Ecologic Institute centralized information related to the circular economy transition. The library helped policy professionals in conducting impact assessments on the transition to a circular economy. It was a useful resource for policy-makers, journalists, scientists, NGOs and anybody else interested in increasing their knowledge of circular-economy concepts. The library formed an integral part of the website and was an important project outcome.

Cross-border trade and the rules governing it impact consumers. Trade has benefits for consumers, such as access to goods not available domestically. Yet it also has certain risks, such as exposure to traded goods that may be dangerous. Against this background, consumer organisations on both sides of the Atlantic have been discussing what a consumer-friendly trade policy could look like. Christiane Gerstetter and Lena Donat of Ecologic Institute's Legal Team have compiled a study examining what complaint mechanisms for consumer organisations concerning international trade agreements could look like.

At the kick kick-off event for its six thematic working groups, the dialogue forum "Business Mitigates Climate Change" of around 200 leading German companies discussed how they could increase their climate change mitigation efforts and move forward on the way to a low carbon economy. Ecologic Institute organised the conference together with Ernst & Young and Wuppertal Institut.

This conference looked into the innovative bio-based products sector. It presented key insights on the environmental impacts, investment potential and innovative aspects of selected bio-based products.

This paper presents an integrated assessment of how EU policies influence aquatic biodiversity in order to determine how EU policies and laws contribute to achieving and/or hindering EU and international biodiversity targets. The authors from Ecologic Institute, IUCN, and ACTeon also discuss whether European policy has a synergistic or conflicting mix of instruments to address the main problems facing aquatic biodiversity, and whether there are any gaps in the existing policy framework. The article is available for download.

AQUACROSS seeks to advance knowledge and application of ecosystem-based management (EBM) for aquatic ecosystems to support the timely achievement of the EU 2020 Biodiversity Strategy targets. The AQUACROSS newsletter delivers insights and shares developments within the Horizon 2020 research project.

At a time of turbulence and change in the EU, the Tönissteiner Kreis discussed options for "Building green bridges for Europe" at its annual conference. As part of this broad subject, Dr. Camilla Bausch of Ecologic Institute discussed the energy transition, its prospects and international dimensions with Graeme Maxton (General Secretary of the Club of Rome), Martin Kaiser (Executive Director at Greenpeace Germany) and Dr. Markus Hartwig, a green energy entrepreneur.

In 2018 the "Implications of the Paris Agreement for national climate protection ambition" project is rolled out in support of the Talanoa Dialogue and these 8 countries will be examined carefully: the EU, Germany, China, USA, Canada, Japan, India and Brasil. How are they implementing the Paris Agreement? Can these contributions secure a 1.5-2°C degree world? Who is a climate leader, and who isn't? This new project will shed light on the actual climate impact of said countries mitigation efforts and their level of ambition.

A sustainable bioeconomy could contribute to replacing fossil-based resources and feeding a growing world population. Inherent to a transformation towards such an economy are economic, ecological and social opportunities as well as risks. This project for the German Environment Agency explored these opportunities and challenges. The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are the guiding principles of the 2030 Agenda, served as a basis for this evaluation.

On 4 December 2017, Matthias Duwe presented insights on national climate laws to inform Spanish debate gained from a joint research effort on long-term climate frameworks at a roundtable discussion organized by the renowned thing tank Elcano Royal Institute. He joined Valvanera Ulargui, head of the Spanish Climate Change Office at the national Environment Ministry and Jesús Fidel González Rouco from the Geosciences Institute (IGEO) of the Complutense University of Madrid and a contributor to the IPCC.