The Energy Future Exchange (EFEX) is a two-year program of the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, the Ecologic Institute in Berlin and the Ecologic Institute in the US, co-funded by a grant of the European Union to foster the transatlantic civil-society dialogue on Energy in the context of climate change.

Ecologic Institute analysed how three key elements of the Paris Agreement are being taken up in the EU: the long-term objectives, the 5-year pledge & review process and the planning instrument "long-term strategies".

Long-term climate strategies are an important instrument to help policy-makers and relevant stakeholders to establish a direction towards a climate-friendly future. The Paris Agreement asks all countries to establish such strategies – and EU Member States will soon be committed under EU law to produce them by 2020 at the latest. Not all EU countries have tried to establish plans that long into the future (up to 2050 and beyond) and the existing ones differ in scope and specificity. There is thus a need for exchange of the current experience and a sharing of best practice – including improving the understanding of the underlying modelling and scenario work. The Climate Recon 2050 project brings together policymakers from EU Member States, as well technical experts and climate modellers in two parallel fora to provide a space for exactly such a dialogue.

The EU has been going through a series of crises – from the Eurozone crisis and Brexit to controversy around migration, from external threats to the rise of Eurosceptic and nationalistic parties in some Member States. In response, the EU has embarked on an extensive process to reform itself. Against this backdrop, the Ecologic Institute organises workshops on EU reform and its links to climate and energy policies. Workshops take place in Tallinn, Sofia and Bucharest - in the context of the Estonian, Bulgarian and Romanian EU Presidency. A final conference in Berlin will conclude the project in spring 2019. The Ecologic Institute will present a study on the interlinkages between EU reform and climate and energy policy at the final conference.

This report by Ecologic Institute deals in particular with the European discussion on the implementation of the Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) concept. It deals with the European peculiarities of implementation and develops an indicator based on land-use changes. The report is available for download.

The digitization of all spheres of life is progressing steadily, a mega-trend that will continuously and fundamentally change society. Municipalities are also making increasing use of the potential offered by digitization of political and administrative processes. Doris Knoblauch and Susanne Langsdorf (both Ecologic Institute) developed a method that allows municipalities to easily check their (digitization) projects for their contribution to sustainable development. The report and the questionnaire are available for download.

With this contribution Doris Knoblauch and Susanne Langsdorf from Ecologic Institute offer an easy-to-use three-step process that allows for a meaningful assessment of projects' sustainability. The process has already been tested by two digitization projects. The article is available online in the "Monitor Nachhaltige Kommune. Report 2017" published by the Bertelsmann Stiftung.

In the latest Work Programme 2016-2018 of the Common Implementation Strategy (CIS) of the Water Framework Directive (WFD), the Water Directors of European countries agreed to set up a specific Ad-hoc Task Group (ATG) on best practice and guidance to deal with hydromorphology. In this context, one of the core activities of the Working Group (WG) ECOSTAT of the WFD CIS has been to compare the ecological quality expected by different countries for water bodies impacted by water storage.

Ecologic Institute analysed the existing European rules for climate action. Although comprehensive and detailed, they do not include many features of national and regional climate laws, such as legally binding reduction targets, emission budgets, or independent institutions. However, these features contribute significantly to the implementation of the Paris Agreement. The detailed project report is available for download.

This report presents the key concepts, definitions, and implementation approaches for SDG 15.3 on "Land Degradation Neutrality" (LDN). It discusses options for implementing LDN in Germany and suggests a proxy indicator based on land use changes. For this purpose, the core ideas, definitions and implementation approaches of the LDN concept are presented at the international level and a seven-stage procedure for national implementation is developed. This report by Ecologic Institute is available for download.

EUROSTAT has issued its 2017 edition on Sustainable Development in the European Union. The report provides an updated snapshot of the current situation concerning a selected number of indicators related to the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Over the past five years, the EU has made significant progress towards five goals and moderate progress towards eight SDGs. Ecologic Institute's authors covered the chapters on SDG2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), SDG 13 (Climate Action), SDG 14 (Life Below Water), SDG 15 (Life on Land) SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals). The publication is available for download.

The objective of this case study is to apply the AQUACROSS Assessment Framework (D3.2) approach to study the Faial-Pico Channel MPA. By doing so, the overarching aim is to understand how applying the Assessment Framework and therefore the concept of Ecosystem Based Management (EBM) can lead to new and alternative management approaches for the improved protection and preservation of aquatic biodiversity.

Engaging the public on science and sustainable consumption: the how-to guide published in the pilot report "A Taste of the Future of the Seas" explains how to organize fun and impactful popular-scientific events, with a special focus on sustainable food. The guide, published by Ecologic Institute, is part of the Science Year 2016*17 – Seas and Oceans and is available for download in German.

Food Waste policy is affected by a large range of EU policies. EU food waste policy though lacks an integrated approach. Participants see opportunities to go beyond sectoral solutions through an integrated EU Food Policy. Workshop documentation is available for download.