Nature-based solutions (NBS) are emerging as a tool to integrate nature into territorial planning, with great opportunities to address these threats and benefit humans and ecosystems in parallel. The guide for integrating nature-based solutions in urban planning, a first approach for Colombia has been developed to facilitate the inclusion of nature in urban planning through a seven-step process. The guide was written by Carolina Figueroa during her time at Ecologic Institute as an Alexander von Humboldt International Climate Protection Fellow. The guide is available for download.

On 25 September 2020, Dr. Stephan Sina, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, participated as an expert in a hearing of the Bavarian State Parliament’s Committee for Environment and Consumer Protection on the draft of a Bavarian Climate Change Act. Together with nine other experts, he commented on the draft law and answered questions from members of parliament.

Sina, Stephan, 2020: Schriftliche Stellungnahme des Sachverständigen Dr. Stephan Sina, Ecologic Institute, zum Gesetzentwurf der Staatsregierung für ein Bayerisches Klimaschutzgesetz (Bayklimag) (Drs. 18/7898). München: Bayerischer Landtag.

This ICARE-project online seminar served to discuss issues and relevance of the climate-resources-nexus among academic institutions. Mandy Hinzmann from Ecologic Institute, Dr. Thomas Gibon from Luxembourg Institute for Science and Technology LIST and Prof. Edgar Hertwich from Norwegian University of Science and Technology NTNU presented findings of recent research projects dealing with the nexus.

Achieving the Paris Agreement Long-term temperature goal (PA LTTG) requires closing the 2030 ambition and action gap between emissions levels consistent with the Paris Agreement and emissions levels projected with current targets and policies. G20 countries have a crucial role to play in realising increased climate policy ambition, given their economic power and prosperity, as well as their influence on investments, technology deployment and financial flows. This briefing paper provides an overview of mitigation options that have been analysed in recent literature and that can contribute to closing the emissions gap in 2030. This provides the basis to identify key policy areas and promising options for intergovernmental cooperation between the G20 nations, as well as possibly other relevant actors.

Global climate action is not moving fast enough – This is confirmed by the result of the latest review on the progress of implementing the Paris Agreement. Close international cooperation and aligning existing climate policy frameworks could foster reducing emissions much faster in the short run. The Ecologic Institute investigates which structures of multilateral cooperation linked to climate action already exist – and furthermore, develops ideas on how to go beyond existing structures to increase global climate action.

The EU-funded project "Species protection rules under the Birds and Habitats Directives: how effectively are they integrated into sectoral policies" supported the European Commission (DG Environment) in identifying existing gaps and uptake of the species protection system provided by the EU Nature Directives in the Member States, specifically in the agricultural and forestry sectors. The project was led by Milieu and is supported by Ecologic Institute, IEEP and Stritih.

Textiles, including clothing, are a priority product category for the circular economy and one of the focus sectors of the new Circular Economy Action Plan. The textiles sector is a relevant economic sector in the EU, both in terms of job and value creation, as well as regarding environmental and social footprint. Environmental pressures from the sector through the use of resources, water, land and chemicals are significant. The impacts occur in every phase of the life cycle: from production of fibers and products to distribution, the use of clothing, collection, sorting and recycling, and the final management of waste.

In its last coalition agreement (2016-2021), the State of Berlin committed itself to the "Zero Waste" model in order to transform its waste management towards a circular economy. Re-using goods takes centre stage in this transformation. In the context of the political goal of strengthening the reuse of used goods, the project aims at strengthening structures in Berlin to help bringing the used goods market out of its niche. The Ecologic Institute supports the project for the Berlin Senate Administration by designing and conducting online expert dialogues in Berlin, inter alia dealing with used IT-equipment as well as building materials and components.

Bioeconomy currently enjoys a high political priority; at the same time, the concept, which last received a boost in 2018 in the form of the updated EU Bioeconomy Strategy, is not without controversy and contains many conflicting goals. This is where the article by Zoritza Kiresiewa (Ecologic Institute), Franziska Wolff and Martin Möller (both Öko-Institut e.V.) comes in. The authors argue that bioeconomy can only contribute to the achievement of sustainability goals if the political framework is appropriate. Whether or not strategies will have an impact depends on each individual case. Bioeconomy pathways should be designed and tested accordingly.

On October 12th and 13th the 2020 European Sustainable Development Network (ESDN) Annual Conference took place. Together with prominent speakers like Angela Merkel and Achim Steiner participants discussed the transformative potential of the EU Green Deal. Stephanie Wunder, Senior Fellow at the Ecologic Institute presented what steps are needed next to implement the Green Deals’ Farm to Fork Strategy. The presentation is available for download.

On 22 September 2020 the 10th Day of the Food Industry in Brandenburg took place. For the first time through an online format, the food industry of the Berlin/Brandenburg metropolitan area discussed future paths for the development of the food industry in 2030. Stephanie Wunder from Ecologic Institute held the keynote speech. The video recording of the event is available online.

The European Environmental Agency (EEA) published their landmark report on the state of nature in the EU on 19 October 2020, representing the most comprehensive assessment of the status of European nature and biodiversity to date. The State of Nature 2020 provides invaluable insights about the impact of conservation measures that have been applied as well as remaining gaps. The findings indicate that the majority of Europe's biodiversity continues to decline at an alarming rate, threatening the survival of thousands of animal species and habitats.

Nature-based solutions (NBS) are solutions that are inspired and supported by nature. They can be used in urban settings to complement or replace "traditional" or "grey" solutions to social and environmental challenges, such as air pollution, the heat island effect, water scarcity, flooding, loss of nature and lack of social cohesion. This guidance document highlights a range of policy and supporting instruments relevant for NBS design, implementation and maintenance.

In this project, Climact and Ecologic Institute analysed the impact assessment for the new EU climate target proposed by the Commission in September 2020. After examining policy options and modelling results, they were compared with recent studies, in particular with Climact's modelling results for 2030. A policy brief highlights key points where the Commission differs from other studies and identifies climate change potentials that deserve more attention in future analyses.