The funding call for the Innovative Climate Protection Projects is part of the National Climate Protection Initiative (NCI) of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. Since 2008, the NCI funds climate protection projects throughout Germany, thus contributing to the achievement of the Federal Government's climate protection goals. The innovative climate protection projects impart new or disseminate existing knowledge to change behaviour, purchasing decisions, practices, and processes. To this end, the projects run campaigns or provide direct advice, facilitate knowledge exchange, and help with capacity building and education in the diverse climate-relevant fields of action.

The city of Berlin has many plans when it comes to climate protection. One major roadblock is the heating transition: To become climate-neutral by 2045 at the latest, around 360,000 residential and non-residential buildings in the capital must be supplied with environmentally friendly space heating and hot water. Furthermore, all new buildings must be planned and constructed in a way that conserves resources. In addition to the organizational and technical challenges involved in achieving a climate-friendly heat supply, a key question is how this can be achieved in a socially just manner that ensures rental prices remain affordable for low-income groups as well. On 2 November 2021, five leading Berlin institutes in sustainability research contributed to the conference "Knowledge. Change. Berlin. 2021" Solution Approaches for Climate-Neutral Housing and Construction and invite stakeholders from the city to the discussion.

The project "Elaborating Strategies and Contributions to Implement SDG12 on the National Level for Germany" established systematic activity monitoring for the national and international implementation of SDG 12 by Germany. The aim: to determine the implementation status – in addition to the UN and DNS sustainability indicators for SDG 12 – and derive potential options for action. This report presents the project results.

Nature-based solutions (NbS) are crucial for cities to jointly address the climate and biodiversity crises, while creating quality green jobs and wellbeing for local communities. This COP26 EU Side Event featured different sector practitioners (policy makers, entrepreneurs, international organizations) delivering inspiring presentations and engaging in a panel discussion highlighting a variety of perspectives on key challenges, opportunities, and pathways to mainstream urban NbS and boost local economies.

This research report studies the Asian perspectives on a global plastic pollution treaty against the background of a growing momentum for the establishment of a negotiation process during the second part of the fifth session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-5.2) in February 2022. It identifies solutions already pursued by Asian countries to tackle marine plastic pollution, describes the challenges and needs expressed by government officials from the region, and discusses possible treaty elements taking into account experiences of countries in the Asian region.

On 14 July 2021, the Commission proposed amendments to the Regulation 2018/842 – currently called by many the "Effort Sharing Regulation". Covering more about 60 % of the EU greenhouse gas emissions, this regulation and its reform are an essential elements of the Fit for 55 package. As a contribution to this debate, a paper by Ecologic Institute presents amendments to the Commission's proposal. Amendments are in particular intended to help ensure that all EU climate policy instruments support achieving the EU's 2050 climate neutrality target and net negative emissions afterwards.

Many strong economies have developed strategies to foster the circular economy. But what do we know about how these plans impact developing and emerging countries? Do the strategies itself take the effects on developing and emerging countries into account? Which risks and opportunities arise from a shift to a circular economy in industrialised countries to developing and emerging countries? This project analysed some of these effects. The project's key recommendations and highlights are published in the project report.

Against the backdrop of global supply chains, global environmental crises and climate change, the discussion on interrelations between trade and sustainability has increasingly come to the fore. Ecologic Institute supports the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) in developing politically enforceable options to strengthen sustainability obligations in trade agreements.

The EU's debate on carbon dioxide removals (CDRs) is gaining momentum, but in important parts it is still a mystery. Basics of an EU framework for CDR remain unclear. An EU CDR Strategy could demystify CDRs and help trigger the necessary political debate on CDRs. A paper by Ecologic Institute discusses a CDR strategy for the EU. It examines why the EU should have a CDR strategy, and explores the main elements of a CDR strategy.

The network of independent institutes for environmental and sustainability research marks its tenth anniversary. In 2011, eight non-profit scientific institutions – including Ecologic Institute – joined forces to form the Ecological Research Network (Ecornet). Their goal: to bring scientific work on sustainability, environmental, climate and resource protection even more into the public and political spotlight. Their common goal: to provide a scientific background for shaping a sustainable world, to develop solutions for the necessary changes in economy and society, and to discuss options for action with a wide range of actors.

Recent and historic high-impact events have demonstrated significant flood risks to many coastal areas in Europe and across the globe. Understanding the behavior of humans in relation to risk management poses grand challenges for both natural and social sciences and humanities. The study analyzes the cultural aspects of coastal risk management and illustrates path-dependencies of concrete disaster risk reduction measures in relation to local contexts in European coastal regions in Northern and South Western Europe. Dr. Grit Martinez from Ecologic Institute co-authored the journal article.

A comparative study indicates that the collective memory of the 1872 storm is related to the background knowledge about floods, the damage extent, and the response to the storm. Flood marks and dikes help to remember the events. In general, coastal flood defence is to the largest degree implemented in the affected areas in Germany, followed by Denmark, and is almost absent in Sweden, corresponding to the extent of the collective memory of the 1872 storm. Within the affected countries, there is local variability of flood risk awareness associated with the collective memory of the storm.

This paper deals with how culture is expressed through the interplay of socially, politically, and economically driven processes and practices in place-based biophysical contexts as well as the role played by narrative expressions in the formation of coastal risk management, knowledge and action. It draws upon ethnographic, comparative, and historical approaches to understand how culture frames what we know and how we respond differently to risks.

Coasts and seas both are characterized by intense social-ecological interactions, recently the industrial appropriation of coasts worldwide and oceans as a waste disposal site for port industries and land-based production facilities. In September, White Horse Press' transdisciplinary history journal Global Environment published a special issue dedicated to Coastal Cities and their struggle for coping mechanism to the recent crisis. The special issue was edited by Ecologic Institute and starts with an introductory chapter on the more-than-ever-growing need to consider different ideas, narratives and power relations of coastal and maritime actors and groups in order to shape a coastal management that is ecologically and socially sustainable.

To strengthen climate protection in Germany, the amendment of the Climate Protection Act in 2021 further tightened the greenhouse gas emission targets for 2030 and set the goal of climate neutrality for the year 2045. An important step in the energy sector is the phase-out of lignite mining and coal-based electricity generation. The decision to phase out lignite mining in Germany by 2038 at the latest does not only affect energy and climate policy. In the coming years, the lignite mining areas will face a fundamental structural change, which is to be flanked with extensive funding and steered in the sense of sustainable spatial development.