The Heinrich Böll Foundation, the book designer Gesine Grotrian and the Ecologic Institute as expert support have worked closely with young people to develop a book for people aged 12 and over that describes the history, production and risks of our plastic consumption in a straightforward, colourful and clearly understandable way. It also shows alternatives and ways out of dealing with plastic and its dangers. The book is available online.

Climate change, biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation are linked and interdependent challenges needing to be addressed in an integrated manner. Synergies can be enhanced by building on the multifunctionality and multiple benefits of biodiversity and healthy ecosystems, captured under Nature-based Solutions (NbS). These topics were explored in the session "Nature as a solution: For resilience, mitigation and sustainable development" during the 5th European Climate Change Adaptation Conference (ECCA2021). Ecologic Institute's McKenna Davis was a keynote speaker, presenting on the EU and global environmental policy landscapes and their role as a help or hindrance to NbS uptake.

Both Germany and Chile have decided to phase out coal – to slash greenhouse gas emissions and to modernise the power sector. In a new publication, Agora Energiewende compared the experiences of both countries to distill lessons for policymakers navigating the challenges of exiting coal in their own countries. Ecologic Institute contributed the case study on the German coal phase-out. It looked at the increasingly conflicted position of coal in the country's energy transition, the role of the coal commission and the process leading up to the coal phase-out decision. The analysis was done in support of the working group of the Chilean-German Energy Partnership.

What innovations are needed to develop a climate-neutral energy system of the future? How can the national and European climate targets be achieved in 2030? What can Germany do to advance the European Green Deal together with the other member states? These and other questions will be the focus of the virtual Copernicus Symposium on 9 and 10 June 2021.

Wehrmann, Dorothea et. al. 2021: Wie können wir die Ozeane retten? Die Bedeutung der transdisziplinären und kollaborativen Meeresforschung. Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE): Bonn.

The report summarizes the key findings from the project, evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of the advisory system, and makes concrete suggestions for improving specific advisory measures.

This status report was prepared within the framework of the cross-cutting issue 1 "Analytics and reference materials" of the research focus Plastics in the Environment. It summarizes the contents of the project discussions and coordination within the cross-cutting issue. The organization of this ongoing process of development or elaboration has been supported by several events between 2018 and 2020.

This compendium, published by Ecologic Institute, aims to sharpen relevant terms and thereby aims to contribute to the heterogeneity of the scientific community on "plastics in the environment". In addition, the brochure is intended to help ensure that communication with and by non-scientific actors on the topic is based on a terminologically correct foundation, especially in emotionally charged debates. After all, these debates are often highly relevant in shaping our future, and it seems important that the necessary political, social and economic decisions should be taken based on knowledge and factual information. The compendium is available for download.

The current issue of the journal KW Korrespondenz Wasserwirtschaft (03/2021) focuses on plastics in the environment. The thematic issue contains articles from the collaborative projects PLASTRAT, RUSEKU, SubμTrack, MikroPlaTaS and PlastikBudget.

For Germany to reach its climate targets, new ways of thinking mobility are essential. For the federal state of Lower Saxony, the mobility transition is particular challenging due the important role cars play in the region. The report "Ways to Sustainable Mobility" (WenaMoNi) analyses in detail where Lower Saxony stands and proposes next steps. Ecologic Institute analysed the legal framework and identified key actors promoting electric and hydrogen-based mobility. Katharina Umpfenbach and Ricarda Faber compared the existing policy instruments to best practices in other countries and to recommendations from science. The analysis shows that a policy approach built on subsidies which has been favoured so far, must be supplemented by pricing instruments if climate targets are to be reached.

In this project, Clean Energy Wire (CLEW) and Ecologic Institute organised a series of 10 online briefing events (webinars) to inform journalists about the key elements and topics of European energy and climate policy. In total, more than 130 journalists from 30 countries participated in the ten events, dissecting topics like the 2030 EU climate target, the UN climate change conference COP26 and the EU's carbon border levy plans. The attendees ranged from journalists representing smaller local publications to those from established media such as Bloomberg, NY Times, the Guardian, Euractiv and Die Welt.

The recent decisions by the Constitutional Court and the German government on national climate legislation have brought new wind to the climate debate. But what does this mean for Berlin? Are the new targets suitable for transfer to the capital? Is the level of ambition sufficient to limit CO2 emissions "in line with Paris requirements" and allow Berlin to shoulder its fair share of the 1.5 degree target? And which areas of improvement do Berlin's politicians have to tackle now in order to set the course towards a climate-neutral Berlin 2045 without burdening the city's most disadvantaged residents in particular?

How circular economy approaches in the construction sector can be strengthened is discussed in this episode of Wandelwecker together with two proven experts in circular construction.

The Conference on the Future of Europe is now in full swing. This political process could become a milestone in EU climate policy making – provided that its recommendations are specific and focus on the EU's ability to act, writes Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf in the EU Observer. He makes three proposals how the conference could become a success for EU climate policies. The article is available online.

How can result-based payments be designed to support scaling up of agricultural practices that reduce emissions and deliver robust carbon removals?  A technical guidance for setting up such payments has been published by DG Climate Action. Ecologic Institute co-wrote the guidance with its partners IEEP and COWI.