The environmental disaster on the Oder River has brought the issue of environmental crime back into the spotlight. In a video report by the TV station Deutsche Welle, experts, including Stephan Sina from Ecologic Institute, explain the reasons for the difficulties in prosecuting environmental crimes and possible approaches for improvement. The contribution "Environmental Crime – How do they get away with it?" can be viewed online.

In an interview with Sinan Reçber of the Berlin daily Der Tagesspiegel, Rodrigo Vidaurre and Benedict Bueb of Ecologic Institute discussed what measures can be taken in various sectors to lessen the impact of droughts in Germany. In addition to water-sensitive urban development, which increasingly relies on nature-based solutions to store water during dry periods, this includes the cultivation of drought-resistant agricultural varieties as well as the rewetting of peatlands.

The biodiversity and climate crises are increasingly threatening planetary biodiversity and dependent livelihoods. Linkages between these two crises are already recognised by science and policy, but they are still not sufficiently addressed in integrated manner in practice. Nature-based solutions (NBS) and ecosystem-based approaches have the potential to enhance these synergies and deliver multiple benefits for ecosystems, biodiversity, climate change mitigation and adaptation, human well-being among other objectives. This topic was explored during the "International workshop on strengthening synergies for biodiversity and climate in multifunctional landscapes", organized by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN). Sandra Naumann, Senior Fellow at the Ecologic Institute, was a keynote speaker, presenting on the potential but also limitations of NBS to achieve climate and biodiversity goals.

Concrete and asphalt make cities up to 10 degrees hotter than the rural areas. In Poland, however, there is a persistent impression that greenspace is a nuisance that is best gotten rid of, says Ewa Iwaszuk of the Ecologic Institute in Berlin. She points out that the situation in Germany is better because nature has been considered an indispensable part of the city since the 1990s. She talks about innovative nature-based solutions that can mitigate climate change in cities and explains the introduction of blue-green infrastructure. Monika Sędzierska from the COSMO editorial office moderated the conversation.

On 4 July 2022, McKenna Davis from the Ecologic Institute spoke to the 2nd step of this methodology: EXPLORING existing urban greening policies, plans and regulations to identify gaps and understand local needs. Representing the CLEVER Cities project, she provided insights on how to ensure coherent and coordinated policymaking and align objectives across sectors and policies. She also highlighted relevant EU policies and initiatives supporting nature-based solutions to contextualise local action towards NBS mainstreaming.

Carbon farming refers to a range of agricultural techniques that increase the ability of the soil to sequester carbon from the atmosphere. This is crucial to achieving the European Green Deal goal of becoming CO₂-neutral by 2050. However, there are still many political and technical issues. Ecologic Institute's panel discussions included input on the report "Carbon farming. Making agriculture fit for 2030" and presented further thinking on carbon farming.

On 22 June 2022, experts from various disciplines exchanged views on the transformation of the food system towards a more plant-based diet. More than 400 interested participants attended the event, which is part of the National Dialogue on Sustainable Food Systems in the context of the UN Food Systems Summit.

As the war in Ukraine escalates, the climate crisis continues. But environmental policy in particular could build important bridges, reminds Dr. Camilla Bausch Scientific & Executive Director of Ecologic Institute. In an interview with Elisabeth von Thadden, she discusses, among other things, the environmental impact of the war and the dichotomy over Ukraine's demand to the secretariats of thirteen major international environmental agreements to exclude Russia from relevant decision-making bodies and suspend Russian membership in the agreements.

R. Andreas Kraemer, founder of the Ecologic Institute and co-chair of the investment committee of the Ökovision Fund, puts it in a nutshell: "Neither nuclear power nor coal can replace gas or oil from Russia, and right now it is becoming clear how important energy efficiency and renewable energies are. We at Ökovision are counting on this and see no reason to reconsider our strict criteria". The article in the magazine "Finanztest" also shows that there are large grey areas in sustainable investment because criteria are formulated and applied differently. Especially with index funds or ETFs, investors cannot be sure how their money is invested.

The World Water Day, was introduced by the United Nations in 1992 to remind people of water as an essential resource for life. For this year's theme "Groundwater – making the invisible visible", Ecologic Institute co-organized a webinar to present an augmented reality app that was developed as part of the project Digital Water City (DWC). The webinar was moderated by Alexander Sperlich (BWB) and Dr. Ulf Stein (Ecologic Institute).

The question of the limits to growth is more relevant than ever. Historically, economic growth has almost always been accompanied by increasing environmental damage. The policies of European countries now want to break this historical link through "green growth". The economy should continue to grow, but without negative consequences for the environment. From a scientific perspective, however, it is disputed whether such a decoupling is realistic. Dr. Michael Jakob from Ecologic Institute discussed this apparent contradiction between politics and science with Prof. Dr. Doris Fuchs and Dr. Steffen Lange during a press briefing on 25 February 2022.

On 19 January 2022, Dr. Stephan Sina, Senior Fellow of Ecologic Institute, participated as an expert in a hearing of the Committee for Environment, Agriculture, Nature and Consumer Protection of the North Rhine-Westphalian Parliament on the motion of the parliamentary group BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN "Bekämpfung von Umweltkriminalität in NRW endlich stärken – Schwerpunktstaatsanwaltschaft und Koordinierungsstelle für NRW einrichten" (Drucks. 17/14258). Together with three other experts and the working group of the municipal umbrella organizations of North Rhine-Westphalia, he commented on the motion and answered questions from members of parliament.

In June 2021, the German Federal Constitutional Court ruled that the national climate law was inadequate, and needed to be amended. The German government reacted swiftly, and increased the ambition of the emission reduction targets implemented in the climate law. In two epdisodes of the Fidelity Kapitalmarkt podcast, Benjamin Görlach and the podcast host Carsten Roemheld take stock of the challenges ahead for German and European climate policy under the new German government. In particular, they discuss how the transformation to climate neutrality can be reconciled with industrial competitiveness and social fairness.

What kind of Europe do we want for the year 2035? This question is addressed by the EU initiative 'Conference on the Future of Europe', which enables European citizens to discuss their own ideas for Europe's future. Within the member states respective National Citizens' Panels, participants developed policy recommendations that were later passed on to the Conference. Ecologic Institute's Matthias Duwe gave a presentation on the topic of Climate and Environment at the Citizens' Forum in Germany on 15 January 2022.

How can European citizens become architects of the cities of tomorrow? The New European Bauhaus is an initiative to make our living spaces and experiences more beautiful, sustainable and inclusive. Nature-based solutions are seen as a key element to achieve this vision. To this end, the hybrid conference 'LIFE in the New European Bauhaus' was held from 15 until 17 November 2021. Sandra Naumann from the Ecologic Institute was invited as an expert to share insights from the H2020 INTERLACE project.

The climate crisis is impacting cities and communities across the globe. As extreme weather events become increasingly frequent, cities must work together to find effective nature-based solutions (NBS) to adapt to their changing climates. As lead partner in the BEGIN project, the Dutch city of Dodrecht welcomed cities, practitioners, researchers and citizens to join the conversation on the future of livable cities. To this end, the NEXT LEVEL 2021 conference was held as a hybrid event on the 20th of October 2021. Ecologic Institute's McKenna Davis was invited as an expert to present on NBS governance and policy.

Mandy Hinzmann, fellow researcher at the Ecologic Institute, gave a presentation in a scientific session of the World Resources Forum, which took place from 12 until 14 October 2021. She presented key policy options on how to foster the circular economy in the European textiles sector. She also participated in the discussion session after the presentations.

Delivering for "People, Planet, Prosperity" is the proclaimed aim of the Italian G20 Presidency. The question as to how the G20 should work towards this aim was discussed at the Think 20 (T20) Summit in Milan in early October. The T20 Summit brought together 51 speakers, over 800 in-person participants and 16,000 online attendees from all over the world, reaching over 1 million people through social media.

All over the world, the number of think tanks is growing. They differ greatly regarding their focus areas, their structures and their business models. But what do they have in common and why are they needed? In an interview with André Martinuzzi of the European Sustainable Development Network (ESDN), Dr. Camilla Bausch (Director of Ecologic Institute) reflects on the role and the objectives of environmental think tanks with respect to some of the most relevant policy fields of our times, including the European Green Deal.

Ecologic Institute together with the ICLEI African Secretariat and Durham University co-organized a session 'Urban Action Towards a New Deal for Nature' at the IUCN World Conservation Congress on 7 September 2021. The session, moderated by Ecologic Institute's McKenna Davis, demonstrated the success of urban action for biodiversity through evidence and experiences from around the world.

In this presentation, Ecologic Institute's International Climate Protection Fellow Mario Alejandro Delgado Galarraga reviews whether the evolution of Rights of Nature in America has influenced International Environmental Law, especially at a Regional level. It appraise and contrast national legal conducts with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights' Advisory Opinion "OC-23/17" (Environment and Human Rights). Thus, it centre on Comparative Law and International Environmental Law. The presentation was held during the IUCN World Conservation Congress 2021.

On 1 September 2021, Dr. Stephan Sina, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, participated as an expert in a hearing of the Hessian State Parliament's Committee for Environment, Climate Protection, Agriculture and Consumer Protection on the draft of the SPD parliamentary group for a law to protect people and nature from climate change and its consequences. Together with twelve associations and experts, he commented on the draft law and answered questions from members of parliament. The written statement of Stephan Sina is published on the website of the Hessian State Parliament (Part 1, page 39 ff.) and is available here separately as a download.

A few days after the US and Germany agreed to launch a new climate and energy partnership, Dr. Bausch (Director of Ecologic Institute) and Samantha Gross (Director of the Energy Security and Climate Initiative at Brookings) were invited to discuss new dynamics, opportunities and challenges presented by transatlantic climate cooperation.

Dr. Stephan Sina, Senior Fellow of Ecologic Institute, gave a keynote speech at the China-EU Conference on Climate Change Legislation on 29 June 2021. He presented the main features of the Climate Change Act (KSG) and its latest amendments based on the decision of the Federal Constitutional Court on 24 March 2021. He also participated in the discussion session after the presentations.

On 9 June 2021, prominent heads of think tanks convened to discuss the recommendations made in the recently published book, "The Future of Think Tanks and Policy Advice Around the World". Dr. Camilla Bausch reflected on key points from the contribution, she co-authored with R. Andreas Kraemer.

A breakfast briefing to launch the Think2030 paper 'European food and agriculture in a new paradigm: Can global challenges like climate change be addressed through a farm to fork approach?', co-written by the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) and Ecologic Institute.

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.

What are the key ingredients of a "Sustainable Recovery for a Green Future?" This was the topic of two events organized by Think20 (T20) during the Italian G20 presidency. Dr. Camilla Bausch, co-chair of the T20 Task Force on environmental issues, spoke on carbon neutrality, long-term climate strategies and the European Green Deal.

The 2021 annual conference of German Association of Dietitians has put a focus on sustainability and its relevance for the work for dietitians as well as policy makers. Stephanie Wunder gave a impulse presentation on this topic entitled "Effectively using synergies between health-promoting and environmentally friendly nutrition".

The objective of transformative research is to find out, together with actors from the corporate sector, politics and civil society, how our economic and social system can be made more sustainable, and to jointly test possible solutions. Transformative research is thus also transdisciplinary - it involves actors beyond academia as equal partners. This kind of research involves certain methodological challenges and questions; some of these were discussed at the tF Symposium 2021: From Experiment to Mainstream. Martin Hirschnitz-Garbers and Christiane Gerstetter, both Senior Fellows at the Ecologic Institute, contributed to the online symposium, which was held in German language.

The Urban Agenda for the EU recognizes the importance of nature-based solutions as tools for sustainable recovery and development. Yet implementation and mainstreaming at city level remain limited. Can the European Green Deal support these efforts? What role can European research projects play? To answer these questions, McKenna Davis was invited as an expert to contribute to the European Urban Knowledge Network’s (EUKN) Policy Lab on 'The Urban Agenda for the EU, its 'green' actions and the European Green Deal'. The 18 March 2021 event aimed to unravel the 'green' actions of the Urban Agenda for the EU and develop concrete messages for the ministers under Slovenia's Presidency on how to support cities dealing with regulatory obstacles when trying to reach environmental goals.

To provide the G20 leaders with scientific advice, Think20 – a group of think tanks and academia from G20 countries – will work over the upcoming months on policy papers and recommendations.

How can think tanks serve as a catalyst for ideas and action? In view of a challenging year of dual public health and environmental crises, Dr. Camilla Bausch addressed this question at the Why Think Tanks Matter Forum. The forum brought together more than 700 think tank professionals from all around the world.

Invited by the Indian Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), McKenna Davis (Ecologic Institute) joined the "International Knowledge Conclave on Green Infrastructure" and presented on 'Policy instruments to promote urban nature-based solutions in Europe'. She focused on the range of policy, planning and financial instruments relevant for nature-based solution design, implementation and maintenance within a European context. Her presentation slides and a guidance document she co-authored are available for download.

Countries around the world are considering the introduction of national framework laws to make their climate policy more effective. A debate is underway in Israel on the adoption of such a climate law, to establish a clear institutional set-up and regular processes for climate action. Ecologic Institute's Matthias Duwe presented best practice lessons from European countries to policy-makers as inspiration for the law's design.

The Think2030 Conference got off to an inspiring start with keynotes by Dr. Camilla Bausch of Ecologic Institute, Prof. Hans Bruyninckx, President of the EEA and Prof. Klaus Töpfer, founder of TMG and former Executive Director of UNEP. Their speeches marked the opening of the 2-day conference on "Harnessing the European Green Deal to address the Climate Crisis". The conference marked the occasion of Ecologic Institute's 25th anniversary.

Training the next generation of environmental lawyers is crucial for ensuring that environmental law is complied with and can thus serve its function of protecting the environment. Christiane Gerstetter, Senior Fellow at the Ecologic Institute, co-moderated an online course for German and Russian students entitled "Ecolaw and ecoactivism in Germany and Russia".

With around 75% of EU population living in urban areas, cites will play a key role in curbing greenhouse gas emissions, reducing vulnerability to impacts of climate change and building resilience. Multifunctional nature-based solutions can be a powerful tool to jointly address climate change mitigation and adaptation in urban areas. A number of innovative pilot projects introduced in Berlin in the last 20 years were able to demonstrate in practice how cities can save energy, cool down buildings, reduce urban heat island effect and sequester and store carbon by working with natural climate solutions.

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 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.

We all separate waste. But that is not enough. We have to make sure that garbage is not produced in the first place. All resources have to be recycled again and again in cycles. At the Sustainability Forum of Neumarkter Lammsbräu, Lisa Fiedler of the VAUDE Sustainability Academy, Prof. Dr. Michael Braungart of Cradle to Cradle, Timothy Glaz of Werner & Mertz GmbH and Hannes Schritt of Ecologic Institute Berlin discussed how fast we have to be to save our planet.

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.

On 2 July 2020, Dr. Martin Hirschnitz-Garbers and Dr. Stephan Sina from Ecologic Institute, together with Susanne Altvater from s.Pro, gave a keynote presentation "Reflections on extended producer responsibility under the EU Single-Use Plastics Directive" at the working group "Implementation of the EU Single-Use Plastics Directive" and discussed it with the participants

With more than 1500 participants in the live stream and via YouTube, the online webinar "Saving the climate with knife and fork? How our eating habits affect the environment" on 18 May 2020 was a complete success. Together, Tanja Dräger de Teran (WWF) and Stephanie Wunder (Ecologic Institute), highlighted the links between daily nutritional routines and their impact on climate, land use and health.

The current global pandemic presents both risks and opportunities for the transition to a more sustainable future in Europe. At the launch event for the newest report of the German Advisory Council on the Environment (SRU), Dr. Camilla Bausch discussed the importance of the European Green Deal at this moment of crisis with Prof. Dr. Christian Calliess.