The workshop aims to support the member states of the Alpine Convention in jointly developing a draft that describes the synergies between their national restoration plans. In addition, ideas for concrete cross-border projects will be collected that can be incorporated into the plans. This will create a basis for strengthening cooperation and nature conservation measures throughout the Alpine region.
Those who contribute least to climate change are often the most severely affected by its impacts. Organisations like Bread for the World aim to amplify their voices and promote climate justice for vulnerable communities. Ecologic Institute is conducting an independent evaluation of Bread for the World’s Climate Policy Unit to strengthen its long-term impact and strategic focus.
How can nature conservation measures be designed to increase the resilience of ecosystems to climate change? This is the focus of a research project funded by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) and led by the Ecologic Institute. The project aims to develop a scientifically sound and practical concept for assessing and promoting the climate resilience of ecosystems in Germany. The results are intended to provide strategic impetus for a climate-resilient approach to nature conservation.
As part of the EU Mission "Restore our Ocean and Waters", the project EUMission4WaterPollution is receiving technical support through the programme "Studies to Support Communities of Actors to Achieve the EU Mission", coordinated by the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA). The aim of the project is to strengthen the coastal resilience of the Albanian port city of Durrës and to develop strategies to tackle plastic and microplastic pollution.
This project supports Carbon Market Watch to address the specific challenges of integrating temporary sequestration credits into EU agri-food climate policy. In assessing the policy options currently under discussion – emissions trading systems, mandatory climate standards, and public procurement – and examines the implications of CRCF use within these frameworks. The project also provides recommendations on how temporary carbon sequestration can be supported in a way that is environmentally credible, practically feasible, and aligned with broader EU climate objectives.
Ecologic Institute, in partnership with Ramboll and I4CE, continues its collaboration with the European Environment Agency in supporting the understanding of costs of climate impacts and climate adaptation. The overall aim of this study is to extract, complement and compile quantitative information on the economic costs and socio-economic impacts of climate adaptation versus costs of inaction in EU27 Member States. The work builds on previous work conducted by the consortium for the EEA which serves as the methodological foundation for this project.
The Plastic Pirates Plus project focuses on where participation in education needs to be particularly promoted: in school classes with a higher proportion of pupils from socially disadvantaged households. The aim is to give these young people access to the world of science through a low-threshold, practical programme – regardless of their financial or social circumstances. Participation in the project is free of charge and thus deliberately designed so that no child is excluded.
The Guidance on Climate Resilient Landscapes project, financed by DG CLIMA, will develop actionable guidance to strengthen climate resilience in Europe's rural landscapes. With floods, droughts, heatwaves, and wildfires becoming more frequent and severe, landscapes need to be managed in ways that help them absorb, recover from, and mitigate such events, supporting both ecological and human resilience.
This project examines whether Member States are using CAP funding to support actions that lay the foundation for reducing livestock emissions in the next funding period. This includes informing discussions on whether additional policy measures will be needed beyond CAP support, given the necessary increase in climate ambition for the agricultural sector towards meeting the EU’s 2040 climate target.
The project NormTransform seeks to quantify emission reduction potentials and the impacts of reduced meat consumption (measured in kg/CO2) in Austria, induced through advertisement campaigns.
To generate new sources of climate finance, this project assesses the design and implications of an international oil extraction levy. Unlike downstream carbon pricing policies, the levy would be applied at the point of oil extraction and based on the embedded carbon in crude oil. By internalising part of the climate costs of fossil fuels, the mechanism aligns with the polluter pays principle.
This project supports the German Environment Agency (UBA) in developing strategic options for the structural evolution of the EU ETS post-2030. Its results will feed into the European Commission's 2026 review of the ETS and inform Germany's position in upcoming negotiations on ETS reform.
The research project analyses the need for integrated strategies in order to ensure sustainable development and preserve the basis of life. The project focuses on analysing the challenges and interactions between the three crisis areas and the question of how measures can be designed to create synergies between climate protection, biodiversity conservation and the reduction of environmental pollution. More crises are being added, e.g. land degradation and food security.
The objective of thERBN is to establish an EU-wide, multi-actor thematic network to facilitate knowledge sharing on innovative solutions for a sustainable, circular bioeconomy – specifically those applicable by small farms and foresters (practitioners) at the local scale in rural areas. This framework aims to empower practitioners by bridging the gap between existing, viable circular bioeconomy solutions and the practical challenges they face in their daily operations.
The aim of this project is to prepare a report that will serve as the basis for the evaluation report on the Federal Action Plan on Nature-based Solution for Climate and Biodiversity (ANK) to be submitted by the Federal Government in 2025. In March 2023, the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) published the Federal Action Plan on Nature-based Solution for Climate and Biodiversity (ANK) with the aim of significantly improving ecosystems in Germany. It specifically counteracts the dual crisis of global heating and biodiversity loss.
The Ecologic Institute is providing expert support for the transformation process for the future of Hamburg's agricultural sector – in close cooperation with the project team from urban catalyst and Prof Antje Stokman (HCU Hamburg). It is developing proposals for guidelines, goals, measures and indicators as a basis for the participatory strategy process.
This project supported the European Environment Agency (EEA) in reviewing the EU's evolving competitiveness agenda through the lens of long-term sustainability transitions. The project explored how the EU’s competitiveness discourse engages with broader sustainability concerns, particularly in relation to industry transformation, circular economy and bioeconomy. It considers potential trade-offs between competitiveness and non-climate environmental goals such as biodiversity, ecosystems, and resource use. Based on this assessment, the project identified options for how sustainability could be anchored more firmly in, and aligned with, the EU competitiveness agenda.
This project for the European Environment Agency (EEA) aims to improve both the number and quality of reported climate policies and measures (PaMs) and to increase the visibility and utilisation of the PaMs database.
Rome, like many cities in Southern and Western Europe, is facing significant challenges from climate change, particularly in the form of Urban Heat Islands (UHI). To address these risks, PwC is leading a project funded by the EU's DG REFORM, with the Ecologic Institute playing a key supporting role. This project will develop a detailed UHI risk profile for Rome, integrating data on the city’s demographics, urban layout, transportation systems, and green spaces.
Tackling methane emissions is critical for the EU to meet its climate targets for 2030. The EU Methane Emission Regulation (EU-MER) is a key tool to achieve these reductions. However, countries like Romania and Czechia face significant implementation challenges. This project seeks to accelerate methane reductions in Romania and Czechia by enhancing the implementation of the EU-MER.
Ecologic Institute is working together with Biota and the Michael Succow Foundation to identify concrete and practical conflicts of interest in the restoration of peatlands. In addition, Ecologic Institute supports the identification of needs and deficits, the evaluation and development of legally compliant solutions and guidelines for dealing with these conflicting objectives as well as the development of practical guidance manuals.
On behalf of the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (Bundesamt für Naturschutz – BfN), Ecologic Institute, together with other project partners, is supporting the planning and implementation of the national restoration plans. Ecologic Institute actively contributes to the content of the work, in particular through its expertise in the assessment of ecosystem conditions and the development of measures for the protection and restoration of inland and coastal ecosystems.
Ecologic Institute and Landscape Integrated are conducting a practical test of the recommended procedures for monitoring the success of hydromorphological measures in and along flowing waters.
Ecologic Institute is preparing an assessment report on "Technological options for reducing plastic waste in the oceans". The report will provide a systematic overview of technologies designed to remove plastic waste from water bodies. The analysis will evaluate technical, ecological and economic aspects as well as risks and benefits. The report will present the current state of knowledge in a concise and scientifically robust manner, identify gaps in knowledge and provide a basis for informed decisions.
The aim of the project is to obtain as accurate an overview as possible of the ecosystems in the German North Sea and Baltic Sea before the start of intensive human use. This will support the development of a scientific basis for decision-making that will enable the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation and the North Sea and Baltic Sea authorities to identify the need for political action to establish specific marine protected areas, to reintroduce projects in the German North Sea and Baltic Sea and to initiate appropriate measures.
The aim of the project is to support German federal and state activities in the development of guidelines for dealing with water scarcity. The focus is on two aspects: the management of acute water scarcity and the strategic, forward-looking authorization of water withdrawals. By analyzing the legal framework, data and forecasts, scientifically sound indicators and prioritization approaches are developed. Special emphasis is placed on the involvement of relevant stakeholders in order to ensure acceptance and practicability.
The marine Arctic is facing rapidly changing environmental conditions that are likely to require improved and adaptive management tools to protect its specialized ecosystems. Together with the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel) and the Research Institute for Sustainability, Helmholtz Center Potsdam (RIFS), Ecologic institute conducts research for the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, supported by the Federal Ministry for Environment (BMUV), on potential new dynamics of Arctic marine protection and adaptive management from different angles.
The revised EU Environmental Crime Directive (ECD) requires Member States to punish ecocide-like consequences of an environmental criminal offence as a qualified criminal offence. On behalf of Stop Ecocide Germany, Ecologic Institute is investigating how this new regulation can be transposed into German criminal law.
This project will support the European Commission's DG CLIMA to develop policies related to the financing of permanent carbon removal technologies, with an emphasis on mechanisms that can accelerate their upscaling. These include tools like public procurement, public-private partnerships, and EU funding instruments.