The H2020 EU-funded PONDERFUL project will investigate how ponds can be used as nature-based solutions (NBS) for climate change. It will evaluate the interaction and feedback between biodiversity, ecosystem services and climate in pondscapes.

In this project, three sufficiency projects are to be implemented, which the contractors had developed together with UBA employees in the previous project.

This project assesses a selection of climate-change adaptation measures for the agriculture sector and gathers quantitative evidence on their potential to compensate for climate-change induced productivity losses. The results feed into the parent project "Climate change and bioeconomy – Sustainability gap analysis for the agricultural sector".

The project provides an overview of the current water availability in Germany, as well as its future development under climate change conditions. It predicts emerging conflicts of use and develops possible solution strategies. For example, a concept for regional water advisory councils will be developed. These are intended to avoid water conflicts by enabling representatives of water-relevant sectors to exchange information. In addition, options for reusing water for irrigation in urban areas are being examined.

Cities and their peripheries are constantly confronted with challenges such as urban sprawl, climate change and pollution. These processes can exacerbate the degradation of natural ecosystems, and jeopardize ecosystem service provisioning with negative consequences for human health and well-being, biodiversity, social cohesion and equity, and, finally, city resilience. The INTERLACE project brings together a unique consortium of European and Latin American partners to contribute to effectively restoring and rehabilitating urban ecosystems to make cities more livable, resilient and inclusive. The project aims to advance knowledge and awareness of restorative nature-based solutions (NBS), such as the restoration of wetlands and rivers, as well as to foster more ecologically coherent and integrated city planning processes. In addition, it lays the foundation for sustained multi-directional cooperation and exchange between European and Latin American cities for wider transformative impact.

This project seeks to bring available knowledge together on the future of the EU agricultural production, including on possible sustainability gaps in the form of food, water and energy security, land take and GHG emissions that need to be closed by 2050. The results contribute to a better understanding on how the agricultural sector can contribute to climate-change mitigation and biodiversity conservation, taking into account the growth potential of the bioeconomy and its impact on the environment.

How to link the goals of the Agenda 2030, the Paris Convention, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Reduction and climate adaptation policies? The project examines synergies and challenges in the joint implementation of these processes. To this end, several papers, among others on "sustainable adaptation pathways", are prepared. These present factors for successful implementation, examples of good practice and short country studies. The results are discussed with the expert audience at a seminar and a side event of the High Level Political Forum (HLPF) at the United Nations in New York.

The conviction of an everlasting economic growth is increasingly pushing our planet to its ecological limits. Life within these limits would be possible if sustainable consumption patterns were to become firmly established in our society. The policy of sufficiency can make a beneficial contribution to this. It aims to reshape the political, economic and social framework conditions in such a way that consumers are induced to demand sustainable products and services and voluntarily resign from excessive consumption. Against this background, the Institut für zukunftsfähige Ökonomien (ZOE), the Institut für Partizipatives Gestalten (IPG), Ecologic Institute, and R. Andreas Kraemer develop sufficiency policy project drafts that are closely aligned with the needs and requirements of the respective specialist units at the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) and the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU).

Vietnam is currently revising its Law on Environmental Protection and therefore also revisiting the chapter on climate change. Ecologic Institute supports the Vietnamese Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in adapting the provisions to the requirements of the Paris Agreement. In addition, recommendations are being developed based on experiences in other countries with climate change framework laws.

Addressing energy consumption and related GHG emissions from buildings constitute a major challenge in the light of the climate crisis. At the same time, the interplay of building policies with other policy areas comes into focus with sector coupling, digitalization but also lifecycle considerations and adaptation to climate change. For the European Commission Directorate-General for Energy, the Buildings Performance Institute Europe (BPIE), Climact, Creara Consultores and Ecologic Institute investigate which lessons can be learned from already existent integrated policy approaches for new buildings and buildings undergoing a major renovation.

The European commission strives for carbon-neutrality in Europe by 2050. In order to achieve this goal, the energy intensive industries will have to reduce their emissions substantially. On behalf of the European Parliament, CE Delft and Ecologic Institute will summarise how energy intensive industries in Europe can transition to a carbon-neutral energy economy while preserving their global competitiveness.

Infrastructure systems are undergoing a process of profound transformation. They are under great pressure to change in order to contribute to changing social objectives. Expectations and challenges with regard to climate adaptation and climate protection, the circular economy, energy system transformation including the phasing out of nuclear power, coal, mobility, decarbonisation, as well as the long-term processes of urbanisation and demographic change are setting new goals, which also affect the development of infrastructures. The new technical possibilities of information and communication technologies in the wake of the digital transformation, including the increasing familiarity of the users in their application, together with the new objectives lead to a great dynamic of change towards more efficiency, comfort and partly completely new services.

In 2014, the European Union committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. The Commission also proposes to aim for full greenhouse gas neutrality by 2050. On behalf of the BMU, Öko-Institute and Ecologic Institute are investigating how these goals can be achieved and what options are available to raise ambition of mid-term goals and measures.

The aim of the project participants is to provide the German Federal Environment Agency (UBA) with scientific support in communicating the results of the IPCC Special Reports on "Climate Change and Land" (SRCCL) and "The Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate" (SROCC). This is achieved by preparing the contents of the special reports by means of core messages, explanatory texts and presentations in webinars.