With the Green Deal, the European Union aims to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 55 percent by 2030 compared to levels in 1990. Among other things, this goal is to be achieved through a stronger role for carbon-pricing. For industry, however, this plan carries the risk of "carbon leakage": energy-intensive industries such as steel or chemical production could move away – increasing emissions elsewhere. Other industries could also be indirectly affected. This policy brief analyzes the types of measures available to reduce risks for industry and embeds them in two basic strategies that can be pursued with regard to carbon leakage.

Kemper, Melanie, Jan-Erik Thie 2021: Website Concept for 4i-TRACTION. 4i-traction.eu. Berlin, July 2021, unpublished.

Through capacity-building exercises in five European regions, facilitators worked with entrepreneurs and stakeholders to design locally-adapted business models and assess their market potential. The results provide concrete building blocks for regional bioeconomy strategies and roadmaps.

The study analyses how global governance processes and international law can contribute to reducing resource consumption and making the utilisation of resources more efficient and effective. The study provides a stocktake and assessment of existing international law and of non-legal and certain non-governmental instruments and processes related to resource efficiency of abiotic raw materials and gives an assessment of governance proposals in academic literature. Finally, specific policy options are identified.

Achieving climate neutrality requires structural changes to our economic system, with solutions that work across sectors. Ecologic Institute has developed an assessment matrix based on net zero indicators that can measure climate neutrality, and proposes ways to integrate this framework into existing EU policy processes.

Achieving climate neutrality requires structural changes to our society and economic system. Ecologic Institute and IDDRI developed an assessment framework based on eleven elements with indicators to measure the progress towards climate neutrality, and proposed ways to integrate this framework into existing EU policy processes.

Achieving climate neutrality requires structural changes to our economic system, with solutions that work across sectors. Ecologic Institute has developed an assessment matrix based on net zero indicators that can measure climate neutrality, and proposes ways to integrate this framework into existing EU policy processes.

This report documents the project work and results of the R&D project "Information Platform for the restoration of rivers", which was jointly carried out by Ecologic Institute, Planungsbüro Zumbroich and the Institute of Aquatic Ecology and Fish Biology, Jena (IGF Jena) from 2017 to 2020. The aim of the project was to create an online information platform about river restoration (Part I of the project report) and the analysis of German restoration projects in regard to their monitoring (Part II of the project report). The report is available for download.

Various economical methods are available for the monetary assessment of the effects of environmentally induced diseases as well as the resulting deaths. This report serves as a basis for the development of concrete monetary valuations of environmental burdens of disease, which is illustrated by three case studies.

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.

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.

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.

This study by Ecologic Institute analyses the potential of areas of law beyond the water law to achieve the objectives of the Water Framework Directive. Germany has so far failed to achieve the various objectives of the Water Framework Directive. According to the thesis on which the study is based, reason for this is not only the lack of financial, personnel and organisational prerequisites, but also the lack of integration of water protection concerns into other areas of law beyond water law. The study is available for download.

The global COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted profound inequalities and vulnerabilities across the Global South, particularly in areas such as energy access, urban resilience, and environmental governance. Contributors to the IASS study analyzed challenges and potential pathways toward sustainable recovery, emphasizing the role of renewable energy, urban planning, and climate-smart economic strategies. The pandemic exposed systemic fragilities, demonstrating the urgent need for holistic, integrated approaches to development that address economic, environmental, and social dimensions simultaneously.

The number of scientific climate advisory bodies is growing rapidly across European countries, including the establishment of one at the EU-level. Under the right conditions, such expert councils can help governments not only make the right climate policy decisions but also hold them accountable by boosting transparency and tracking the success (or failures) of national actions.