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© freepik

Artificial intelligence in scientific research: ‘you need a certain basic scepticism’

Blog 06/03/2025

Artificial intelligence as a research assistant? It’s definitely an interesting option. After all, as in other fields, AI could take a lot of work off scientists’ hands – for example, when it comes to research or summarising findings. Oeko-Institut has therefore initiated its first projects on this topic.
© plainpicture / Anke Doerschlen

Revised methodologies under the EU Carbon Certification Removal Framework continue to lack integrity

Blog 05/28/2025

In March and April 2025, the European Commission presented revised methodologies for the European Union’s Carbon Removal Certification Framework (CRCF). The methodologies continue to set a much lower standard than the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism and best practice in the voluntary carbon market. If the European Commission does not fundamentally improve these methodologies, the vast majority of CRCF units will not represent any actual emission reductions or removals.
© Christina Urrutia

Monitoring that matters – transparency makes land sector climate action effective

Blog 04/23/2025

Land management has important implications for climate change, making it essential to monitor it transparently. Increased transparency helps to improve decisions, accountability, and responsibility of all actors.
© freepik.com

Beyond artificial safety

Blog 04/08/2025

While we translate texts, generate images or simply search for answers with the aid of artificial intelligence (AI), very few of us consider whether AI is actually safe. This is likely due to the lack of discussion or efforts to address safety issues. Dr Heidy Khlaaf, Chief AI Scientist at the AI Now Institute, has been working on AI-related safety issues for a good many years. There is still a complete disregard of AI’s susceptibility to error, she says.
© Öko-Institut

6,270 cars, 2,646 bikes, 1,199 pedestrians Traffic counting – what’s it for?

Blog 03/13/2025

On a chilly January day in Berlin, 6,270 cars drive past on Köpenicker Strasse – along with an additional 2,518 heavy vehicles such as trucks or buses and 2,646 bikes. During the course of this Wednesday, 1,199 pedestrians are also out and about in the street. How do we know?
© plainpicture / Anke Doerschlen

The EU Carbon Certification Removal Framework and its methodologies must be improved to deliver on their goals

Blog 12/12/2024

In October 2024, the European Commission presented draft methodologies for the European Union’s Carbon Removal Certification Framework (CRCF). These methodologies set out requirements for the certification of carbon removals and soil emission reductions from various mitigation activities.
© Oeko-Institut

The ICVCM approval of three REDD methodologies presents risks to the integrity of the initiative

Blog 12/10/2024

In November 2024, the Governing Board of the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) approved three methodologies for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD). The methodologies are now eligible for issuing “high integrity” carbon credits under the Core Carbon Principles (CCPs) label of the ICVCM. We are concerned with this decision. While the methodologies have been improved compared to previous versions, in our assessment they do not meet the requirements of the ICVCM Assessment Framework. Here we explain why.
© fStopImages / Malte Müller

Enforcement still at the start line

Blog 11/28/2024

Miranda Amachree has dedicated her career to the environment – driven by her decades-long passion for the subject. That’s why, until her retirement in 2021, she was the Director of Inspection & Enforcement at Nigeria’s National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA).
© plainpicture / Ulrich Mertens

Fellowship program with renewable energy experts from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan successfully completed

Blog 11/19/2024

Two distinguished researchers, Dr Bahtiyor Eshanov (Uzbekistan) and Dr Abylaikhan Soltanayev (Kazakhstan) have taken part in a joint fellowship program on Living Lab research on renewable energies by Oeko-Institut, SPCE Hub, and ISoG BW.
© Oeko-Institut

Extended Producer Responsibility: a step forward towards a circular textiles system

Blog 10/30/2024

Progress towards Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) policy for textiles is real and accelerating. Across the world, EPR schemes are being rolled out. Valérie Boiten, senior policy officer at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, and Clara Löw, senior researcher at Oeko-Institut, take a look at the policy instrument.
© plainpicture / Alexander Schönberg

Earlier estimation of developments in the CO2 storage capacity of forests: categorising the results of the German National Forest Inventory

Blog 10/22/2024

The fourth German National Forest Inventory published on 8 October 2024 provides comprehensive results on the condition and development of forests for the period of 2017 to 2022. From a climate protection perspective, forests emitted more CO2 than they absorbed during this period. Below we classify the results and use our model FABio-Forest to show as an example the importance of forest modelling for climate policy.
© Öko-Institut

Cost comparisons in international hydrogen trade: The PtX Business Opportunity Analyser (PtX-BOA)

Blog 10/02/2024

Hydrogen is high on policy agendas around the world. In Germany, the federal government adopted a hydrogen import strategy in July and long-distance transmission network operators are setting up essential infrastructure for a hydrogen transport network. Current estimates indicate that Germany will need to import 50 to 70 per cent of its hydrogen requirements in 2030.
© fStopImages / Malte Müller

“Cooperation delivers positive change”

Blog 09/19/2024

Preventing double counting while ensuring good governance and environmental integrity – Mandy Rambharos knows what makes a good climate change mitigation project. At EDF, the Environmental Defense Fund, she is working hard to enhance the quality of carbon credits.
© Maurizio Di Pietro / Climate Visuals Countdown

Sustainability dimensions of hydrogen in specialist discourse – an inventory

Blog 09/03/2024

Hydrogen is a key factor on the path to climate neutrality in Germany. This requires “green hydrogen” – produced in a climate-neutral way and, in the long term, also in many countries of the Global South. The fact that it should be sustainable is increasingly undisputed. However, there are different views on the dimensions that contribute to the sustainability of hydrogen and its derivatives.
© plainpicture / Martin Sigmund

It’s all about CO2 – or not quite?

Blog 08/15/2024

It’s not good for the climate when a cow belches. Nor is it good when an old air-conditioning unit is tipped on a waste dump. For CO2 is not the only gas harming the climate. There are many more gases that Tim Brown, Tradewater CEO, deals with.
© plainpicture / Walter Bibikow

“The Global South can benefit from carbon markets”

Blog 07/23/2024

She ended up working on carbon markets more “by accident” than by design, as she herself says. After completing her Master’s, Kristin Qui was looking for a role in international diplomacy, preferably one which also covered sustainable development.
©plainpicture / Malte Mueller

“I kinda wanted to land the plane”

Blog 07/05/2024

Donna Lee had a clear plan for her retirement. After many years in the US Department of State, frequent travel, living and working out of a suitcase, a fulfilling but exhausting career, she wanted to “land the plane”, as she herself says. To improve the quality of the voluntary carbon market Donna Lee and partner Duncan van Bergen set up Calyx Global.
The Partnership for Responsible Battery and Metal Recycling (ProBaMet) Project starts in Nigeria with visits to lead smelters in Ogun State

Blog 06/12/2024

Researcher Frederick Adjei shares insights into the work and approach of the collaboration with local stakeholders within the ProBaMet Project.
CCQI scores for IFM projects point to substantial integrity risks

Blog 03/25/2024

The Carbon Credit Quality Initiative (CCQI) has released new scores for the integrity risks of carbon credits from improved forest management (IFM) projects. We find that unrealistic baselines and underestimated leakage are likely to lead to significant overestimation of emission reductions or removals under all assessed methodologies. The likelihood of additionality depends strongly on the forest management practices that are implemented. The sustainable development benefits are more limited compared to most other project types.
Impressions from Bali - how findings on site influence research

Blog 03/21/2024

Dr Hannes Böttcher presents a major EU project and reports on his trip to Bali. There are good reasons for travelling to project meetings from time to time to gain a better understanding of other groups.
© fstopimages/Malte Müller

No land-use transition without a food transition

Blog 02/15/2024

How do we organise agriculture in an environmentally friendly and climate-resilient way? How do we feed ourselves in a way that is good for our health and the planet? How do we harmonise forest protection and sustainable timber use? And how do we utilise the available land against the backdrop of competing demands? In short: How can we achieve a turnaround in agriculture to protect the climate and biodiversity? The Oeko-Institut's policy brief answers these and other questions.
© fstopimages/Malte Müller

Land-use transition - Forests need protection

Blog 02/15/2024

How do we organise agriculture in an environmentally friendly and climate-resilient way? How do we feed ourselves in a way that is good for our health and the planet? How do we harmonise forest protection and sustainable timber use? And how do we utilise the available land against the backdrop of competing demands? In short: How can we achieve a turnaround in agriculture to protect the climate and biodiversity? The Oeko-Institut's policy brief answers these and other questions.
© fstopimages/Malte Müller

Land-use transition - Sustainable agricultural systems

Blog 02/08/2024

How do we organise agriculture in an environmentally friendly and climate-resilient way? How do we feed ourselves in a way that is good for our health and the planet? How do we harmonise forest protection and sustainable timber use? And how do we utilise the available land against the backdrop of competing demands? In short: How can we achieve a turnaround in agriculture to protect the climate and biodiversity? The Oeko-Institut's policy brief answers these and other questions.
© fstopimages/Malte Müller

Land-use transition - Land availability and competition for land

Blog 02/01/2024

How do we organise agriculture in an environmentally friendly and climate-resilient way? How do we feed ourselves in a way that is good for our health and the planet? How do we harmonise forest protection and sustainable timber use? And how do we utilise the available land against the backdrop of competing demands? In short: How can we achieve a turnaround in agriculture to protect the climate and biodiversity? The Oeko-Institut's policy brief answers these and other questions.
© fstopimages/Malte Müller

Land-use transition – Strategies and solutions for sustainable land use

Blog 01/25/2024

How do we organise agriculture in an environmentally friendly and climate-resilient way? How do we feed ourselves in a way that is good for our health and the planet? How do we harmonise forest protection and sustainable timber use? And how do we utilise the available land against the backdrop of competing demands? In short: How can we achieve a turnaround in agriculture to protect the climate and biodiversity? The Oeko-Institut's policy brief answers these and other questions.
© fstopimages/Malte Müller

Ensuring the EU’s long-term access to raw materials

Blog 12/07/2023

The Critical Raw Materials Act is intended to ensure the EU's access to a secure, affordable and sustainable supply of critical raw materials while reducing its dependence on third countries. The European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) will vote on the proposed legislation today. Dr Johannes Betz explains the positive and negative features of the Act.
© plainpicture / Rudi Sebastian

Expectations for COP 28 in Dubai

Blog 11/21/2023

The 28th Conference of the Parties (COP 28) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change will take place in Dubai from 30 November to 12 December 2023. International cooperation to address climate change is more urgent than ever, and climate conferences are attracting increasing numbers of participants and greater media coverage every year. What concrete progress can be made at this year’s conference?
© fstopimages/Malte Müller

Transcript of the podcast: Why do we need a circular economy?

Blog 09/29/2023

The Podcast with Clara Löw for reading.
©plainpicture/Mischa Keijser

Striking a Balance – The Role of Sufficiency in the Energy Transition

Blog 09/19/2023

Sufficiency has been an important topic at the Oeko-Institut for over a decade. In this context, the Oeko-Institut, together with Vito / EnergyVille and for the EEA, has written a study on the term „sufficiency“. The key findings are presented in this article.
© fstopimages/Malte Müller

Transcript of the podcast: How can the sustainability transformation work?

08/22/2023

The podcast with Jan Peter Schemmel for reading.
© fstopimages/Malte Müller

Conflicting goals and contentious debates are unavoidable on the path to a circular future

Blog 08/08/2023

Establishing a circular economy is imperative for the transition to sustainability. However, there are some challenges along the way. Siddharth Prakash and Clara Löw offer an analysis and point to some solutions.
The EU Batteries Regulation – a success for the circular economy

Blog 07/26/2023

The EU Regulation concerning batteries and waste batteries is due to enter into force very soon. The Oeko-Institut conducted research in support of the development process and welcomes the Regulation. In our blog, Dr Hartmut Stahl and Dr Johannes Betz comment on this success.
© fstopimages/Malte Müller

Transcript of the podcast: What can be done to make farming more climate-friendly?

Blog 07/14/2023

The podcast with Margarethe Scheffler for reading.
“We are seeing genuine change”

Blog 06/23/2023

Rachel Waggett works as a Principal Environment Officer and developes climate strategies for the Liverpool City Region.
© Plainpicture / Tilby Vattard

Cooking up Quality: Carbon credits from efficient cookstove projects face integrity issues worth fixing

Blog 06/06/2023

Cookstove projects are gaining interest on the voluntary carbon market. In this blog, Dr. Lambert Schneider et.al unpack their integrity risks based on our evaluations under the Carbon Credit Quality Initiative (CCQI) and Calyx Global.
© fstopimages/Malte Müller

Transcript of the podcast: How effective is the Supply Chain Act?

Blog 05/26/2023

The podcast with Dr Peter Gailhofer for reading.
Mitigation of industrial N2O – Low-hanging fruit in industrialised countries

Blog 05/03/2023

In a recent study on behalf of the Nitric Acid Climate Action Group (NACAG) we found significant ‘low-hanging fruit’ mitigation potential for emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) from chemical industry and a lack of dedicated climate policies. Wolfram Jörß summarises the results.
© fstopimages/Malte Müller

Transcript of the Podcast: “Will transport make the transition?”

Blog 04/27/2023

The Podcast with Peter Kasten for reading.
Enhancing Public Support for Climate Policy: Addressing Research Gaps and Necessities

Blog 04/06/2023

Dirk Arne Heyen summarizes the key messages of the webinar about climate policy acceptability.
© fstopimages/Malte Müller

Transcript of the Podcast: Sustainability through digitalisation?

Blog 03/08/2023

The Podcast with Carl-Otto Gensch for reading.
“Continuity is the maxim”

Blog 03/01/2023

Managing science well – that was what Susanne Fröschl’s work was all about during her time on the Oeko-Institut’s executive board. She now leaves the institute after a stint of eight years. In conversation with her successor André Nelius, she talks about novel modes of operation since the coronavirus pandemic, successful transformations in the day-to-day workings of science, and the challenges to come.
© plainpicture/Love Strandell

Study reveals major climate change mitigation potential in film production

Blog 02/15/2023

The greenhouse gas emissions of film productions and TV series have been systematically analysed in a comprehensive study for the first time. The dataset is based on 78 productions (see list at the end of this article). The idea for a sustainability initiative came from the film industry itself and aimed to ensure that in future, climate impacts are taken into account and mitigated from the start of production onwards.
© fstopimages/Malte Müller

Transcript of the Podcast: Can the Forests still be saved?

01/25/2023

The Podcast with Dr Hannes Böttcher for reading.
© fstopimages/Malte Müller

Waste management in practice in Ghana and Nigeria

Blog 01/05/2023

Tobias Schleicher, scientist at the Oeko-Institut, was on the road in West Africa, where two of his waste management projects are on the home straight. In this blog post, Tobias Schleicher describes his impressions.
© Plainpicture / Frank Herfort

Goodbye, nuclear power!

Blog 12/12/2022

The latest issue of the Oeko-Institut’s eco@work magazine turns the spotlight on the phase-out of nuclear power. So let’s take a look back at nuclear power in Germany.
© fstopimages/Malte Müller

Linking a global plastic pollution agreement with local realities

Blog 12/02/2022

However, in the often abstract negotiations, it is important not to overlook realities at the local level, where action will be needed to implement the agreement.
© fstopimages/Malte Müller

Transcript of the podcast: “Protecting the climate with emissions trading?”

Blog 11/10/2022

"Wenden, bitte!" [All change, please!] The podcast on science and sustainable transitions. Guest in episode 14 is the scientist Verena Graichen from the Oeko-Institut.
© plainpicture/Cavan Images

The world waits for action on climate pledges

Blog 11/07/2022

Whenever the COPs are in the spotlight, there is a tendency to launch a raft of new initiatives. But do they have any effect? Anke Herold and Lorenz Moosmann have been looking at what became of three initiatives that emerged from COP26.
© fstopimages/Malte Müller

Transcript of the podcast: The heat transition

Blog 10/26/2022

"Wenden, bitte!" [All change, please!] The podcast on science and sustainable transitions. Guest in episode 13 is the scientist Dr Veit Bürger from the Oeko-Institut
© Plainpicture / Elektrons 08

International climate policy under the war on Ukraine

Blog 10/12/2022

In this blog, we discuss some of the impacts which are related to climate policies.
Waste Management in India: A Woman Fights for the Circular Economy

10/04/2022

Wilma Rodrigues founded the Sahaas Zero Waste company, which now offers comprehensive services that help to retain resources within the cycle.
The nuclear phase-out – myths about stretchout operation and extension of lifetimes

Blog 09/06/2022

The nuclear phase-out is a done deal. However, in response to the gas crisis, it is once again being discussed. In this two-part blog article, we explain why Germany should abide by its commitment to phase out nuclear power. Part One: The energy industry.
©plainpicture/noa-mar

RED III greenhouse gas balance methodology: an important element of the IPCC rules is missing

Blog 08/01/2022

The methodology for GHG balances in the Renewable Energy Directive RED II and in the proposal for amendment of RED III has a major gap in this regard. This blog piece explains the technicalities.
© plainpicture/Christian Vorhofer

Civilisation’s gold: first-ever mapping of the urban mining potential to 2040

Blog 06/28/2022

How large is the anthropogenic material stock in Germany, and how much is it likely to increase? This has now been calculated by a team of researchers at the Oeko-Institut, who have also produced a forecast of the realistic potential to obtain secondary raw materials from urban mining to 2040.
© plainpicture/Antje Solveig

Biomass for heating in the context of the fit-for-55 package: How to ensure sustainability?

Blog 06/21/2022

What measures are needed to make the building sector climate neutral while ensuring that biomass is only used within sustainable limits?
© plainpicture/Electrons 08

Lithium mining: The transformation of energy systems should not be achieved at the expense of communities in the Global South

Blog 06/17/2022

Electromobility series: Pia Marchegiani from the argentine foundation FARN explains how resource extraction can impact on indigenous communities.
© fstopimages/Malte Müller

Innovation diffusion process of the German’s green technology for preventing plastic waste – and its applicability to Thailand

Blog 05/25/2022

Our visiting researcher Napaporn Yuberk is the National Coordinator for the CAP SEA project based in GIZ Office Bangkok, Thailand. She writes about her thoughts on Germany’s innovation diffusion process.
Factsheets: The reform of the EU Emissions Trading System – a closer look

Blog 05/17/2022

In July 2021, the European Commission presented a series of legislative proposals as part of the Fit for 55 package to align energy and climate policy instruments with the new climate target of reducing emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. Researchers at the Oeko-Institut have taken a closer look at the proposals for the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) and have produced four factsheets with summaries and comments.
© Plainpicture / Kniel Synnatzschke

Making everyone fit for 55 – How can the Social Climate Fund support the transition in the buildings sector?

Blog 05/13/2022

[Translate to English:] Is the Social Climate Fund of the EU designed to fulfill his promise? The aim is to address any social impacts that arise from the new system of emissions trading to the buildings and road transport sectors.
© fstopimages/Malte Müller

10 steps towards sustainable consumption

Blog 05/10/2022

Sustainable consumption – how does it work? Our research assistant Felix Behrens has often been asked that question by his friends since joining the Oeko-Institut. Together with his colleagues, he has defined 10 key principles that support sustainable consumer choices.
© Plainpicture / Sam Diephuis

Energy policy in times of the Ukraine war: Nuclear power instead of natural gas?

03/23/2022

Anke Herold, Dr Roman Mendelevitch and Dr Christoph Pistner on the impacts of the war in Ukraine on German and European energy and climate policy – and whether nuclear power should replace Russian gas.
© plainpicture/Ganguin

An expert’s view on the guidance for reporting and review after #COP26

Blog 12/08/2021

[Translate to English:] The working paper provides an overview of the contents of the decision text and its annexes. It is intended for readers interested in the transparency framework under the Paris Agreement who did not follow the negotiations on this topic.
© fstopimages/Malte Müller

#CircularEconomy_6: More closed-loop clothing: Textiles must be recycled

Blog 10/27/2021

[Translate to English:] Kleidung wird immer mehr zu einem Wegwerfprodukt. Unsere Analyse zeigt, welche Wege es in der EU für eine Kreislaufwirtschaft im Textilbereich gibt.
© plainpicture/Vladimir Godnik

How the fashion industry and climate crisis are intertwined

Blog 08/10/2021

Tthe next time you are out shopping for new clothes think of what cause you might be supporting. And how your decision might affect our world.
© fstopimages/Malte Müller

#CircularEconomy_5: Waste compensation as a circular business model in the e-waste sector

Blog 07/20/2021

As we mentioned in one of our previous blogs, everyone seems to be talking about circular business models as a contribution to a circular economy. But not all of these models lead to real progress in addressing social and environmental problems. So what makes a difference? Senior Researcher Tobias Schleicher shares his thoughts on e-waste and waste compensation.
© Plainpicture / Uwe Arens

Is the EU heating sector “fit for 55”?

Blog 07/14/2021

[Translate to English:] Without putting the heating sector on track, the EU cannot reach net zero. The Green Deal provides the opportunity to set the course towards making heating fit for 55. Dr. Sibylle Braungardt explains why and how this can succeed.
© plainpicture/Ulrich Mertens

How to design an EU emissions trading system for maritime transport?

Blog 07/12/2021

The new study by the Oeko-Institut and Transport&Environment commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety shows how an extension of the EU emissions trading system to maritime transport in the "Fit for 55" package could be designed. How such a regulation would relate to potential measures by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) is explained by researcher Nora Wissner.
© fstopimages/Malte Müller

#CircularEconomy_4: Dealing with complex supply chains and products

Blog 06/17/2021

Circular Business Models are effective, when they operate in short and well-known supply chains.
© fstopimages/Malte Müller

#CircularEconomy_3: Only with the right prescription can the circular economy be a remedy

Blog 06/02/2021

Not all Circular Business Models are designed to relieve the environment to the extent that would be necessary.
© fstopimages/Malte Müller

#CircularEconomy_2: Fishers take action on ghost nets

Blog 05/11/2021

Andreas Manhart looks at how, with economic incentives and reliable financing, the principle of the Circular Economy can be applied to solve a specific environmental problem.
© fstopimages/Malte Müller

#CircularEconomy_1: Will Circular Business Models save the world? [deu/eng]

Blog 04/29/2021

In the #CircularEconomy blog series, some scientists of the Oeko-Institut raise few questions on the current state and potential of Circular Business Models and present their proposals on how the circular economy can really contribute to climate protection.
©plainpicture/Willing Holtz

What the new US climate target means compared to the EU’s target

Blog 04/23/2021

What do these targets mean in terms of actual emission reductions? And do they represent comparable efforts?
© Plainpicture / Gustafsson

No sustainability debate without chemicals

Blog 11/19/2020

Invisible but present everywhere: everyday products such as electronic goods, sofas and clothes release chemicals into the air, yet this is an entirely overlooked aspect of the sustainability debate. The chemist Clara Löw of the Oeko-Institut explains in her blog post why this needs to change.
How environmentally friendly are books?

Blog 10/13/2020

The search engine of a large online bookseller finds 695 books matching the search term “Greta Thunberg”. Reading about her climate activism is wonderful, but does she approve, we wonder? After all, the printing of all those pages is itself a source of CO2 emissions. We mark the Leipzig Book Fair by asking which factors influence the ecological footprint of books and e-book readers. The answer will help readers to decide how climate-friendly they can make their reading. Carl-Otto Gensch of the Oeko-Institut has done a few calculations.
"Two weeks for future": Me, my son and our tandem

Blog 09/23/2020

Because her son Felix needs the same level of care as a toddler, Dr Teufel has no time to demonstrate regularly. Nevertheless, she wanted to make a stand and show her solidarity. That is how she hit on the idea of taking her son and the recumbent tandem on a “Two Weeks for Future” cycling tour. Here she reports on the trip.
A journey from Oeko-Institut to Australia

Blog 08/18/2020

Graham Anderson worked as a scientist at the Oeko-Institut in Berlin until summer 2019. He wanted to make his return to his home country Australia as sustainable as possible and decided to travel by train rather than by air. He now describes what this journey (before the corona pandemic!) looked like in his travel report.
© plainpicture / Åke-Nyqvis

The carbon footprint of our digital lifestyles

Blog 04/24/2020

Oeko-Institut is reputed for knowing the answers to many relevant environmental questions concerning the future. Senior researcher Jens Gröger is currently working on the topic of "sustainable digitization" and has done the maths.
© Plainpicture / Andre Eikmeyer

Changes in course needed for UN scheme to address aviation emissions

Blog 04/07/2020

Commentary on the UN agreement CORSIA
Using incentives to put out fires [de/eng]

Blog 02/11/2020

The area of Agbogbloshie in Accra, Ghana’s capital city, has come to the world’s attention on account of its role in the recycling of electronic waste (e-waste) and the problems that this gives rise to. Andreas Manhart of the Oeko-Institut took part in a project that looked for – and found – new ways of solving the e-waste problem in Ghana.
Enjoy your meal - in an environmentally friendly way!

Blog 01/09/2020

As in other years, the Critical Agricultural Report is published during Berlin’s so-called International Green Week. In accordance to this, Dr. Dietlinde Quack of the Oeko-Institut explains what can be done in Germany to ensure a more environmentally and animal-friendly diet.
Building sustainability into the national hydrogen strategy

Blog 12/23/2019

The planned national hydrogen strategy will include a roadmap for the market launch of electrolysers. However, the exemption from levies and charges currently being discussed is the wrong approach, writes Christoph Heinemann from the Oeko-Institut.
#plasticfree: Car tyres are the main microplastic pollutant [deu/eng]

Blog 12/18/2019

Part 4: Tyre abrasion is in Germany responsible for one third of the total microplastic input into the environment.
The Madrid climate talks failed to deliver. What now?

Blog 12/17/2019

Tangible results are hard to find. Countries failed to agree on a clear roadmap for enhancing the ambition of climate targets in 2020 and delayed several important decisions, in particular rules for international carbon market mechanisms. In this blog, the Oeko-Institut team provides a viewpoint from inside the negotiations.
#plasticfree: Microplastics are in style

Blog 12/13/2019

Part 3: Instead of clothes, we should change our attitude towards fashion.
#plasticfree: A bowl of soup instead of packet soup

Blog 12/09/2019

Part 2: Consumers should ask themselves with every piece of plastic they hold in their hands: How could I avoid this waste next time?
#plasticfree: Everybody produces microplastics

Blog 12/03/2019

Part 1: Our environment is suffocating in plastic waste that cannot be removed. What can we all do to stem the plastic flood?
re:publica Accra was a seminal moment

Blog 10/18/2019

The Ghanaian digital sector is growing and offers a wealth of opportunities for participation and innovation. We talked to William Edem Senyo of Impact Hub Accra about the importance of digital media in Ghana and re:publica Accra.
Double counting in international emissions trading

Blog 10/11/2019

At the next climate conference in Chile in December 2019, one issue will be particularly contentious: the rules for international trade in emission reductions. A central question will be whether and how “double counting” – two countries using the same emission reduction to achieve their climate targets – can be prevented. Lambert Schneider, Research Coordinator for International Climate Policy at Oeko-Institut, has summarised the international discussion on double counting with nine other authors in the Science journal.
Sustainable clothing? It suits me! [eng]

Blog 04/17/2019

Neither eco nor fair: Matching the Fashion Week in Berlin, Alexa Hännicke and Dr Jenny Teufel reveal the consequences of "fast fashion".
© plainpicture / Tuomo Vainamo

Repair or replace?

Blog 04/04/2019

[Translate to English:] How can appliances be kept in service for as long as possible? When are they worth repairing – and when does it makes sense to buy a new and efficient appliance? The Oeko-Institut provides answers to these questions in a new background paper.
© plainpicture/Luca Casonato

Governance in The Smart City: Sketches of A Research Programme in Legal Theory

01/11/2019

[Translate to English:] A contribution by Dr Peter Gailhofer in the newly published anthology "The Globalisation of Urban Governance".
E-mobility: Resource needs for batteries and the challenges for Europe

09/06/2018

[Translate to English:] With a focus on lithium and cobalt for batteries, Dr Doris Schüler summarises the challenges currently facing the producing countries and looks at developments in Europe.
© plainpicture / Fred Dott

Erosion of European sustainability requirements for bioenergy

08/21/2018

[Translate to English:] Extending the European Union’s Renewable Energy Directive (RED) on solid and gaseous biomass is being used to roll back sustainability requirements. This is the wrong path, say Dr. Klaus Hennenberg and colleagues, in their recent article in Nature Ecology and Evolution.
"eMobility is the right way to go"

08/16/2018

Are electric vehicles the answer to transport-related environmental problems, and is the controversy surrounding them justified? This is the kind of question that Lukas Minnich is often asked about e-mobility. He and his team have compiled a Fact Check to provide some answers.
© plainpicture / Cavan Images

CO2 emission standards for cars and vans: the status quo and the Commission’s proposal

06/07/2018

The update of the CO2 emission standards for cars and vans for the post 2020 period is currently being negotiated. In this blog post, Peter Kasten gives an overview of the valid regulation up to 2020 and the Commission’s proposal.

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