Contents:

1. A Treaty on Plastic Waste – Publication
2. Shaping EU Plastic Policies – Publication
3. Ocean as a Global Commons – Publication
4. Status quo and further Development of Environmental Criminal Law and Environmental Compliance – Publication
5. Ideas for a Sustainable Day-to-day Life – Publication
6. Hydromorphological Measures under the Floods and Water Framework Directives – Publication
7. How the Climate-neutral Restructuring of the German Industry can Succeed – Publication
8. Influence of Narratives of Vision and Identity on Collective Behavior Change – Publication
9. Climate Framework Laws and "Green Deals" in the EU and the US – Webinars
10. FIThydro – European Stakeholder Workshop
11. The International Governance of Geo-engineering – Presentation and Moderation
12. COACCH – Second Interactive Co-design Workshop

1. A Treaty on Plastic Waste – Publication

   A paper by Dr. Ralph Bodle and Dr. Stephan Sina on a new treaty on plastic waste was the basis for discussion at an international round-table organised by the German Ministry for the Environment in October 2019. The paper sets out the rationale for such a treaty and its added value. The objective would be to reduce marine plastic litter through a comprehensive approach with core elements that are open to future developments. A new treaty on plastic waste could address the gaps in and limitations of existing governance. These include, in particular: addressing pollution at the source, especially from land-based sources; addressing not just waste but the whole life-cycle of plastics and microplastics; and taking into account the approach of extended producer responsibility. Existing treaties such as the Basel Convention and the Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) would not allow for an overarching and comprehensive approach. A new treaty would provide added value because of its legal form. The discussion paper is available for download.

   https://ecologic.eu/16999

2. Shaping EU Plastic Policies – Publication

   This article by Ecologic Institute's Linda Mederake and Doris Knoblauch uses a structuring qualitative content analysis to investigate the parliamentary debates of two recently adopted plastic policies in the EU – namely the EU Plastics Strategy and the Single-Use Plastics Directive – and assess the relevance of public health and environmental arguments for the EU debate. The article is available online.

   https://ecologic.eu/16927

3. Ocean as a Global Commons – Publication

   As part of the 'Sustainability 2030 Science Platform', Ecologic Institute published a study on oceans as a global commons. It gives an overview of the different governance mechanisms in regard to the Global Commons "Oceans". The study is available for download and will be presented at the beginning of December at the Annual Conference 2019 of the Science Platform.

   https://ecologic.eu/16957

4. Status quo and further Development of Environmental Criminal Law and Environmental Compliance – Publication

   A 2018 report co-published by Interpol estimates the annual turnover generated by environmental crime at 110 - 281 billion US dollars. Environmental crime causes significant damage to the environment and public health. This report presents insights on environmental criminal law and its application in Germany. It is the result of a research project carried out by Ecologic Institute for the German Federal Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt). The report is available for download.

   https://ecologic.eu/16633

5. Ideas for a Sustainable Day-to-day Life – Publication

   What can consumers, citizens, companies and local decision-makers do to make our economies more sustainable? 30 research projects were funded by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) to investigate this and other aspects of a transition to a more sustainable economy.  Practical ideas from these projects on how to act more sustainably are now available through an interactive website, produced by Ecologic Institute.

   https://ecologic.eu/17001

6. Hydromorphological Measures under the Floods and Water Framework Directives – Publication

   As hydromorphological aspects between the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the Floods Directive refer to the same fluvial processes, the issue of hydromorphology and flooding has been addressed several times within the Common Implementation Strategy (CIS) process. A workshop on hydromorphological measures under the Floods and Water Framework Directives – "Finding synergies and addressing challenges" took place at the end of 2018. The updated background paper, including the workshop conclusions, is available online.

   https://ecologic.eu/16969

7. How the Climate-neutral Restructuring of the German Industry can Succeed – Publication

   The enormously innovative German industrial sector is in a position to develop many of the technical solutions required to achieve climate neutrality and bring them onto the market. However, this is not a fast-selling item, and requires a long-term commitment from the public sector. In this article, Jan-Erik Thie and Benjamin Görlach of Ecologic Institute discuss how the German industry can become climate neutral and why the public sector plays an important role. The article is available online.

   https://ecologic.eu/16943

8. Influence of Narratives of Vision and Identity on Collective Behavior Change – Publication

   Profound societal transformations are needed to move society to greater sustainability under continually changing social and environmental conditions. A key challenge is to understand the influences on and the dynamics of collective behavior change toward sustainability. In this paper, the authors – including Dr. Grit Martinez of Ecologic Institute – demonstrate how affective narrative expressions influence transitions to more sustainable collective behaviors. The article is available online.

   https://ecologic.eu/16968

9. Climate Framework Laws and "Green Deals" in the EU and the US – Webinars

   You are invited to participate in two webinars hosted by Energy Future Exchange (EFEX) and Ecologic Institute! On 14 November 2019, there will be a discussion on the state of play of climate framework laws. The existing and evolving concepts behind a "green deal" in the US and the EU, their differences and similarities, pros and cons will be covered on 20 November 2019. Please register to participate.

   https://ecologic.eu/webinar

10. FIThydro – European Stakeholder Workshop

    The European Stakeholder Workshop on Fish-friendly Hydropower will be held on 28 and 29 January 2020 in Brussels. This event will serve as a platform for consultation and exchange between scientists of the H2020 research project FIThydro, policy-makers and technical experts working on the assessment of impacts from hydropower plants and the planning of mitigation measures. Registration is possible through the event website.

    https://www.fithydro.eu/workshop-eu/

11. The International Governance of Geo-engineering – Presentation and Moderation

    Whether and how to pursue "geo-engineering" as part of climate policy is a controversial and complex issue. The generic term describes a range of concepts that spans decreasing radiative forcing to removing CO₂ from the atmosphere. Dr. Camilla Bausch moderated a two-day international workshop in Brussels on the governance of geo-engineering during which Dr. Ralph Bodle outlined the structure and criteria for addressing governance.

    https://ecologic.eu/16970

12. COACCH – Second Interactive Co-design Workshop

    On 24 October 2019, research partners and stakeholders from the COACCH (CO-designing the Assessment of Climate CHange costs) project met in Brussels for the second interactive co-design workshop. In this second stakeholder workshop, the COACCH researchers presented first findings on climate change costs in different sectors, and explored ideas for the next phase of work focused on the assessment of policies and tipping points. Ecologic Institute was responsible for designing and implementing the interactive workshop concept.

    https://ecologic.eu/16988