Germany's Polar research activities contribute to numerous initiatives and include links to climate and biodiversity protection. To prepare for future challenges and address the most pressing issues, the federal government launched a process to develop a new polar research agenda. On 19 May 2021, the steering group of the process including Ecologic Institute's Arne Riedel, handed over the concept paper on the "Changing Polar Regions" developed by over 100 experts to the Federal Ministry for Education and Research.

The concept paper aims to serve as a basis for future calls for national research funding. It covers diverse topics such as climate and ecosystem research in the Polar regions as well as sustainable development, monitoring and research infrastructure.

Arctic Coordinator Arne Riedel was invited as a part of the steering group and coordinated the agenda's chapter on human impacts on Arctic ecosystems. Those impacts stem from activities such as shipping, resources development and other industrial sources. The chapter reflects the status quo and research trends in a number of human impacts and shows pathways for future research on these topics. This includes among others research on short-lived climate forcers, invasive species and underwater noise, as well as on mineral or energy resources, fisheries, marine pollution, plastics, and chemicals.

Overarching research and development needs include 1) interactions of multiple stressors, 2) more regionally differentiated research and continuous data collection, 3) accelerated action on the basis of available information, and 4) cooperation with indigenous and local communities.