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Assessment of risks, opportunities, and alternatives for promoting carbon farming

Temporary carbon units from carbon farming and EU agri-food climate policy

News 11/07/2025

With Europe’s climate ambitions placing growing expectations on the agricultural and land sectors, our new report analyses how carbon farming – that is, practices that result in the temporary storage of carbon in natural ecosystems or the reduction of soil emissions - can be enhanced, without compromising environmental integrity.

EU Climate Target 2040: Assessment of the Council Proposal

News 11/07/2025

On 5 November, the European Council presented its proposal for the EU climate target for 2040 and for the revision of the EU Climate Law. As in the European Commission's proposal, European countries are to reduce their net greenhouse gas emissions by 90 per cent by 2040 compared to 1990 levels, but the amount of international carbon credits to achieve the 2040`s target will be significantly increased. This is a key milestone on the EU’s path to achieving climate neutrality by 2050.

All and everything in motion

News 09/18/2025

In the latest issue of eco@work, we focus on the current status of the mobility transition.

FAQs on the phase-out of combustion engines in 2035 and electric mobility

News 09/02/2025

No more new combustion engines from 2035: our FAQ answers questions about electric cars, range, costs, charging infrastructure, climate and jobs.

EU Climate Target 2040: Assessment of the Commission Proposal

News 07/03/2025

On 2 July 2025, the European Commission presented its proposal for the EU’s 2040 climate target as well as for the revision of the European Climate Law. The draft foresees a 90 percent reduction in net greenhouse gas emissions compared to 1990 levels. This is a key milestone on the EU’s path to achieving climate neutrality by 2050. At the same time, however, the proposal includes “flexibilities” that, according to analyses by Oeko-Institut, could weaken the impact of real emission reductions.

Social climate action

News 06/17/2025

In the present issue of eco@work we take a close look at social climate protection – in all its dimensions and preconditions, and its effective instruments.

Depot charging of e-trucks needs better framework conditions

News 05/12/2025

Charging battery-electric trucks in logistics depots – known as depot charging – is a key lever for decarbonising road freight transport. This is shown by a new study conducted by Oeko-Institut and the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI on behalf of the environmental organisation Transport & Environment (T&E). The study was conducted in Germany, France, Spain and the United Kingdom and is based on literature research, four country workshops with over 80 participants and interviews with experts.

Background report provides data and facts for Germany’s National Biomass Strategy

News 04/01/2025

How much wood will be available in the future for building, heating or for the production of wood products? How much agricultural land will be used to grow food and animal feed? How much livestock is justifiable in the context of climate targets in the future? What role do waste materials and residue matter play as suppliers of energy and raw materials? These and other questions are answered in a recent background report prepared by the six research institutes Oeko-Institut, DBFZ (German Biomass Research Centre), UFZ (Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research), IFEU (Institute for Energy and Environmental Research), and the Thuenen Institutes for Market Analysis and Forestry. The report summarises key data, results and considerations relating to the potential of biomass and its uses.

Climate-neutral transition of Germany’s heating sector with a plan: reducing emissions, increasing energy efficiency

News 03/26/2025

Although emissions in the building sector have fallen in recent years according to the German Environment Agency, the annual emissions for the building sector stipulated in the country’s Climate Action Act have been regularly exceeded. There are technological options for solving this problem. There is a lack of consensus as to how quickly and with what preferred instruments the climate-neutral transition of the heating sector should advance in future. In a new report, Ariadne researchers, including researchers from Oeko-Institut, give their recommendations to the German government: a rapid switch to renewable and more efficient heating systems and the systematic refurbishment of buildings.

Annual Report 2024: Scientific clarity against the headwinds

News 03/18/2025

These remain challenging times for the environment and climate. Despite progress on renewables expansion and new political strategies for a more sustainable economy, climate action is encountering opposition in many quarters. How can we stay on course despite the headwinds? Which scientific solutions exist for a socially just transition? And how can policy-makers, businesses and society be motivated to do more for the climate and resource conservation? These questions are explored in the Oeko-Institut’s new 2024 Annual Report, titled “Headwinds”. It shows how science can provide fact-based guidance and how current challenges can be addressed as key future-focused questions.

Artificial, but climate-conscious

News 03/07/2025

The current issue of eco@work looks at artificial intelligence from a variety of perspectives. It focuses on safety and regulatory issues and, of course, the protection of the environment and climate.

Recommendations for an improved battery life cycle

News 02/25/2025

Lithium-ion batteries are a basic prerequisite for the expansion of electromobility. In order to keep the associated environmental impacts as low as possible, the service life of these batteries must be maximised and the use of resources minimised. Researchers at Oeko-Institut and their project partners have now developed recommendations for action in this respect in the ‘Battery life cycle - greenBatt use’ project.

Sustainable research and consultancy on a new footing

News 01/16/2025

Founded more than 40 years ago, the Oeko-Institut is one of Europe’s leading independent research and consultancy organisations working for a sustainable future. In recent years, the Institute has taken on contracts to provide policy advice and conduct application-oriented research – with growing success. Our consultancy services for policy-makers and the business sector in the fields of environmental protection, climate change mitigation and sustainable development will henceforth be clustered under our newly established subsidiary, Öko-Institut Consult GmbH.

Better soil management: Which funding approaches have a positive effect on climate mitigation?

News 01/08/2025

Soils play an important role as (potential) carbon reservoirs for climate mitigation. They also play a key role in promoting biodiversity and resilience to pressures such as global warming or pollution. Worldwide, soils store two to three times more carbon than the atmosphere. They act as natural climate protectors and are therefore also a key component of the EU's agricultural policy towards a net-zero future – provided they are intact. Only then can they reduce greenhouse gas emissions and/or sequester carbon.

Statement on the withdrawal from the ICVCM expert panel

News 12/10/2024

In September 2024, Oeko-Institut withdrew from the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM), of which it was a founding member.

The power of consumers

News 11/21/2024

The current issue of eco@work looks at various aspects of consumer power. It explores which frameworks need to be in place for sustainable action and delves into the issue of motivation and guidance for purchasing decisions that are aligned with environmental interests. And it reveals where these decisions can have the greatest impact.

AI-supported policy guide: leveraging energy efficiency to combat energy poverty in the EU

News 11/07/2024

Oeko-Institut has published an innovative policy guide to combat energy poverty in the European Union. The guide places a particular emphasis on energy efficiency as a strategic lever for reducing energy costs and improving the quality of life of low-income households. It serves as a practical guide for policymakers and provides recommendations for implementing key legislative initiatives of the EU such as the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) and the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD).

New study on carbon storage: risks and recommendations for action

News 09/24/2024

In view of the urgent need to limit climate change, there is growing interest in technologies that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. A new study carried out by Oeko-Institut on behalf of the German Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU) sheds light on the challenges of the geological storage of CO2 (carbon storage, CS). It focuses in particular on the potential for storage off the coast of countries, known as offshore storage.

The human-made pool of materials

News 09/17/2024

The anthropogenic material stock in Germany alone holds an estimated 51.7 billion tonnes of material. It consists of buildings and infrastructures but also everyday goods that contain raw or processed materials, such as electrical and electronic equipment, vehicles and furniture. Urban mining aims to monitor and recover these resources. This not only eases the pressure on the environment and the climate; among other things, it also helps to reduce our import dependency. In the current issue of eco@work, we take an in-depth look at urban mining. We also cast a glance at Nigeria, where unsuitable recycling of lead-acid batteries is still causing major burdens upon people and the environment.

A good balance?

News 07/03/2024

The market for carbon offsets has surged in recent years. From 2016 to 2020, the volume of allowances sold and retired in Germany alone increased more than sixfold – and a further rise is expected. But does it really make sense to compensate for emissions via mitigation projects? Which frameworks are in place? And what about the quality of the carbon credits? These issues are explored in the latest issue of eco@work. It also looks at the principle of climate responsibility, which involves appropriate pricing of greenhouse gas emissions.

2024 Projection Report: Germany falling short of its climate targets

News 06/28/2024

Germany has set clear climate protection targets in the Federal Climate Change Act. Greenhouse gas emissions are to be reduced by at least 65 percent by 2030 and by 88 per cent by 2040 compared to 1990 levels. Greenhouse gas neutrality is to be achieved by 2045. According to the current status of the measures adopted to reduce greenhouse gases, however, Germany is lagging behind this target. It is expected that Germany will almost achieve the targets by 2030 with a projected emission reduction of approx. 64 percent. Despite substantial progress, the 2045 target of greenhouse gas neutrality is not met. This is shown in the 2024 Projection Report, which Oeko-Institut has prepared with project partners on behalf of the German Environment Agency.

EU climate protection targets for 2040: Where are we heading?

News 06/14/2024

In order for the EU to become climate-neutral by 2050, it has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 55 per cent by 2030 compared to 1990. The process of setting the EU’s energy and climate targets for 2040 has just begun. In February, the European Commission recommended that emissions should be reduced by 90 per cent by that year.

2023 Annual Report: Extreme

News 05/14/2024

The past year was marked by global challenges: violent conflicts, political extremes, record-breaking temperatures and extreme weather events. In these turbulent times, level-headed, fact-based information is crucial. Oeko-Institut has contributed to this by providing sound knowledge, transparent findings and verifiable facts for an objective discourse in politics and society. In our 2023 Annual Report, you can read how Oeko-Institut has helped to relativise extreme opinions with facts and reduce the volume of extremes with research and expertise. Our scientific research helps to create an objective basis for dialogue – in 2023 and, of course, in the years to come.

Not without trees

News 03/12/2024

In the latest issue of eco@work, we take a detailed look at natural carbon sinks, their potentialities, and the factors that put them at risk. And in our interview, we talk to Tom Kirschey: he heads the Centre of Competence for Nature-based Climate Action (KNK) and explains which measures are planned for this new body.

European emissions trading for buildings and transport: targeted support for vulnerable households

News 02/13/2024

In 2027, a second European emissions trading system (ETS 2) will be introduced specifically for the buildings and transport sectors and small energy businesses. A new study by the Oeko-Institut and Forum Ökologisch-Soziale Marktwirtschaft (FÖS) looks at how this might affect Germany, how the revenues will be used and how vulnerable groups can best be supported. The existing national emissions trading system will transition to the new EU ETS 2.

Legal opinion on Green Claims is published

News 01/17/2024

With the aim of preventing greenwashing and unclear environmental claims, the European Commission has published two proposals for new EU directives on Green Claims. In their present form, however, there are clear contradictions in the proposals – both between the proposed Green Claims directives themselves and between these proposals and the existing EU Organic Regulation. These contradictions are brought to light in a new legal opinion prepared by the law firm WBS Legal as part of a joint research project by the Oeko-Institut, the Association of Organic Food Processors (AöL) and the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL).

Improving the energy performance of non-residential buildings

News 01/09/2024

To meet European and national climate targets, EU Member States must transition their building stock to zero emissions by 2050. This entails shifting heating systems to renewable energy sources and improving the building’s energy efficiency through thermal retrofits. In December 2023, the EU agreed a revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) which introduces “Minimum Energy Performance Standards” (MEPS) for non-residential buildings. Under the revised EPBD, 16% of the worst-performing non-residential buildings will need to be renovated by 2030 and 26% by 2033. Non-residential buildings include schools, hospitals, offices and shops. They account for around 30% of the total floor area in the EU and 34% of the final energy demand for heating and hot water.

Into the spotlight!

News 11/14/2023

The current issue of eco@work turns the spotlight on events and explores how they can influence society’s transition towards sustainability. And we talk to Wiebke Linnemann-Schweizerhof from Special Olympics Germany about social sustainability criteria and related measures.

EU citizen assemblies call for more sufficiency in climate action plans

News 09/15/2023

Raw materials for the sustainability transformation: resilient supply chains

News 09/04/2023

Climate neutrality is to be achieved by 2045, yet with global demand surging, serious challenges may arise in both the extraction and the processing of seven key resources: iridium, graphite, cobalt, lithium, manganese, nickel, and light and heavy rare earths.

How can recycling of lithium-ion batteries be improved?

News 07/13/2023

Lithium-ion battery manufacturing generates production-related waste which cannot be adequately recycled in Europe at present. With demand surging due to the upcoming shift in propulsion technology from combustion engines to electric motors and the development of a European cell production industry in gigafactories, the volume of this production-related waste is likely to increase significantly in the short term.

Costs and environmental impacts of hydrogen imports

News 07/12/2023

Members’ Meeting elects the Oeko-Institut Committee

News 06/28/2023

On Saturday, 24 June 2023, the Oeko-Institut’s Members’ Meeting, which took place in the Darmstadt office and online, held elections for several seats on the Committee. Wolfgang Renneberg and Ulrike Schell were re-elected. Professor Thomas Schomerus was elected as a new Committee member. Thomas Rahner retired from the Committee after many years of honorary service. We thank him for his good collaboration during his time on the Committee.

New tool informs about sustainability issues and chances for PTX supply countries

News 06/27/2023

The interactive tool PTX Business Opportunity Analyser enables supply countries for Power-to-X (PtX) to evaluate their different products and compare with other countries.The tool was developed by the Oeko-Institut in a project funded by PtX-Hub and commissioned by Agora Energiewende and Agora Industry. PtX refers to hydrogen based on renewable electricity and other energy carriers produced from it, such as ammonia, synthetic methane, synthetic methanol and synthetic aviation and mobility fuels.

Expediting renewable energy development in Europe

News 06/20/2023

Renewable energy development is essential for achieving climate targets, and high-quality solutions to many of the barriers to renewables expansion are already available. This is the conclusion drawn in a new study conducted by the Oeko-Institut, eclareon, WindEurope and SolarPower Europe on behalf of the European Commission.

Local authorities and climate action - The energy and mobility transitions in cities and municipalities

News 06/19/2023

Cities and municipalities have immense greenhouse gas mitigation potential: they can put municipal enterprises such as transport providers and local utilities on a path towards climate neutrality, for example.

Annual Report 2022 now available

News 04/05/2023

Jan Peter Schemmel elected as new chair of Ecornet

News 03/16/2023

A common task: Getting involved in socio-ecological transformation

Article eco@work 03/14/2023

Energy transition feasible without deep-sea mining

News 02/20/2023

Certified CO2 storage in soils? A critical review

News 01/26/2023

Goodbye, nuclear power – unsustainable, uneconomical and high-risk

News 12/12/2022

Initiating the heat pump boom: the fine detail

News 10/19/2022

Action now to clear the way for responsible sourcing in e-mobility

News 10/17/2022

Mechanical recycling is more climate-compatible than chemical recycling

News 10/13/2022

COP27: Preparatory analysis for the European Parliament – Climate targets far from sufficient

News 10/07/2022

The Oeko-Institut’s Committee is newly elected

News 09/26/2022

A perfect circle: How does the circular economy work?

News 09/13/2022

Climate Policy – A Fitness Check: Are we fit for 55?

News 06/15/2022

Hydrogen: the sustainability dimensions of production and imports

News 05/17/2022

Development of new coal mines and oil and gas fields not compatible with 1.5 °C limit on global warming

News 05/17/2022

2021 Annual Report published

News 04/12/2022

Our lifestyle and economic model must change as a matter of urgency in order to protect the environment, climate and resources. But is this taking place in a fair and equitable manner? The changes now being addressed by policy-makers have major implications for all of us.

Overhead line trucks: Route expansion with a vision

News 03/24/2022

Nuclear power plants in the Ukraine war: Information on nuclear safety

News 03/24/2022

A quiet climate champion: The future of e-mobility

News 03/17/2022

Thinking sustainability and digitalisation together

News 03/16/2022

The role of nature-based solutions in global climate action

News 01/12/2022

Diversity at risk: How to preserve biodiversity?

News 11/25/2021

Making the EU heat sector carbon-free

News 10/25/2021

World Climate Conference: Preparatory analysis for the EU Parliament

News 10/18/2021

Climate due diligence in future supply chain law

News 09/29/2021

Oeko-Institut joins international governance body on voluntary carbon market

News 09/21/2021

Environmentally sound, collective and fair. Considering the social aspects of transformation

News 09/07/2021

Climate inaction incurs high costs

News 08/31/2021

A guide to successful regulatory experiments

News 08/05/2021

“Transition? Only if it’s equitable!” Invitation to the Oeko-Institut’s Annual Meeting 2021

News 06/29/2021

Members’ Meeting elects Committee

News 06/22/2021

Bioeconomy monitoring closes research gap

News 06/11/2021

Another 30 years to go - The final storage of high-level radioactive waste

News 06/09/2021

Raw material consumption of cars with combustion engines and electric vehicles in comparison

News 06/08/2021

International Conference on Digitalization and Sustainability

News 05/06/2021

Reforming EU emissions trading

04/20/2021

2020 annual report published

News 04/13/2021

Reforming the Market Stability Reserve of the EU Emissions Trading System needed

News 03/29/2021

50 million by 2030 – the heat transition: making it work

News 03/09/2021

Boilers to boost climate action

News 01/26/2021

Yes, we are open: scenario data on the Open Energy Platform

News 01/19/2021

Better stay on the ground? Aviation and climate action

News 11/24/2020

Hydrogen: a comprehensive review

News 11/05/2020

Power-to-X – Why do we need PtX?

News 09/16/2020

Ariadne project launched within the Kopernikus initiative

News 07/03/2020

General Assembly elects Oeko-Institut Committee

News 06/22/2020

Living without plastics – but how?

News 05/29/2020

Strengthening ecodesign: launch of preparatory study for the Working Plan to 2024

News 05/07/2020

How sustainable are digital platforms?

News 04/27/2020

2019 annual report published

News 03/26/2020

Last year saw the continuation of a trend that we had already observed in previous years: German society is becoming more politicised and there is more and more controversy in the public arena. Germany is embroiled in controversy – about the best way to meet climate targets,...

Data for the energy transition: Open Energy Platform has a new design

03/23/2020

The 2020 emissions gap: What are the next targets?

News 11/28/2019

The UN Climate Change Conference in Madrid: opportunities and challenges

11/18/2019

Bioeconomy concepts in Germany: a discourse analysis

10/15/2019

Three reform options for successful emissions trading

10/08/2019

#FridaysForFuture: Facts and Figures

09/20/2019

Digitalisation – making it sustainable

09/19/2019

Approaches to sustainable environmental policy

09/03/2019

Emissions trading or carbon pricing? An analysis

08/20/2019

Less emissions, more quality of life: How to make transport sustainable?

06/18/2019

Committee elections

06/17/2019

Science in transition – Annual Report 2018

04/05/2019

Forests - For climate and biodiversity

03/04/2019

Take part now: Survey on the EU Ecolabel

02/12/2019