Archive press releases

To contribute to achieving the Paris Climate Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals, carbon credits in the voluntary carbon market need to be of high quality. Transparent information on the quality of carbon credits from different types of…

The availability of a broad-scale and well-performing charging network by 2035 offers potential to increase new registrations of battery electric trucks to 100 per cent. The key entry point for ensuring the market success of zero-emission drive…

Germany will not achieve its self-imposed climate target for 2030 – namely to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 65% compared to 1990 – with existing measures. These measures are projected to reduce Germany’s emissions by 63% instead of 65%, leaving a…

More courage and confidence, a clear steer from policy-makers and fact-based discussions are required to make a success of the sustainability transformation, according to Jan Peter Schemmel, the Oeko-Institut’s CEO, in the new episode of the…

The transition to a circular economy in Germany would have substantial positive effects on the climate, resource conservation and biodiversity. The German economy would also make significant gains in security of supply and reduce its dependence on…

The challenges in switching to sustainable and organic farming are considerable. The agricultural sector needs to adapt to climate change and substantially reduce its climate-damaging greenhouse gas emissions. “We currently have a great many policy…

With the Act on Corporate Due Diligence in Supply Chains, which entered into force in January 2023, Germany now has legislation in place which obliges German companies to take responsibility for ensuring compliance with human rights and…

If Switzerland is to achieve its target of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050, it will be reliant on the use of negative emission technologies – processes which capture and permanently store CO2 from the atmosphere. Although…

Harnessing innovation to build a bio-based, climate-neutral and circular economy – that is the goal of Germany’s National Bioeconomy Strategy. But is Germany on track, and does development align with the overarching Sustainable Development Goals?…

The transition to climate-friendly transport will only succeed if alternative mobility options are rolled out at the same time as restrictions are imposed on climate-damaging, fossil fuel-powered mobility. In addition to a well-developed public…

It is not just the demand for transdisciplinary research that has risen in recent years; there is also a growing need for exchange and networking between researchers and practitioners whose work makes use of participatory research formats. The…

Further increasing the proportion of women in management positions, especially in the scientific field, making recruitment processes open and transparent in order to level the playing field for all applicants, creating awareness among staff of…

Due to the massive increase in data transmission relating to the use of digital devices and services, energy consumption at data centres has surged in recent years. The volume of transmitted data has increased by a factor of 10 in the last decade.…

The Carbon Credit Quality Initiative (CCQI) launched an expanded version of its interactive scoring tool to assess the quality of several newly added types of carbon credits. The new CCQI scores reveal that the majority of carbon credit types…

Until now, Germany’s two million forest owners have relied on sales of timber to generate an income. However, this may be about to change: the ecological and climate services provided by the forests should be recompensed – through forest…

At the United Nations negotiations on ambitious global climate action, due to commence in the Egyptian city of Sharm El-Sheikh on Sunday, 6 November 2022, one mechanism should not be overlooked, namely emissions trading. How has this evolved in the…

Around 80% of the expected total emissions from the 2024 UEFA European Football Championship (UEFA EURO 2024), which is contested by the men’s national teams, will come from transport – and a substantial proportion is attributable to fans’…

The EU should phase in the solar mandate as swiftly as possible – from the end of 2024 – for as many building types as possible, as well as for car parks. In addition, all member states should be required to create favourable domestic conditions so…

17 million central heating and self-contained heating systems are currently burning up oil and gas to heat Germany’s 19 million residential buildings. These will have to be replaced with more environmentally friendly heat sources, and the building…

An incentive system providing financial rewards for biodiversity and carbon sink services in forests can rest on two pillars: On the one hand, such a system should fund ecological forest management directly. On the other, it should provide…