Looking back

The 2010s to the present

The future has begun

The Oeko-Institut during this time

2010: Environmental Award of the German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU)

Prof. Rainer Grießhammer receives the most valuable European environmental award.

2010: Oeko-Institut goes social media

2011: Founding of Ecornet

The Ecological Research Network is a network of eight independent, non-profit institutes for environmental and sustainability research in Germany.

2013: Results of the IMPACT research project

The project analyses the potentials of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in companies.

2015: ‘Models of Change’

The study shows how transformation and system innovations designed to increase sustainability can work.

2015: Half-time in the energy transition

The Oeko-Institut asks where we’ve got to with the energy turnaround – 35 years after publication of the first ‘Energiewende’ study and 35 years before 2050, the deadline for achievement of climate action targets.

2016: Obsolescence study by the Oeko-Institut

The study focuses on the shortened life of electrical and electronic equipment.

2016: Germany 2049: Transition to a sustainable use of raw materials

This self-funded project charts a roadmap for sustainable resource use.

2017: 40th anniversary of the Oeko-Institut

National and international events

2010: Merkel’s cabinet drops the nuclear phase-out

It is decided that the lifespan of Germany’s nuclear power plants will be extended.

11 March 2011: Nuclear disaster at Fukushima

Three reactor blocks go into meltdown after an earthquake and a tsunami. The Oeko-Institut provides comprehensive information about risks and hazards and the background to the reactor accident.

2011: U-turn: the German government decides on nuclear phase-out and an energy turnaround

German nuclear power plants are to be shut down by 2022.

2015: UN Climate Summit in Paris

The member states agree on a new global climate treaty.

2015: UN member states adopt the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

The goals are to be implemented by 2030.

2016: Final report of Germany’s Nuclear Repository Commission

Michael Sailer was appointed to the Commission in 2014.

Quotes from our associates

»Now I would say that the Oeko-Institut has become a recognised scientific institution. I find that good. Chapeau!«

Siegfried de Witt, co-founder of the Oeko-Institut

»So the problems are so huge that our work isn’t enough. New questions crop up all the time, or questions that you had all along need adjusting and re-assessing.«

Udo Simonis, emeritus professor of environmental policy