Press releases

Climate impact of carbon credits is substantially overestimated

In a systematic assessment of more than 60 empirical studies, a new meta-study concludes that the actual emission reductions of the mitigation projects analysed are, on average, about six times lower than claimed. The study “Systematic assessment of the achieved emission reductions of carbon crediting projects,” which was published today in the journal Nature Communications and in which Dr Lambert Schneider of Oeko-Institut was involved, reveals major shortcomings in the quality of carbon credits.

New study highlights misalignment of gas infrastructure planning and decarbonisation goals

Reforming the regulation of gas distribution systems will be crucial to aligning future energy demand with decarbonisation goals and protecting consumers, concludes a new study by Oeko Institut and the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP).

Circular economy solutions for plastics, textiles and urban mining

20 per cent less plastic, well-established recycling systems and increased use of recycled content in the manufacturing of new plastic products. Improved separation and sorting of materials for an optimised circular economy in the construction and automotive sectors, and appropriate legal frameworks for the use of secondary raw materials. Extended producer responsibility (EPR) as the key to financing textile waste collection and disposal, and mandatory requirements for sustainable textiles in the EU’s new ecodesign rules. These and other topics were discussed by Oeko-Institut and external experts at the digital forums hosted by the institute as part of its Science Forum on the Circular Economy.

Commercial vehicle manufacturers aim for broad-scale rollout of e-trucks

Road freight transport is the second-largest producer of CO2 emissions in the mobility sector after passenger cars. A fossil fuel phase-out for commercial vehicles is therefore essential. A new report by the Oeko-Institut documents current views among commercial vehicle manufacturers and charging infrastructure experts on the shift in propulsion technology and the required energy supply infrastructure. From their perspective, battery electric trucks are emerging as the dominant technology in road freight transport.

The environmental impacts of AI need to become more visible

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been on everyone's lips since the first version of ChatGPT was released at the end of 2022. Intelligence software applications have already been in use for many years to, for example, compile favourite playlists, weed out spam emails, find the best route to take, translate texts and get product recommendations based on previous internet purchases. But what about the carbon footprint of AI? Jens Gröger, Senior Researcher in the Products & Material Flows Division, explains the environmental advantages and disadvantages of AI in Oeko-Institut's latest podcast.

Contributions of marine ecosystems to CO2 storage and biodiversity

Seagrass meadows, mangrove forests and salt marshes can absorb and store up to 216 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere worldwide every year. Over centuries to millennia, they form an enormous carbon store of up to 22,000 million tonnes of carbon in marine sediments. At the same time, they make an important contribution to the preservation of biodiversity in the oceans and on the coasts, help to protect against storm surges and coastal defences and thereby contribute to the nutrition and safety of millions of people. This is shown in a research report by Oeko-Institut and the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research and commissioned by the German Environment Agency. The report examines the importance of coastal ecosystems for global climate protection.

Germany can do more to combat energy poverty

Between 2.7 and 6.5 million households in Germany are affected by energy poverty – they cannot keep their homes adequately warm, for instance, or spend an excessively high proportion of their income on electricity and heating. At the same time, the data available in Germany lacks the quality needed to measure energy poverty and transport poverty suitably. Yet this would be the basis for taking measures tailored closely to reducing these specific forms of poverty.

“Everyday knowledge and a broad array of outlooks for sustainable transformations”

The wind farm just outside town or the new traffic calming zone in the town centre – the projects needed for sustainable transformations often encounter reservations or raise questions that are not answered sufficiently. In order for citizens to be able to access comprehensive information, debate divergent interests and negotiate the best solution in a shared process, participation is vital. The new episode of the Oeko-Institut’s Wenden bitte! podcast explores how participation can help to take better decisions in the course of the energy or transport transitions.

Speed with Quality: Renewable Acceleration Areas can be a game changer that Member States need to get right

Today, the European Commission published their recommendations and guidance to Member States to improve and streamline permitting procedures and auctions for renewables, including guidance on designating Renewable Acceleration Areas (RAAs). This is a welcomed initiative from the Commission as Member States need to exponentially accelerate the deployment of wind and solar, but it must be done so in a manner that is sustainable, inclusive and respects nature.

Alternative reactor concepts do not solve the repository problem

A new scientific study commissioned by the Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management (BASE) indicates that the market launch of alternative reactor concepts (also known as "Generation IV") is currently not on the horizon. "Despite some intensive advertising by manufacturers, we currently see no development that would make the construction of alternative reactor types on a large scale likely in the coming years. On the contrary: "From a safety perspective, we should expect the potential advantages of these reactor concepts to be outweighed by the disadvantages and the questions that remain unresolved," says BASE President Christian Kühn, and emphasises that "The concepts solve neither the need to find a repository for radioactive waste nor the pressing issues of climate protection."

Successfully expanding renewable energies

Last year, half of Germany’s electricity requirement was met from renewable energies. The energy transition, in other words, has got off to a good start. Even so, faster progress must be made on the renewables expansion in order to reach Germany’s climate targets. What can be done to pick up the pace, and what is the current status of the expansion in Germany? Moritz Vogel provides answers in the new episode of the Oeko-Institut’s “Wenden bitte!” podcast.

Battery recycling: cooperation between Nigeria and Germany launched

Improving battery recycling in Nigeria, raising labour and environmental standards, and establishing sustainable trade flows for raw materials – these are the declared aims of the new project Partnership for Responsible Battery and Metal Recycling. In this new project, partners from Nigerian civil society, the metal processing industry and the solar industry are working together with the Oeko-Institut to develop a cooperative approach to the responsible recycling of lead-acid batteries. To this end, the project is liaising closely with the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Environment and the environmental enforcement agency, Nigeria Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA).

Prospects for battery recycling in Latin America

Reuse and recycling are core elements of a sustainable approach to used lithium-ion batteries in Latin America. This is essential to conserve valuable resources and avoid climate-damaging greenhouse gas emissions. The application of tried-and-proven best practices here would potentially avoid the disposal of up to two million tonnes of batteries as waste and enable up to 2.8 million tonnes to be recycled in the region by 2050.

Quality Scores for Forestry Carbon Credit Types Reveal a Complex Landscape of Integrity Risks, Uncertainties, and Transparency Issues

The Carbon Credit Quality Initiative (CCQI) released new scores for two types of forestry carbon credits: improved forest management (IFM) and commercial afforestation. Together, these project types comprise approximately ten percent of recent credit issuances in the voluntary carbon market.

The nexus between the circular economy and social-ecological transition

Reducing raw material consumption, establishing binding frameworks for a sustainable economy, safeguarding a high level of product quality and enabling a shared positive vision for the future: these are the key tasks to be addressed on the path towards a genuine closed-loop economy. The Oeko-Institut’s new Policy Brief shows how this might look in practice.

Shaping international cooperation together with partners

Good cooperation in international projects is always about give and take. The Oeko-Institut has been working with partners and networks in Africa, Asia and Latin America for many years. However, this type of project involves much more than conventional forms of consultancy and science. In most cases, the Institute works closely with local partners who operate on a scientific and value-oriented basis, much like the Oeko-Institut itself, and have established good local networks. Problems and potential solutions are jointly analysed and discussed before being taken forward by stakeholders in the countries concerned. How do international projects work? Which mutual interests are involved, and how has the nature of this cooperation changed over the years? In the new episode of the Oeko-Institut’s “Wenden bitte!!” podcast, Senior Researcher Andreas Manhart provides some answers.

Introducing due diligence obligations for GMO products

Products that are manufactured using new genomic techniques such as genome editing present challenges regarding traceability in some cases. However, this challenge can be addressed effectively with appropriately adapted EU rules. Which approaches are expedient, and how might they be implemented? These questions are investigated in a new study by the Oeko-Institut and the Environment Agency Austria.

How the land-use transition can succeed

How do we organise the farming sector to become ecologically compatible and climate-resilient? How do we feed ourselves in a way that is good for our health and the planet? How do we reconcile forest conservation with sustainable timber use? And how do we utilise the available land against the backdrop of competing demands? In short: How can we achieve a land-use transition for climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation?

The Oeko-Institut distances itself from CAN’s statements on the Gaza war

The Oeko-Institut distances itself explicitly from the presentation of the Fossil of the Day award to Israel by the Climate Action Network (CAN) during the UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai on 10 December 2023.

Climate targets can be met without nuclear energy

A new analysis of global climate scenarios shows that nuclear energy is not needed to achieve climate targets under the Paris Agreement. Instead, the rapid and targeted expansion of renewable energies will be the crucial and primary driver of climate change mitigation and the energy transition. Nuclear energy plays a minor role in all scenarios compared to power generation from renewable sources such as wind, hydro and solar. The study was conducted by the Oeko-Institut on behalf of the German Environment Agency (UBA).

Christof Timpe will become the Oeko-Institut’s new Chief Executive Officer on 1 January 2024

On 1 January 2024, Christof Timpe will become the Oeko-Institut’s new Chief Executive Officer. He takes over from Jan Peter Schemmel, who is leaving the institute at the end of November 2023. Christof Timpe has more than 30 years of experience as a researcher at the Oeko-Institut, working on energy policy and climate change mitigation strategies and heading its Energy and Climate Division in Freiburg from 1996 to 2023.

Factual accuracy of AI-generated content: new donation-funded project launched

Large language models (LLMs) based on artificial intelligence (AI) – ChatGPT, for example – interact with users in the form of dialogue and provide seemingly trustworthy responses. But how accurate is the information in these responses? In its new non-client, donation-funded project, the Oeko-Institut is examining the specific risks, as well as the opportunities, created by these new AI-based large language models.

Energy sharing – a model for the energy transition?

But how will the expected benefits of energy sharing be felt in practice? This is still an open question; it will depend on future policy frameworks. In a new study conducted on behalf of the German Environment Agency (UBA), the Oeko-Institut and Stiftung Umweltenergierecht (Foundation for Environmental Energy Law) have compared various concepts of energy sharing.

Ecological alignment of Artificial Intelligence

The European Parliament’s amendments to the proposal for a Regulation on Artificial Intelligence (AI) may be defined as a socio-ecological turnaround compared to the European Commission’s existing draft. The parliamentary draft proposes a series of environmental and climate-related provisions which, in the Oeko-Institut’s view, are feasible and technically achievable.

Societal change by transitioning to a circular economy

A circular economy supports the transformation towards a sustainable society that protects the climate and biodiversity. In a circular economy embracing all sectors, products and raw materials are utilised for as long as possible and subsequently recycled – which will change our whole way of doing business and consuming.

Factsheets released on different project types in the carbon market

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.

The future of road freight transport is electric

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.

Projection Report 2023: despite progress, Germany is set to miss its climate targets

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.

Courage, a clear steer and fact-based discussions for the sustainability transformation

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 institute’s “Wenden bitte!” podcast.

New study: Building a circular future, safeguarding resources

Towards sustainable agriculture – we’re still on the starting blocks

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 goals – climate neutrality in particular – but very little by way of practical action,” says Margarethe Scheffler in the new episode of the Oeko-Institut’s “Wenden bitte!” podcast. “We have a long way to go and in terms of transforming our farm sector, we’re still on the starting blocks. Germany needs to take urgent action here.”

New prospects for environmental rights through European supply chain legislation

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 environmental standards in their supply chains. A supply chain consists of the suppliers of raw materials and inputs needed to manufacture or sell a product.

CO2 capture and storage – five technologies point the way to net zero

New platform sheds light on the bioeconomy

Climate action in transport: push and pull

Society for Transdisciplinary and Participatory Research founded

Oeko-Institut publishes diversity plan

Data centres, digital lifestyle, artificial intelligence: podcast on climate action and digitalisation

Expansion of Carbon Credit Scoring Tool Reveals Opportunities to Improve Quality of Carbon Market

Forests: Cash from conservation, not timber

Emissions trading: a key component of climate action

Reducing the carbon footprint of UEFA EURO 2024

As many rooftops as possible: Recommendations for an ambitious EU-wide solar mandate

Why we must make the heat transition a success – and how

Financial rewards for forest conservation

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 additional funding for carbon sink services in forests by means of a market-based certificate scheme. Working with a team of forest scientists and researchers in further natural sciences and legal experts, the Oeko-Institut has now completed a study on behalf of the German Federal Environment Agency UBA that outlines a modular incentive system.

Donating used Lithium-ion batteries to Africa? Clear rules urgently needed

Climate protection and district heating: Regulatory frameworks in Europe

Corporate responsibility: Returning efficiency gains to the environment

Quality of carbon credits: new interactive scoring tool online

Arbor Day: Calculating the carbon footprint of wood correctly

Working from home helps to protect the climate

The scientific basis for an accelerated coal phase-out

Reshaping mobility for the future

The power of data for environmental policy

Knowledge for Change: Ten Years of Ecornet

Company cars: tax benefits cause multi-billion-euro social and environmental misalignment

Organic pasture-based milk delivers environmental benefit

More than cheating software: ANTICSS highlights all roads to circumvention of EU ecodesign and energy labelling

Nuclear energy - not a source of significant harm?

Air transport: Fewer privileges, more climate action

How the Building Sector Can Achieve Its Climate Targets After All

Oeko-Institut launches science and sustainable transformations podcast

Sustainability evaluation of products and services

Land use in the EU Climate Target Plan 2030: Ecosystems are more than carbon reservoirs

Too often in combustion engine mode: plug-in hybrids put transport sector’s climate targets at risk

Further design of EU climate target for 2030 decisive for climate protection

Aviation and climate action – Facts, figures, information

Transport policy: socially fair and climate-friendly

Making a success of sustainable hydrogen imports

How Germany can become climate-neutral by 2050

Data centres: an underrated climate risk

Lithium and graphite for battery production: the future of the supply chain

More climate ambition is feasible for the EU

Statutory strategies to tackle nitrogen surpluses

Prevent premature obsolescence, prolong service life – Recommendations for sustainable product policy

Launch of the tdAcadamy platform: Research to solve social problems and crises is strengthened

Coronavirus crisis: sustainability check for economic stimulus measures

Climate action in the aviation sector under threat

Close gap in the law to improve environmental standards in online shopping

LNG trucks: Not an option for climate protection

Oeko-Institut: Jan Peter Schemmel is the Institute’s new Chief Executive Officer

IFA Berlin: 8 recommendations for electronic products with long lifespans

Getting climate protection on track: How socially balanced CO2 pricing works

Oeko-Institut: CEO Michael Sailer retires

PtX needs sustainability rules: additional renewable power is key to protecting the climate

Lithium-ion batteries: Global resource demand and recycling potential until 2050

EU collection rate: More than half of all batteries disappear

Recommendations for climate-friendly road freight transport

Repair or replace? Extending the life span of your home appliances – facts and figures

Sustainability strategy for EURO 2024 shows that environmentally friendly sports events are possible

Opportunities and risks of genome editing: Oeko-Institut calls for informed assessment

Start of the ANTICSS project: Anti-Circumvention of Standards for better market Surveillance

German companies jeopardise the environment and human rights

Quotas for electro-mobility and rules on battery recycling: is China a step ahead of the EU?

Electric road freight: German-Swedish research collaboration has started

Electromobility – Fact check

Sustainable textile production in Bangladesh – what duty of care is called for?

Germany 2049: Transition to a sustainable use of raw materials. An agenda for action

“40 years – Let’s make a wish!” The Oeko-Institut launches its anniversary celebrations

Nuclear facilities in crisis areas: an underrated threat