Who currently owns tech? Are our digital spaces really participatory? A few usual suspects like Meta and Google currently dominate the market, de facto controlling democratic discourse online, even though no one really elected them. How can we fix this?
This report by Forbidden Colours argues that the EU’s Gender Equality Strategy 2020–2025 was designed for a political moment that has since shifted dramatically. Although it secured important legal advances, it failed to anticipate the rise of coordinated anti-rights movements challenging fundamental freedoms across Europe. As the EU prepares its 2026–2030 Strategy, a decisive shift is needed: gender equality must be anchored as a core pillar of democratic resilience, security and rule-of-law protection – not treated as a standalone social policy.
This analysis argues that democracy should feature more prominently in the Global Europe pillar of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), both in terms of objectives and of instruments. It then locates democracy among the European Union’s external strategic objectives, arguing for a more central role as democratic governance has the potential to contribute to other policy objectives such as security and economic development.
Europe cannot afford fossil fuels for heating our homes. The good news: We have an abundant potential of domestic renewable energy sources. The infographic shows how heat pumps replace fossil fuels. They can run on renewable power from the electricity grid or from solar photovoltaic panels on the rooftop and tap into the different renewable heat sources such as ambient air, geothermal heat or warm waste water. Like other renewable heat suppliers, they can also feed into district heat networks that connect different consumers. We explain which solutions make these technologies accessible for all.
This EU mandate's simplification agenda has prioritised deregulation over sustainability and policy coherence. Simplification can boost competitiveness and climate outcomes, but the method matters. Ahead of the 2026 Governance Regulation revision, this briefing calls for a 'goal oriented' approach instead.
The EU's €409 billion European Competitiveness Fund will define European industrial policy for the next MFF period. But the current design risks prioritising short-term cost reduction over the long-term technological leadership Europe needs. A new paper from the ZOE Institute identifies five concrete levers to fix that.
The Arctic is at a geopolitical crossroads. Russia's war on Ukraine has paralysed the Arctic Council, Trump's ambitions over Greenland are fracturing transatlantic trust, and the climate crisis risks being pushed off the political agenda. As the region's governance vacuum deepens, the EU faces a pivotal choice: seize the moment or be sidelined. This policy paper sets out how the EU can build a credible, legitimate role in a rapidly shifting Arctic.
Europe is more present in the Indo-Pacific than most people realise, and far less coordinated than it needs to be. A new dataset of 1,077 cooperation entries, spanning EU institutions and all 27 Member States, reveals that European security engagement in the region has accelerated sharply since 2021. But activity across defence industry, military deployments, and institutional frameworks remains fragmented, duplicated, and largely invisible at EU level. In this Böll EU Brief, Jacob Mardell maps the coordination deficit, and sets out six concrete steps to close it.
It is near consensual among Europeans that they need to strengthen the ‘European pillar in NATO’. This study traces the evolution of the concept of the European pillar, delineates potential meaning, and spells out what it would take to operationalize it.
The Brazilian Amazon Atlas can serve as a gateway to knowledge of the region and as an instrument for learning about the complex relationships that make up this immense territory. From this, we hope that it can foster debates and dialogues, as well as inspire solutions to the different challenges, in order to encourage a sustainable and self-determined future for the Amazon and its peoples.
The Soil Atlas 2024 not only highlights the consequences of the global loss of fertile soil, but also shows the potential of sustainable and fair land use for climate protection and biodiversity.
The Peatland Atlas 2023 highlights the consequences of the destruction of these unique habitats, but also the potential of wet peatlands for mitigating climate change.
The Pesticide Atlas raises awareness, provides comprehensive information and fosters nuanced debate around agrochemicals used for pest control. It sheds light on different aspects from scientific research, including the impact of pesticides on soils, waters, biodiversity and health, and highlights alternative models with a more stringent implementation of integrated pest management where synthetic substances are only a last resort option.
There is hardly any other food that pollutes our environment and the climate as badly as meat. However, no government in the world currently has a concept of how meat consumption and production can be significantly reduced. But if the sector continues to grow as it has up to now, almost 360 million tons of meat will be produced and consumed worldwide in 2030. With ecological effects that are hard to imagine.
Sustainable transport and mobility are key to tackle the climate crisis and to achieve the targets of the European Green Deal. However, transport today accounts for nearly 30 percent of the CO₂ emissions within the European Union. How can the EU reduce its transport and mobility emissions while connecting citizens, creating green jobs and leading the innovation in the sector?
Insects are a fundamental part of the basis of life in our world. The extent of insect mortality in Germany, in Europe and worldwide is therefore dramatic. The Insect Atlas 2020 explains why the industrial agricultural industry in particular is threatening the habitats of insects so massively, what ways out are possible, and many other exciting aspects. It provides data and facts about beneficial and harmful insects in agriculture, formulates criticism of the overly hesitant policy to protect them.
Plastic is ubiquitous: we use it for life-saving medical devices, clothing, toys and cosmetics; we use it in agriculture and industry. But we also know the growing risk of plastic waste in the environment, landfills and the oceans. We have only just begun to understand the huge dimensions of this crisis. A change of course requires in-depth knowledge of the causes, interests, responsibilities and effects of the plastics crisis. The Plastics Atlas 2019 wants to offer exactly that in 19 chapters.
Facts and Figures on EU Farming Policy: No other economic activity is so closely interwoven with the human and natural environment as is agriculture. If farming changes, so too the ecological and social systems that it hosts must change. The Agriculture Atlas shows how closely Europe’s agriculture is intertwined with our lives and our living space and pushes for a better, fundamentally different set of agricultural policies.
The European Energy Atlas shows a clear alternative: It not only provides a compass on the different energy discussions in different Member States but also reveals how a Europeanization of the energy transition will be the more efficient and cost-effective option for all Europeans.
Without the ocean there would be no life on our planet. But the future of this unique ecosystem faces a grave threat today. The Ocean Atlas 2017 delivers with its 18 contributions and 50 graphics the relevant facts and figures about the ocean.
Industrial agriculture is responsible for both colossal environmental and climate damage as well as global injustice. It is high time for a socially and politically oriented regulation of the agrifood industry. We hope that this atlas will stimulate a broad-based social debate on this vital topic.
Through misuse, we lose 24 billion tonnes of fertile soil every year. For the International Year of Soils in 2015, this Atlas shows, why the soil should concern us all. Jointly published by the Heinrich Böll Foundation and the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies.
Our Coal Atlas contains the latest facts and figures on the use of coal and its environmental and social consequences. With more than 60 detailed graphics, the atlas illustrates the coal industry’s impact on nature, health, labour, human rights and politics.
