Ecology

Forty years ago, almost to the day, the Chornobyl disaster sparked a widespread movement against nuclear energy. Today it is clear that, without the nuclear phase-out, Germany would be much worse off economically. Renewables are now by far the cheapest form of electricity generation, while nuclear is easily the most expensive.

Forty years after the Chernobyl/Chornobyl reactor disaster, Russia is once again jeopardizing nuclear safety in Eastern Europe through direct attacks on nuclear power plants in Ukraine. Other countries seem largely unfazed, clinging to nuclear power and planning new reactors. Our dossier highlights how selected countries look back to this historical turning point and deal with nuclear energy today.

Industrial and scientific activities are pushing into previously undisturbed marine zones, extracting metals from the seabed and trialling large-scale interventions in ocean chemistry in the name of climate mitigation. Interventions such as deep-sea mining and marine geoengineering entail ecological risks whose long-term consequences remain uncertain.

Donald Trump is once again threatening to pull the US out of NATO. But you don't need to leave an alliance to make it ineffective. For Europe, the conclusion is unavoidable: we need to stand on our own two feet. Our latest newsletter also looks at why the false hype around small modular reactors deserves serious scrutiny, and our recent content and upcoming events.

Europe’s agriculture depends on fossil-based fertilisers—and that makes it vulnerable. While CBAM dominates the debate, wars, markets and political inaction drive prices. How can the EU finally build a more resilient and sovereign food system?

At February’s Munich Security Conference, Merz, Macron, von der Leyen and Co. testified to Europe's strength and independence. But concrete, independent strategies are often lacking. Europe now has the opportunity to play to its own strengths, including in the area of energy independence and sustainability.

At the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the Fukushima catastrophe, we presented a new analysis by researchers from the Technical University of Berlin discussing open questions in view of the development of small modular reactors (SMRs) in the EU.The European Commission has given SMRs a prominent place in its 2025 Affordable Energy Action Plan. However, given the long road of SMRs towards potential technology readiness and the assumed high costs of electricity generation, experts question if these projects would ever supply any meaningful quantity of electricity to businesses and consumers. Speakers: Alexander James Wimmers (TU Berlin, co-author of the new Böll EU Brief on SMRs in the EU), Allison Macfarlane (Former Chair, US Nuclear Regulatory Commission) and Mareike Rüffer (Head of Department Nuclear Safety, Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management (BASE), Berlin).

NATO allies have pledged 1.5% of GDP to resilience – but good intentions aren't enough. A new paper by Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung EU | Global Dialogue and the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) warns that without clear rules, the money risks disappearing into bureaucracy. The authors show how smart investments in energy, mobility, and supply chains can serve security and climate goals at once – and why getting this right is essential for credible European defence.