Ecology

Vegan and vegetarian alternatives to meat are gaining popularity fast – making them tastier for big firms, too. Competition is likely to flare up around in-vitro meat: start-ups developing lab-grown products are sprouting everywhere.

Civil society is a sometimes underestimated stakeholder in the food system. Supporting sustainable production and criticizing industrialized agriculture, it influences public opinion and habits and demands better policies and international solidarity. And it can hold governments and companies accountable for their actions, while offering solutions.

Young people in Germany – the “Fridays for Future generation” – eat less meat than their elders. Their attitudes and habits are likely to steer food consumption and policy in the coming decades. Results of a representative survey.

Dissemination package and social media visuals for the Meat Atlas 2021.

Green budgets refer to tools that aim to achieve environmental and climate objectives by analysing the environmental impacts of budgetary and fiscal policy choices. Budgeting can therefore be a tool to mainstream gender equality and environmental objectives at the same time. While taxation can also enhance gender equality and incentivise a green transition, this chapter  focuses on the budget side due to the revenue structure of the European Union (EU), in the context of the European Green Deal, the EU Budget 2021-2027 and the Recovery and Resilience Facility.

Electrifying European transport is a clear-cut way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In Denmark, the pioneering electric car ferry “Ellen” connects the port of Fynshav and the island of Ærø. European Mobility Atlas 2021 Chief Executive Editor Philipp Cerny interviewed Halfdan Abrahamsen from the Municipality of Ærø’s Energy and Environment Office.

On 14 July 2021, the European Commission will present its proposals for implementing the EU Climate Law - the so-called “Fit-for-55” package. This will be the starting signal for one of the most important EU debates of the next years: how can the EU reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030 and how can it become climate neutral by 2050?

Night trains are on the rise again. This year, 2021, marks the European Year of Rail and the resurrection of important new night train connections, combined with fresh railway market entrants. Read on to learn more about this promising means of transportation.

In March 2021, the German Agriculture Ministers’ Conference and the Federal Ministry for Food and Agriculture agreed on important cornerstones for the country’s CAP Strategic Plan. While the resolutions have opened the door for a more ambitious CAP in Germany, it remains to be seen whether the federal and state governments will seize this opportunity when they decide on details still to be negotiated.

The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on Europe's economy, health systems and democracy is enormous. In terms of European policy, it will now be important to shape the economic construction in Europe in a socially and ecologically sustainable way. Municipalities are now seen as the new bearers of hope in this endeavour and initiatives at the local level are already making a difference in many areas and are seen as potential drivers of the socio-ecological transformation. The focus of this years’ Annual European Conference is thus put on the local dimension of the European Green Deal.