Expert papers, studies and research documents
Find information on all questions of economy and society that are reflected in the sustainability goals. Make your articles, studies, podcasts or videos available beyond the mainstream.
18 professional article found
EU should focus on carbon pricing to achieve 2030 climate targets
The Kopernikus project Ariadne, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, has now analysed and evaluated the three core scenarios of the EU Commission on climate policy. This is related to the tightening of the climate target for the year 2030, which is to be adopted by the EU summit tomorrow: the target is a 55 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to 1990, ...
When scholars sprint, bad algorithms are on the run
The first research sprint of the Ethics of Digitalisation project financed by the Stiftung Mercator reached the finishing line. Thirteen international fellows tackled pressing issues concerning the use of AI in content moderation. Looking back at ten intense weeks of interdisciplinary research, we share highlights and key outcomes.In response to increasing public pressure to tackle hate speech and ...
DESY’s X-ray source PETRA III points possible ways to better RNA vaccines
The pharmaceutical company BioNTech and the University of Mainz are conducting research with other partners on the EMBL beamlineThe Mainz-based biotech company BioNTech, which recently presented the first promising results for a coronavirus vaccine together with the US company Pfizer, is already conducting research on the next generation of RNA drugs at DESY’s X-ray source PETRA III. Using the ...
For seagrass meadows the impacts could be severe
Two thirds of the earth's surface is covered by water. Oceans play an important role to us humans - they are food sources, heat stores, trade routes and one of the most important stores of carbon dioxide (CO2). In particular, seagrass meadows along the coasts absorb a lot of CO2, but this ecosystem is sensitive to the effects of climate change and could lose much of its storage function. Angela ...
Legal Tech – potentials and applications of technology based legal consulting
Since there is currently a high level of dynamism with regard to the development of new business models and the establishment of legal tech companies with a focus on legal advice and legal services, the TAB has published a study on their potential and applications.TAB's policy brief in English TAB-Fokus no. 24 PDF [2,58 MB] provides an overview of Legal Tech services and ...
Less meat is nearly always better than sustainable meat, to reduce your carbon footprint
Our World in Data presents the empirical evidence on global development in entries dedicated to specific topics.This blog post draws on data and research discussed in our entries on Environmental impacts of food production and CO2 and Greenhouse Gas Emissions.What is the best way to reduce the carbon footprint of our diet?I have shown previously that what we choose to eat has the largest impact, ...
Ecological Economics in relation to a digital world
The digital revolution has taken place in a social and institutional context dominated by specific conceptual and institutional perspectives. Neoclassical economics and neoliberalism has made monetary profits (in unlimited amounts) and economic growth in GDP-terms legitimate. Today we understand increasingly that sustainable development with the 17 UN sustainable development goals is a partly ...
In the War of Disinformation—Trolls Versus the Defenders of Democratic Discourse
Working as a think tank on behalf of the State Media Authority of North Rhine-Westphalia, iRights.Lab regularly compiles a Research Monitor on the topic of information intermediaries. The third edition of this report is now available with the title “In the War of Disinformation—Trolls Versus the Defenders of Democratic Discourse.”Especially in connection with the last elections to the ...
International Rules for Social Media: Safeguarding Human Rights and Fighting Disinformation
Facebook, Wikipedia, YouTube and Twitter are increasingly becoming a vehicle for the strategic use of information by states (so-called dis/information operations). These platforms, which are conceptually defined as 'social media', provide their users with a wide range of opportunities to obtain information, to network, to form opinions and to communicate. It is clear that these processes need law ...
Raw material consumption increases once again – to 16.1 tonnes per capita and year
The German Environment Agency (UBA) is urging a reform of European regulations on value added tax (VAT) to promote a reduction of raw material consumption. UBA's President Maria Krautzberger says: "Whatever conserves resources must be made cheaper. The member states need more possibilities to promote efficient products through a reduced VAT rate. The EU has already approved this practice for ...
Twitter, the Elite Network
Dr. Sascha Hölig examines in a study to what extent the athmosphere on Twitter reflects the current athmosphere within society. The conclusion: Twitter fails as a mood barometer. In an interview on WDR 5, he spoke today with Anja Backhaus about the "elite network" and about the risks it holds when it is overrated by journalists and decision-makers.That Twitter cannot serve as an image of our ...
Flipping the switch: making use of carbon price dollars for health and education
While health systems, clean water and education are a plain given in many parts of the world, millions of people still do not have sufficient access to these basic public goods. In fact, carbon prices could make substantial financial resources available for succeeding with the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations, a team of scientists now finds. At the same time, ...
CO₂ and other Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a gas essential for life—animals exhale it, plants sequester it. It exists in Earth's atmosphere in comparably small concentrations, but is vital for sustaining life. CO2 is also known as a greenhouse gas (GHG)—a gas that absorbs and emits thermal radiation, creating the 'greenhouse effect'. Along with other greenhouse gases, such as nitrous oxide and methane, CO2 is ...
Inequality Persists Over Generations
Your great-grandparents’ socio-economic status still predicts your status today, according to research by Sebastian Braun from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy and Jan Stuhler from the University Madrid. Their study of educational and occupational status over four generations in twentieth century Germany reveals that inequalities do not disappear quickly but can be transmitted across ...
Beware of the "Temperature Debt"
Artificial cooling of the atmosphere with aerosols carries a long-term riskThe Paris climate agreement obliges the international community to limit global warming to two degrees. However, man-made greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase instead of decreasing. Is climate engineering a solution to slow global warming? In the current issue of the journal Nature, Professor Andreas Oschlies from ...
New Urban Agenda: Implementation Demands Concerted Effort Now
The New Urban Agenda (NUA) adopted in 2016 at the Habitat III Conference (the third United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development) is to serve as a framework for global urban development over the next twenty years. The conference offered the first chance to transfer these sustainability and legally- binding climatemitigation goals to the level of the cities. The NUA deals ...
Humanity on the move: Unlocking the transformative power of cities
The momentum of urbanization and its impacts are so massive that we must face up to this trend. What kind of homes should people live in? Where can they settle? How close may their neighbours encroach on them? These questions are as old as our civilization, but in the 21st century they are being asked in a new way. Because this century is characterized by a contradiction dynamic that eclipses ...
World in Transition: Future Bioenergy and Sustainable Land Use
In view of the major opportunities and risks associated with it, and the complexity of the subject, bioenergy policy has in a short time become a challenging political task for regulators and planners – a task which can only be accomplished through worldwide cooperation and the creation of an international framework. WBGU’s central message is that use should be made of the sustainable ...