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Science-based targets for material use: A systematic review of analytical concepts and approaches in Europe

Science-based targets (SBTs) are increasingly proposed to align raw material use with environmental and societal goals, yet no consensus exists on what constitutes sustainable levels of material use. This paper reviews the scientific literature on material-use targets (2000–2025) and combines it with a dedicated review of resource-use and circular-economy targets in European policy documents. Three main approaches to setting material targets are identified: retrospective boundaries based on historically “safe” extraction levels; materials availability focusing on the accessibility and availability of resources; and impact-based approaches that derive targets from planetary boundaries or from the material requirements of sustainability scenarios. Impact-based approaches have become most prominent, supported by advances in scenario analysis, while retrospective boundaries remain influential in policy debates. The European policy inventory reveals widespread but highly heterogeneous material and wider resource targets. Most targets are strategic and non-binding, centered on economy-wide indicators (e.g., material footprints or circular use rates), with fewer sectoral or sub-national targets and substantial variation in baselines, reference years, and accounting perspectives. We find that the scientific basis behind these targets is often not clearly articulated. We argue that SBTs for materials should rely on transparent analytical frameworks explicitly linked to one of the three approaches. © 2026 The Authors.

Advancing optical earth observation for EU policies: needs, opportunities, recommendations

The effective translation of Earth observation (EO) measurements into actionable information for agriculture and land monitoring is critical to support policy implementation on climate, environment, and sustainable development. However, this translation remains challenging, as EO evolves from an awareness-raising instrument into an operational tool for evidence-based policymaking. To address this gap, we systematically link, for the first time, European Union (EU) land-related agricultural and environmental policies to EO-derived variables that can be generated from enhanced optical satellites expected in the next decade. We present a comprehensive framework for assessing the technology readiness levels (TRLs) of EO variables used to map, monitor, and manage crop, forest, soil, mineral, and water resources, thereby facilitating policy implementation and compliance. Upcoming Copernicus Hyperspectral Imaging Mission for the Environment (CHIME), and the Sentinel-2 Next Generation (S2NG) missions, both developed by the European Space Agency (ESA), will deliver substantial technological advancements for high-level EO-based products, enabling applications such as plant nitrogen and soil organic carbon content (SOC) estimation, species identification, and water quality characterization. Realizing the full potential of CHIME and S2NG for agricultural and environmental policy implementation will require advancing current products from prototype stages (TRL 4–6) to full operational readiness (TRL 9) through robust science-policy interfaces. Within such interfaces, we recommend exploiting existing (hyperspectral) EO data and time series, strengthening in-situ observations for robust model development and validation, and testing synergies between systems. Co-design of tailored products with policymakers is then essential to refine algorithms and align EO outputs with regulatory needs and scales. Upcoming spaceborne imaging spectroscopy and enhanced multispectral data streams thus have the potential to become game-changers and indispensable tools for EU policy implementation, providing greater traceability of key environmental and agricultural processes. © The Author(s) 2026

Laborversuche in einer Strömungsrinne mit skalierter Modelldüne (EbbSF)

Anhand von Experimenten im physikalischen Modell wurden durch Bodenformen verursachte Strömungs- und Turbulenzprozesse untersucht. Hierzu wurden Laborversuche in einer Strömungsumlaufrinne mit abstrahierten Modelldünen durchgeführt. Für die Erhebung eines umfangreichen Datensatzes zur Beschreibung des Strömungsfeldes über einer Bodenform wurde eine Modelldüne eingesetzt, deren Geometrie sich an in der Weser beobachteten Dünen mit sogenanntem Ebb Slip Face (EbbSF) orientiert. Die Dünenabmessungen und hydrodynamischen Größen wurden im Maßstab 1:10 nach Froude skaliert. Die Modelldüne wurde als zweidimensionale Einzeldüne eingebaut und einer unidirektionalen Strömung konstanter Geschwindigkeit und gleichbleibendem Wasserstand ausgesetzt. Durch die Verwendung von Riffelblech für die Herstellung der Modelldüne wurde die natürliche Oberflächenrauheit realer Dünen nicht nachgebildet. Für die Strömungsmessungen wurde im Bereich über und hinter dem Modellkörper eine enge Verteilung der Messpositionen gewählt, sodass ein umfassender Rohdatensatz mit hochfrequenten, akustischen Strömungsdaten bereitgestellt wird. Literatur: - Carstensen, C., Holzwarth, I. (2023): Flow and Turbulence over an Estuarine Dune – Large-Scale Flume Experiments. Die Küste. https://doi.org/10.18171/1.093103 - Bundesanstalt für Wasserbau (2021): FAUST. Teilprojekt E: Laboruntersuchungen BAW. FuE-Abschlussbericht B3955.02.04.70230. https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11970/108336 Zitat für diesen Datensatz (Daten DOI): - Bundesanstalt für Wasserbau (2021): Laborversuche in einer Strömungsrinne mit skalierter Modelldüne (EbbSF) [Data set]. Bundesanstalt für Wasserbau. https://doi.org/10.48437/02.2021.K.9900.0001

Digitaler hydromorphologischer Zwilling des trilateralen Wattenmeeres (TrilaWatt)

TrilaWatt entwickelt eine innovative digitale Geodaten- und Analyse-Infrastruktur für das trilaterale Wattenmeer. Sie unterstützt mit harmonisierten, qualitätsgesicherten Daten zu Geomorphologie, Sedimentologie und Hydrodynamik die Planung und Unterhaltung der Verkehrsinfrastruktur. Geodaten, Analyse- und Dokumentationsmethoden werden über Webportale und -dienste zu einem Assistenzsystem verknüpft.

Baustelleninformation der Stadt Bremerhaven

Informationen über aktuelle und geplante Baustellen mit starker oder leichter Beeinträchtigung.

Digitalisation and sustainability in the context of Germany’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2020

This report analyses the role of Germany’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union, which took place from 1 July until 31 December 2020, concerning the topics of digitalisation and sustainability. A document analysis of press releases, articles, and speeches as well as relevant background reports published during the German Council Presidency revealed that the discourse on digitalisation and sustainability revolved around three nexuses: 1. "Sustainable digitalisation", 2. "Digitalisation for sustainability", and 3. "Digitalisation and sustainability in silos". Discussions focused primarily on four areas: environment, transport and mobility, digital economy, and recovery. Based on the results of the analysis, we first suggest future priorities in these areas. Second, additional potential future priority areas are discussed, namely circular economy, energy systems, housing, and biodiversity. Third, we propose additional perspectives that might be relevant for future debates. Finally, we analyse the interlinkages between digitalisation and sustainability within the policy documents and how additional policy frameworks can be fruitfully included in future debates.

Digitalisation, sustainability and environmental justice: Leaving no one behind in the twin transition

This report examines the environmental justice implications of digitalisation in the EU and provides recommendations for short to medium term action. Environmental justice covers the fairness of both the decision-making process as well as the differential environmental effects of different policies. The focus here is on participation in environmental decision-making and fairness in the ICT value chain because these are areas where there has already been some progress, but where civil society actors have also identified a need for further urgent action. The issues of access to information, digital tools, and systemic change are also examined, as well as suggestions for how to better integrate a broader agenda for justice in sustainable digitalisation into the EU policy framework, going beyond incremental improvements and taking into account broader issues such as social and economic inequality.

Governing artificial intelligence for planetary health

Establishing global governance of artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming an increasingly pressing challenge to ensure the provision of global public goods and to mitigate harmful effects on societies and the planet. Current debates around AI take various forms, follow diverse narratives, and centre variously on economic, social, environmental, or safety aspects. Here, we make three contributions. First, we classify risks and challenges of AI across the social, planetary, and safety domains. Second, we show that AI should be governed as a global commons, requiring coordinated interventions across all three domains, reflecting relevant inter-domain feedback loops, and root drivers, such as the pursuit of monopolistic AI power and the AI-infused media environment. Third, we identify data, energy, and compute as relevant regulatory dimensions across social, planetary, and safety domains. We conclude by emphasising the importance of limiting agentic AI, incentivising depolarising algorithms on social media, and setting AI dynamics within the context of global equity.© 2026 The Author(s)

Climate and environmental targeting of the new EU budget for 2028–2034 overestimated

For the EU Multiannual Financial Framework 2028–34, the system of intervention areas (IA) with their climate and environmental coefficients is central to financing environmental and climate-related measures. The Commission’s proposal is analyzed for selected IA, and policy options are outlined. The analysis shows that the COM proposal overestimates positive environmental impacts by assigning excessively high coefficients to many IA. Selected IA that contribute to this overestimation—such as direct payments to farmers—are examined as examples. A targeted adjustment of the instrument could help to reflect climate and environmental objectives more realistically and achieve them more effectively.

A post-2030 climate policy framework fit for reaching the EU climate targets

The paper proposes a post-2030 EU climate policy architecture capable of achieving the EU’s climate goals. It reviews the EU climate targets, e.g. the amended European Climate Law, which introduced a 2040 interim target. The paper assesses the current policy framework and identifies key priorities such as stronger coordination and policy coherence. It recommends reforms to major climate instruments, including the EU Emissions Trading System, the Effort Sharing Regulation, and the carbon removal framework, while addressing challenges related to energy, economic transition, sustainability, and the social and international dimensions of EU climate policy.

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