IW scientists in the Environment, Energy, Infrastructure competence area study the interaction between the economy and the environment.
Environment, Energy, Infrastructure
Their work is based on the conviction that Germany can only achieve sustainable development if climate protection is instituted efficiently, energy is made available in an affordable, safe and environmentally friendly form and business has access to natural resources. If this can be achieved, companies can take advantage of the market opportunities and locate their future development in Germany.
Sections of the Research Unit
Main topics in this policy area are the electricity market as well as the overall supply of energy resources, a market-based integration of renewable energies, the design of electricity markets and securing energy. The challenge here is to take advantage of a better integrated European energy policy.
The transport of goods is a crucial input factor for many economic activities. Therefore, consistent regulation and a functioning transport infrastructure are basic requirements for economic growth. As the transport sector is responsible for a remarkable share of CO2 emissions, there is a strong link to climate protection policy. Right now, there are numerous instruments in place. While, for example, cars are subject to threshold regulation, electric rail traffic is part of the emission trading system.
One big issue in the field of Green Economy is its potential for green jobs. Obviously, the boom of renewables and the importance of sustainable strategies among many companies created many new jobs, but the net effect when taking into account the loss of jobs in more conventional areas such as energy-intensive industries remains an important research subject.
Cooperation Partners
- Wirtschaftskammer Österreich
- Avenir Suisse
- Delft University of Technology
- Frontier Economics
- Energiewirtschaftliches Institut an der Universität zu Köln
- Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie
Contact
Studies and contributions

Climate Investments: Definitions and Documentation Principles
Achieving climate neutrality requires investment in technologies which protect the climate from global warming and necessitates a process of transformation in all sectors of the economy.
IW

Circular disruption: Digitalisation as a driver of circular economy business models
New circular business models can evolve at all stages of the life cycle of a product. Digitalisation can drive disruptive innovations, new business models and novel ways of collaboration and thus can accelerate the economic transition to more resource-efficient and circular production systems.
IW

Circular Business Models: How circular are companies?
On the way to climate neutrality, the transition from a linear economy to a circular economy plays an important role. Resource cycles can be implemented in different ways in companies.
IW

Identification of key transformation professions on the basis of the EU taxonomy
The economic transformation to carbon neutrality increasingly produces various forms of pressures in different job areas and on the labour market, especially in energy- and emission-intensive manufacturing industries.
IW

Effects of a supply chain regulation
The European Commission is planning a new regulation for mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence (Due Diligence Directive) as part of the Sustainable Corporate Governance initiative. The long-awaited EU proposal is expected to have requirements that go far beyond the German Act on Due Diligence in Supply Chains (the so-called Lieferkettensorgfaltspflichtengesetz), which was regarded as a possible blueprint for a European solution. The present paper contributes to the debate on an EU due diligence regulation by presenting results of a recent survey conducted by the German Economic Institute (IW) on the potential impact of the already adopted German Act on Due Diligence in Supply Chains.
IW

IW Economic Forecast Winter 2021: Disrupted Production, Price Rises and Pandemic Policies
In the course of 2021 Germany’s economic recovery has once again perceptibly lost momentum. After the strain brought about at the beginning of the year by the lockdown for the second and third waves of the Covid19 pandemic, manufacturing and construction companies are now struggling with a shortage of materials, while higher prices for fossil fuels are imposing an additional burden.
IW

Circular economy: How waste shipments contribute to protecting the environment
The European Commission aims at further reducing illegal waste exports and is therefore revising its regulations. Legal waste shipment is an important step towards an efficient circular economy: it reduces resource utilization and saves CO2.
IW

What business needs to shape the transformation: Recommendations to the new federal government
Germany is facing major structural challenges stemming from the four trends digitalisation, decarbonisation, demographics and de-globalisation. These trends occur simultaneously and cause additional demand for policy, especially at their interfaces, so that the transformation process can be shaped successfully.
IW

Green innovations in the basic materials industry in NRW
Transforming the economy towards climate-neutrality poses major challenges for the energy-intensive primary industry in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). At the same time, the development of environmentally friendly basic materials and production processes presents a great potential for transforming NRW into an attractive industrial location for the future.
IW
Sustainable Finance: How to finance and achieve global decarbonisation
As governments across the world continue to face the challenge of tackling Covid-19, the current crisis also presents an unprecedented opportunity to reboot global economies in a manner that builds more sustainable, inclusive, and resilient societies, in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement.
IW