The Federal Environmental Agency (UBA) seeks to address the key environmental policy challenges of the 21st century through the ecological modernisation of the German economy. The goal is to identify suitable modernisation strategies and develop proposals for policy implementation.

To this end, a consortium led by adelphi is determining the necessary modernisation and investment needs associated with the ecological development of the German economy. Subsequently, various paths to ecological modernisation will be evaluated economically. Central to this evaluation will be the economic and social viability of the necessary structural reforms. It is thus of critical importance to determine which factors serve to increase or decrease costs. Finally, selected modernisation strategies will be studied with a view to possible policy instrumentation.