The first meeting of the working group for scientific support of the Master Plan for 100% climate protection – part of the "Strategic development of the National Climate Initiative (NCI)" project – was held in Berlin on 10 December 2012. The meeting allowed the participants to not only get to know each other but also provided them with the oppurtunitiy...Read more
The interdiscplinary research project "European Union Action to Fight Environmental Crime" (EFFACE) assesses the impacts of environmental crime as well as effective and feasible policy options for combatting it, with a focus on the EU. The project is funded under the 7th Research Framework Programme of the EU (FP7). Ecologic coordinates the work of 11 European universities and think tanks involved in the project.
The killing of elephants for their tusks, the export of harmful waste in contravention of existing regulations, the deliberate discharge of noxious substances from vesselsRead more
Improving the implementation and enforcement of European environmental legislation will be one of the key priorities of the EU’s upcoming 7th Environmental Action Programme. In a report for the European Commission Ecologic Institute, together with Bio Intelligence and the Institute for European Environmental Policy, is studying several options to improve the implementation and enforcement of EU environmental policy by strengthening the European Commission’s role in environmental inspections and its capacity to investigate breaches of EU environmental legislation.
On 1 and 2 November 2012 the National Focal Points (NFPs) of the Convention on Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) met in Bonn in order to discuss a manual that Ecologic Institute drafted in order to help the NFPs implement the CMS. Furthermore, Ecologic Institute drafted a concept for an e-community platform that was tested by the NFPs at that meeting. The two-day workshop was moderated by Doris Knoblauch.
The focus of the workshop was to engender a conversation between the NFPs on the different parts of the handbook. To this end, participants were involved in in-depth, so-Read more
Stable and healthy ecosystems are essential for climate change mitigation and adaptation. This applies to many sectors, such as agriculture, forestry, tourism, urban planning and water resources management. Mitigation and adaptation measures using the ecosystem-based approach are becoming increasingly important as they offer a variety of benefits and are often considered to be more cost-effective solutions than purely technological approaches.
The goal of this project is to demonstrate that ecosystem-based approaches are not only conducive to nature conservation, but also can provideRead more
The international Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (also known as CMS or Bonn Convention) aims to conserve terrestrial, aquatic, and avian migratory species throughout their migration routes. All contracting Parties designate National Focal Points (NFP) as liaison officers between relevant government offices and the CMS Secretariats. Ecologic Institute is developing a manual for the NFPs and working out a concept for an NFP e-community platform.
The aim of the manual is to clarify theRead more
On behalf of the European Commission, Ecologic Institute compiles and evaluates information on the environmental effectiveness of hydromorphological measures used in River Basin Management Plans. This assessment takes place in the context of a multi-partner "Comparative Study of Pressures and Measures in the Major River Basin Management Plans in the EU".
The Water Framework Directive (WFD) required Member States to report their first River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs) by March 2010. The European Commission (EC) has been assessing the compliance of RBMPs against the provisions ofRead more
The aim of the EU's Natura 2000 Network is to protect Europe's most valuable and threatened species and habitats. This project developed a methodological framework for assessing the overall economic value of the benefits provided by the Natura 2000 network. A first estimate suggests that the benefits could be between €200 and €300 billion per year at present, which equals 2% to 3% of EU GDP. The project report is available for download.
Ecologic Institute is proud to be launching its 2012 Arctic Summer College, a virtual course and network aiming to strengthen Arctic communication and build a lasting, policy-oriented network of Arctic professionals. Policy briefs and videos of speaker presentations will be made publicly available on the Arctic Summer College website following each weekly seminar.
In this Project, Ecologic Institute elaborates policy options for the development of a strategy to protect the Arctic environment for the German Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU). The project entails an analysis of the environmental situation and the legal framework for environmental protection and sustainable development in the Arctic as well as an identification of Germany’s interests regarding environmental protection in this region.Read more
