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The European Renewable Energy Yearbook

Review of a Yearbook on the Current State and Developments of European Politics in the Field of Renewable Energies.

In the first issue of the Renewable Energy Law and Policy Review for 2010, Dominik Müller, fellow at Ecologic Institute and member of Ecologic Legal, reviews "The Renewable Energy Yearbook", edited by Christopher Jones. This yearbook deals with the current state and developments of European politics in the field of renewable energies.Read more

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Article

Economics

Sustainability

Green Jobs and Prosperity

Can a Greener Economy Lead Us Towards Sustainability?

In this article, Ecologic Institute's Max Grünig provides an overview of different definitions of "green jobs" and describes advantages and problems connected with this concept. He emphasizes that it is not enough to create new green jobs but that every job has to become more environmentally-friendly.Read more

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Bypassing Germany’s Reformstau

The Remarkable Rise of Renewable Energy

The implementation of Germany’s highly effective Feed-in-Tariff model (FITM) for the promotion of renewable energy (RE) is a remarkable achievement given the rigid structure of the German political system. The many veto points in the political system cause certain policy inertia -Reformstau- in Germany, making comprehensive policy changes a rare occurrence. In this article, Prof. Dr. Christoph Stefes, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, addresses how Germany’s FITM was nonetheless passed in the 1990s, leading to a boom for renewable energy in Germany.Read more

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Article

Economics

Sustainability

Es ist Zeit, die Alleinherrschaft des BIP zu beenden

The financial and economic crisis that Germany has been going through since 2008 has shed a new light on the pros and cons of economic growth and the methods of measuring welfare. Whereas some indicators indicate that the worst effects of the crisis are behind us, others reveal that we may not have seen the end of the crisis just yet. In the 2/2010 edition of “Berliner Republik”, Benjamin Görlach, Senior Fellow at the Ecologic Institute, discussed how the crisis has played out in different economic indicators, why politics still resort to GDP as the main indicator for economic welfare and what the perspectives are for establishing alternative indicators.Read more

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Article

Climate

International Development

Global Environment

Governance

Trade

Technology Transfer in the International Climate Negotiations

The State of Play and Suggestions for the Way Forward

This article by Christiane Gerstetter, Dominic Marcellino, and Elena von Sperber explores the state of the climate technology transfer negotiations following the COP 15 meeting in Copenhagen in December 2009. The article appears in the Spring 2010 edition of the journal Carbon and Climate Law Review.Read more

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Das Internationale Klimaschutzrecht nach Kopenhagen

Researchers and the international community today are essentially in agreement: global warming cannot surpass an increase of two degrees Celsius if dangerous, irreversible and uncontrollable consequences for the environment and society are to be avoided. Protection measures taken by the international community are also pursuing this goal, and yet they leave out adequate mandates for the minimisation of green house gas emission. Read more

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Schöner Leben im Labor?

Geo-Engineering und das Recht, die Welt zu verändern

The debate about geo-engineering is unstoppable. Strong interests push for research and experimental application. Geo-engineering is a play for time, at best, but always also a dangerous deviation from emission reduction and climate change adaptation. Properly conducted, the debate can help clarify the design of international institutions, argue R. Andreas Kraemer and Ralph Czarnecki of the Ecologic Institute in an article in Internationale Politik, Germany's leading foreign policy magazine.Read more

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Article

Foreign Policy

Aktive Klimaaußenpolitik – Sechs Empfehlungen für den Außenminister

In a seminal online article in Internationale Politik, Germany's leading foreign policy magazine, Sascha Müller-Kraenner, Senior Policy Advisor of Ecologic Institute, and Martin Kremer address the newly appointed German Minister of Foreign Affairs with six recommendations for the development of an active climate foreign policy (in German).

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At a Tipping Point?

How the Debate on Biofuel Standards Sparks Innovative Ideas for the General Future of Standardisation and Certification Schemes

The expanding use of biomass as an energy source has been accompanied by a growing range of certification and standard-setting schemes in an attempt to ensure the sustainability of biofuel production. The result has added to the confusion in an already crowded certification market, but an opportunity to develop a streamlined global standard-setting system arises from this complexity. In this article, Timo Kaphengst, Mandy Ma and Stephanie Schlegel of Ecologic Institute outline how some of the innovative ideas coming from the biofuel certification and standardisation discussions can be applied to create a global generic standard-setting scheme for natural resources.Read more

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Deforestation and Climate Change: Not for Felling

Deforestation is responsible for roughly one fifth of global carbon emissions, most of it in the tropical forests of the developing world. At the Copenhagen climate talks, negotiators discussed a potential new mechanism to compensate nations for keeping their forests intact. The article by Duncan Brack and Katharina Umpfenbach looks at these REDD proposals (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation), arguing that carbon finance alone might not be enough to stop deforestation – unless part of it is spent upfront on improving forest governance.Read more