In this article, the authors provide for the first time a definition of the "Footprint Family" as a suite of indicators to track human pressure on our planet and under different angles. It builds on the premise that no single indicator per se is able to comprehensively monitor human impact on the environment, but indicators rather need to be used and interpreted jointly.

How can philanthropists make informed and responsible choices when investing the endowment of their foundation? How can they avoid destroying with their investments what they seek to protect with their grants? R. Andreas Kraemer of Ecologic Institute makes concrete suggestions in his article in the summer 2011 Philanthropy Letter of the Fondation de Luxembourg.

As part of the EU's efforts to define its role in Arctic management and decision making, the European Commission Directorate-General for the Environment funded the EU Arctic Footprint and Policy Assessment to determine its impact, responsibilities, and policy options to protect the Arctic. This article summarizes the key findings from the study, and presents an overview of the EU's Arctic footprint. The article is available for download.

Together with co-authors Alexander de Sherbinin (Columbia University), Genevieve Carr (Northern Oil and Gas Branch, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada) and Carrie Rickwood (Natural Resources Canada) Tanja Srebotnjak, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, published a study in the journal Ecological Indicators on the design and testing of a global water quality index.

The EU is a relative newcomer to Arctic policy and may appear to have limited options for influencing the future of the Arctic. However, all Arctic States and neighbouring countries, including the EU, have a stake in the health of Arctic ecosystems and communities, as well as the sustainable development of new sources of economic growth in this region. Sandra Cavalieri, Emily McGlynn and Susanah Stoessel from Ecologic Institute, along with co-authors Martin Bruckner (SERI), Timo Koivurova (Arctic Centre) and Annika E. Nilsson (Stockholm Environment Institute) present an overview of the EU's ecological footprint on the Arctic region, and suggest policy options to reduce negative impacts.

Dominic Marcellino, Fellow Ecologic Institute Washington, and Max Grünig, Fellow Ecologic Institute Berlin, published an article on cost recovery in line with the EU Water Framework Directive and related experiences in Germany. The text appeared in the March/April special edition of L’Acqua, an Italian journal for water issues. The paper builds off previous work done for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Emily McGlynn, Transatlantic Fellow at Ecologic Institute, regularly writes as a Policy Fellow at Americans for Energy Leadership, a Washington DC-based think tank. In the article "Arctic Oil and Gas: The Emerging Question" McGlynn discusses the latest developments in Arctic hydrocarbon exploitation and the need for improvements in both technology and regulation.

In this paper, Sascha Müller-Kraenner, one of the founders and a Partner of Ecologic Institute, investigates the nature of the European Union’s relations to third countries with regard to renewable sources of energy and the options available for further developing those relations in order to more effectively exploit the potential of renewable energy. While the EU has the potential to cover its electrical power needs from renewable sources alone, cooperation with third states in the use of renewable energy sources will play an important role – as can be seen in the large-scale Desertec project.

In this article, the online edition of IP Global, Germany's leading foreign policy magazine, Sascha Müller-Kraenner, Senior Policy Advisor of Ecologic Institute, looks at the outcomes of the COP 10 of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD) in Nagoya, Japan, and the reasons behind them. His analysis points to opportunities on the road ahead for the international climate negotiations beyond the UNFCCC COP 16 in Cancun, Mexico, at the end of 2010.

The climate summit 2010 in Cancún has mostly been considered a success. The revival of multilateralism has been prized as the most important outcome. However, it remains that the most difficult decisions, were postponed in Cancún. Michael Mehling of Ecologic Institute outlines the importance of the results for transatlantic relations. The article is available for download.

Today, the loss of biological diversity has already reached alarming proportions, proportions which climate change is not expected to reach for several decades. Despite this, climate change continues to dominate political debates, whereas biodiversity is still seen as an issue of secondary importance. In this publication, Sascha Müller-Kraenner, Senior Policy Advisor of Ecologic Institute, summarizes why a political and institutional reassessment of biodiversity is so necessary.

Under the title "Setting the Course for the Future, not Nursing a Hangover – After the Copenhagen Debacle, Europe Needs an Effective Strategy for Climate Negotiations", Sascha Müller-Kraenner, Senior Policy Advisor at the Ecologic Institute, suggests options for the future external climate policy of the European Union. The article (in German) is available exclusively online from Internationale Politik, Germany's leading foreign policy magazine.

European cultural landscapes are significantly shaped by human activities and provide a multitude of ecological services which benefit human society. In an article published in the May 2010 issue of "Natur und Landschaft", the concept of ecosystem services is evaluated in regard to its limits and potentials to analyse conflicts between land use and nature conservation.

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.

Evolutionary branching has been suggested as a mechanism to explain ecological speciation processes. In this article, the authors use a mechanistic ecological model to examine the influence of demographic stochasticity and environmental fluctuations on the branching process.