Article | Ecologic Institute: Science and Policy for a Sustainable World

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Resource Conservation + Circular Economy

Sustainability

Key Drivers for Unsustainable Resource Use

Categories, Effects and Policy Pointers

Prevailing resource use patterns of the global socio-industrial metabolism are unsustainable. For effective resource policies, drivers for such unsustainable resource use and their effects need to be better understood and mapped. In the context of the FP7 research project DYNAMIX, Dr. Martin Hirschnitz-Garbers and co-authors identified by means of meta-analysis a set of ten driver categories that affect unsustainable resource use. Read more

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Article

Water

Les services publics d'eau en Grande-Bretagne et en Allemagne

Origine commune, trajectoires différentes

Today, water and sanitation services are organized very differently in Britain and Germany, with privatization at a regional level in Britain and municipal companies in charge of several public services in Germany. In this article, written by Founder and Director Emeritus of Ecologic Institute, R. Andreas Kraemer, and Bernard Barraqué, the history of water supply privatization and centralization in Great Britain and Germany is discussed.Read more

Publication

Climate-change Lore and its Implications for Climate Science

Post-science Deliberations?

Bray, Dennis and Grit Martinez 2014: "Climate-change lore and its implications for climate science: Post-science deliberations?". Futures, Vol. 66, No. February 2015, 54-69.

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Resource Conservation + Circular Economy

Soil

Bioökonomie und Landkonflikte

Genug Land für alle(s)?

In times of conflicting environmental objectives, the bioeconomy has evolved as one of the most contested fields in resource and climate policies. This article by Timo Kaphengst and Stephanie Wunder stresses the overall scarcity of land as a significant obstacle for further expansion of biomass production for the bioeconomy. The authors argue for a more demand-driven strategy to alleviate stress on land ecosystems. The article is available for download.Read more

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Article

Climate

Energy

Emissions Trading in the US

Work in Progress on the Federal Level?

Riedel, Arne and Dominic Marcellino 2013: "Emissions Trading in the US: Work in Progress on the Federal Level?". Carbon and Climate Law Review, Vol. 2013, No. 3, 213-215.

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Article

Finance

Trade

Transatlantic Program

Viel Schatten, wenig Licht

TTIP aus Umweltsicht

In this article, published in the journal Frankfurter Hefte, Christiane Gerstetter from Ecologic Instiute takes a stand on environmental aspects in the discussion on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) that is currently negotiated between the EU and the USA.

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Article

Biodiversity

Land Use

Ökosystemleistungen und Naturschutz

Plieninger, Tobias; Kathrin Trommler; Claudia Bieling et al. 2013: "Ökosystemleistungen und Naturschutz", in: Werner Konold; Reinhard Böcker and Ulrich Hampicke (Hg.): Handbuch Naturschutz und Landschaftspflege. Supplement No. 28, 04/2013. Weinheim: Wiley-VCH, 1-12.

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A Dynamic Adjustment Mechanism for the 2015 Climate Agreement

In this article, Ecologic Institute's Lena Donat and Ralph Bodle provide a structured approach for developing and evaluating options for a dynamic adjustment mechanism in the 2015 climate agreement. To ensure that the 2015 Agreement, that is currently being negotiated under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), provides an effective response to climate change over time, it needs to encorporate flexible and dynamic elements. This should include a possibility for Parties to regularly adjust their mitigation commitments so as to increase the level of ambition and to reflect changing circumstances.Read more

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Article

Health

California Emergency Department Closures are Associated with Increased Inpatient Mortality at Nearby Hospitals

Lui, Charles; Tanja Srebotnjak and Renee Yuen-Jan Hsia 2014: "California Emergency Department Closures are Associated with Increased Inpatient Mortality at Nearby Hospitals.". Health Affairs, Vol. 33, No. 8, 1323-1329.

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Article

Economics

Climate

Emissions Trading in the Climate Policy Mix

Understanding and Managing Interactions with Other Policy Instruments

Emissions trading promises the achievement of a pre-defined environmental outcome at least cost. If the system works and key assumptions hold, it would seem to be an "optimal" climate policy instrument. On closer inspection, however, it is less clear what constitutes an "optimal" climate policy. This paper argues that optimality involves a range of criteria beyond short-term economic efficiency, but also has to consider the longer-term dynamic efficiency, as well as the political, administrative and legal feasibility of policy instruments.Read more