Within the framework of the 11th International Conference on Permafrost (ICOP 2016) organized by the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research and taking place in Potsdam from 20 to 24 June 2016, the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC), in cooperation with the Embassy of Canada and the Ecologic Institute, will hold an event on the topic of "Permafrost Research at the Science-Policy Interface". Registration for ICOP 2016 is open until 31 May 2016.

On 23 May 2016, the ELEEP Network hosted a Side Event at the May UNFCCC meeting in Bonn. The event featured guest speakers Aki Kachi (ELEEP Fellow 2015/2016) and Michael Mehling (MIT). Matthias Duwe (Head of Climate, Ecologic Institute) moderated the event. During the event, the speakers discussed existing options for the development of carbon markets post-Paris and provided a perspective on what they could mean for carbon markets in the US and the EU. A video recording of the event can be viewed on the ELEEP Network YouTube Channel.

Amory Lovins supplied the intellectual DNA for the Energy Transition, notably with his concept of "Soft Energy" and how it promotes peace and prosperity. In recognition of his many contributions, he received the German Bundesverdienstkreuz 1. Klasse (Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany) on 17 March 2016 at the Federal Foreign Office. Ecologic Institute and the Hertie School of Governance held a reception in celebration of Amory Lovins' achievements the following day.

Cities are at the forefront of the global carbon revolution, breaking established structures and creating new models for integrated systems. At an official side-event at COP21 in Paris, members of the POCACITO project consortium, including Max Gruenig and Camilla Bausch from Ecologic Institute, discussed how cities, serving as hubs of knowledge and learning, are essential catalysts in the global transformation to a post-carbon society.

In advance of COP21, more than 170 countries have so far pledged to implement national climate actions, INDCs. While the Paris negotiations will decide the future framework for these INDCs, this event looked at means of supporting implementation of national contributions that already exist and could be strengthened. Specifically, the discussion focused on technology needs assessments (TNAs) and current climate finance flows.

Ahrensfelde was a "city of the future" as part of the project "City of the future - living together sustainably" and creates a vision about what the community should look like in 2030 and beyond. In order to develop the vision, a survey was conducted among the citizens of Ahrensfelde in November 2015. Doris Knoblauch presented the results of the survey at a town hall meeting on the 30 November 2015 and she also moderated the evening.

The fourth expert workshop of the discussion series "Improving climate protection – for Paris and beyond" dealt with the topic "Closing the post-Paris ambition gap: enhancing ambition before 2020 and the role of climate action pioneers." The event took place on 27 October 2015 in Berlin.

Investor protection and arbitration courts may be the most controversial topics during the present TTIP negotiations. In light of this public debate, the European Commission presented its first proposal for the reform of TTIP investor protection in May 2015. The proposal includes broad reforms concerning the allocation of arbitration courts as well as the challenge of arbitral awards. Further proposals have been made by the European Parliament in July 2015. In spring 2015, social democratic ministers from different EU countries brought a permanent international court house for investment disputes up for discussion. A reform of the international investment protection regime has already been in discussion for some time. The EU Commission plans to present a concrete proposal for the ISDS reform in the coming weeks.

Ecologic Institute welcomes twenty climate scholars from the Alexander von Humboldt foundation on their study tour "Knowledge Transfer for Effective Climate Protection Policies". During their tour the scholars will visit different institutions working in the field of climate change, such as the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB), the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) and the Federal Environmental Agency (UBA).

Several recent regional trade agreements (RTAs) include provisions on clean energy and on climate action. They may take the form of concrete commitments of reductions of tariffs or non-tariff barriers, or of commitments on institutional collaboration. Many RTAs also contain institutional provisions which are also of relevance to the implementation of existing environmental, including climate-related, commitments. As such, they constitute important opportunities for trade policy to contribute concretely and positively to a scale-up of clean energy and foster climate action.

In the "Oslo Principles on Global Climate Change Obligations," a group of high-level lawyers and philosophers addresses obligations of States and enterprises to avert the critical level of climate change – irrespective of already existing obligations resulting from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change or a (potential) follow-up agreement to the Kyoto Protocol. The group argues that existing legal sources including human rights law, environmental law and tort law oblige states to take measures leading to drastic emissions reductions that ensure that the global temperature increase does not exceed pre-industrial temperatures by more than 2°C.

The third expert workshop of the discussion series "Improving climate protection – for Paris and beyond" dealt with the topic "Conditional INDCs – A new and unknown element of the Paris-System." The event took place on 9 September 2015 in Berlin.

The Canadian province of Alberta is well-known for being the home of the country’s current Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, and the infamous tar sands. The traditionally conservative province has been criticized for its contribution to climate change. Binnu Jeyakumar, Consulting Advisor at Pembina Institute, led a discussion on this topic at Ecologic Institute. The seminar focused on the current political change in Alberta and its implications for the province’s involvement in the fight against climate change.

The second expert workshop of the discussion series “Improving climate protection – for Paris and beyond” dealt with the topic “National mitigation commitments and MRV – The political relevance of technical rules”. The event took place on 23 June 2015in Berlin.

On 29 April 2015, Ecologic Institute US and the Guarini Center on Environmental, Energy and Land Use Law at New York University School of Law hosted a discussion about the German Energiewende (Energy Transition). The event provided an opportunity for participants to speak with experts with first-hand insight into the Energiewende and the lessons it may hold for policymakers in New York State, currently pursuing their own comprehensive energy reforms. A summary and a video of the discussion are available for download.