For more than a quarter century, cutting-edge professionals in Germany and the United States have laid the foundation for a fundamental transformation of the financial industry. Due to their foresight and creativity, the world economy is poised to transition from a fossil fuel-oriented past to a sustainable, clean energy future. Several questions, however, still require answers. How can new opportunities be dynamically leveraged? What new risks are involved and how can they be managed? How best can ESG and sustainability indicators be quantified and integrated into the decision making process? And how do we move forward confidently amidst regulatory and policy uncertainty? Our goal was to determine what questions we should be asking as we set the stage for further research and dialogue, putting those of us committed to protecting the environment and the expansion of prosperity in position to create a dynamic and sustainable future.

The briefing "Supporting delivery of climate ambition through the Energy Union: What is needed from Member States' National Energy Plans?" presents key messages from three research papers that have considered the options for reforming planning and reporting, and related issues that are fundamental to the development of credible governance arrangements for the Energy Union.

The efficient implementation of energy efficiency measures was a central challenge in European energy policy. The multEE project, funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 program, addressed this issue by developing innovative monitoring and verification (M&V) systems and improving vertical coordination between administrative levels. These measures ensured better alignment of national and local energy efficiency plans and enabled more precise assessment of their effectiveness. This report described the project, its objectives, and the methods applied.

Boteler, Benjamin et. al. 2015: Dissemination Plan – Strategy for disseminating AQUACROSS results and findings. Deliverable D1.1. Berlin, unpublished.

This document sets out the overarching communication strategy of REFRESH. It introduces the dissemination-related objectives of REFRESH, identifies relevant target groups, describes the different communication instruments of REFRESH and explains the role of the consortium partners in dissemination.

Kemper, Melanie 2015: Kurzkonzept für die Erweiterung des Informationsangebotes der Website des Forums "Fischschutz und Fischabstieg" – www.forum-fischschutz.de, Berlin, October 2015. Unpublished.

The dissemination activities of the DEMEAU project were planned in the beginning of the project and outlined in the dissemination strategy. After three years of project work, we have a look at the achievements of these target group specific dissemination activities.

The European Council agreed that flexibility within the non-ETS sectors will be "significantly enhanced" after 2020. A new paper by the Ecologic Institute analyses options to enhance flexibility. The paper focusses on project-based mechanisms and is available for download.

Wolff, Franziska and Timo Kaphengst 2015: Exploring Options for Strengthening Sustainable Land Use within the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. GLOBALANDS Discussion Paper. Öko-Institut, Ecologic Institute, Berlin.

The European Council decided to develop a "reliable and transparent governance system" for the 2030 EU climate and energy policy framework. The European Commission proposed a number of details of the new governance framework. However, neither the European Council nor the Commission specified the relationship between relevant legislation, up-coming legislative processes and this new governance system. Against this backdrop, this paper discusses options and requirements for an effective governance framework for climate and energy policy beyond 2020. The discussion paper is available for download.

Christiane Gerstetter, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, prepared a discussion paper on "The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and its relevance for global sustainable land use" as part of the GLOBALANDS project. The paper is available for download.

Wunder, Stephanie and Franziska Wolff 2015: International Governance Screening of Global Urban Policies and their Impacts on Sustainable Land Use. Discussion Paper prepared by GLOBALANDS Project. Öko-Institut, Ecologic Institute, Berlin.

Investment protection and investment tribunals are among the most contentious subjects of TTIP and CETA. Could a permanent Court of Arbitration address the problems of ad hoc tribunals? In this comment (German only), Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf discusses the pro and cons of a permanent Court of Arbitration. The comment is available for download. <br /><br /><br /><br />

Since 2007, the European Council has played an increasingly active role in shaping the details of future EU climate policies. This involvement raises important questions about potential interference by the European Council regarding the decision-making process for and content of the implementation of the 2030 climate framework. In a broader perspective, concerns have been raised about the establishment of a constitutional practice, which could in fact circumvent the possibility of adopting implementing acts by qualified majority vote. This would alter the balance of power between the EU institutions. Ecologic Institute's Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf discusses the role and mandate of the European Council. The paper is available for download.

Kemper, Melanie and Mascha Schacht 2015: Konzept Online-Informationsangebot "Umweltverträglicher Pflanzenschutz" – www.uba.de/pflanzenschutz-im-garten-startseite, Berlin, February 2015, unpublished.