Does international law allow implementing climate policies of different speeds? Can countries form pioneer alliances for ambitious climate protection or are the UN Framework Convention and the Kyoto Protocol a straight jacket? A new Ecologic paper answers these questions. It discusses whether and in what form legally binding measures outside the Convention are lawful and meaningful. The paper is available for download.

Ecologic Institut und Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie (2012): Klimaschutz strategisch fördern. Diskussionsanstöße für mögliche Schwerpunkte einer gezielten Stiftungsförderung zivilgesellschaftlicher Akteure in Deutschland für mehr Klimaschutz, Berlin.

Ecologic Institute and Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP) prepared a paper that gives an overview of selected sustainable development commitments, their shortcomings, and possible remedies, as discussed and agreed by relevant political fora. The paper and the summary of an expert workshop are available for download.

In this document Ecologic Institute presents a concept for the online presentation and dissemination of DG Environment's planned Composite Index on Environmental Pressures (CIEP).

The EU-funded research project "Climate Change, Hydro-conflicts and Human Security" (CLICO) investigates how climate change influences water, human security, and conflicts in the Mediterranean, Middle East, and the Sahel region. Ecologic Institute recently published a working paper written by Elizabeth Tedsen that examines current initiatives of the European Union and United Nations relating to these themes of climate, water, human security, and conflict.

Adaptation to climate change: What does this mean in practice? Where can I find support and orientation, what good examples already exist? Answers to these questions can be found in a brochure prepared by Ecologic Institute on behalf of the Competence Centre on Climate Impacts and Adaptation (KomPass) of the German Federal Environment Agency.

Porsch, Lucas; Wolf Müller; Holger Gerdes et. al.: Summary / Comparative Review of Findings. IN-STREAM Deliverable 7.1.

Srebotnjak, Tanja; Holger Gerdes; Aaron Best et. al. 2009: Evaluation of Indicators for EU Policy Objectives. Research note (D 2.1)

Meyer-Ohlendorf, Nils, Aaron Best; Michael Mehling et. al. 2009: The Green New Deal. Finanz- und Wirtschaftskrise als Chance für eine ökologische Wirtschaftspolitik. Berlin.

This paper first analyses the 2009 stimulus packages of six EU Member States – namely, Austria, Germany, France, Poland, Slovenia and the UK – with a focus on the potential of the packages to contribute to the implementation of the EU Sustainable Development Strategy (EU SDS) and the Lisbon Strategy. In Chapter 4, the paper discusses the extent to which the packages help implement the EU SDS and Lisbon strategies. Chapter 5 draws conclusions and presents recommendations. An annex provides an overview of the targets and implementation status of the EU SDS and the Lisbon Strategy.

Sina, Stephan; Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf and Ralph Czarnecki 2009: Ein Klimaschutzgesetz für Deutschland. Juristisches Kurzgutachten des Ecologic Instituts. Berlin.

This brief expert report analyses the extent to which the economic stimulus packages launched in 2009 have the potential to drive forward a fundamental and sustainable transformation of the economy or to create new "path dependencies", i.e. to encourage businesses to remain in traditional industries or production methods that have been identified as unsustainable. For these purposes, this study analyses the economic stimulus packages of Germany, Great Britain, South Korea and the USA and briefly presents the programmes of China and Japan. Only initial estimates can be made in the context of this study, assuming that every euro or dollar spent in a given area has a similar environmental impact.

This paper presents an overview of the existing institutional and legal framework relevant to environmental governance, as well as formal and informal governance structures in the Arctic marine area. It highlights the complexity of approaches applicable at the local, regional and international scales, rather than identifying gaps in governance at the sectoral scale. The background paper is available for download.