The objective of this briefing was to provide Members with an overview of the key issues at stake at the CITES COP 17 and to introduce the new role of the EU as a single Party entity. A short overview of the history of CITES was provided, along with the current positions of the main Parties on key issues of importance. The brief identified main conclusions and recommendations for Members of the ENVI Committee to establish their own perspectives on the subject of CITES and the potential role of the EU. The briefing was conducted using published documents, press releases, official position papers, studies and other relevant sources from national, international and EU institutions and NGOs. The document is available for download.

International trade agreements can have an impact on consumers in different ways. On the one hand, they can lead to more or cheaper products to become available for consumers. On the other hand, these agreements contain rules for political and legal meaures that the parties to an agreement may adopt; this can limit the scope for regulation in favour of consumers. How trade agreements are designed is therefore important for consumers. In this project, Ecologic Institute compiles a study for the Federation of German Consumer Organisations, analysing how consumer rights are addressed in international trade agreements and how they can be enforced by consumer organisations.

Dooley, Elizabeth (Hg.) 2016: Closing the Mineral Cycles at Farm Level. Good Practices to Reduce Nutrient Loss in the Weser-Ems Region (Germany).

"Climate Change and Innovation: A post-Paris Agenda" was the topic of the Ottawa Climate Talk, which featured Dr. Camilla Bausch of Ecologic Institute as key-note speaker. It was part of a speaking tour in three provinces in Canada. Discussing topics such as innovation and national and municipal climate and energy policies, Dr. Bausch traded ideas and insights in Ottawa, Montreal and Edmonton. This visit came at a dynamic time in Canadian policy making, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a federal ultimatum for provinces to introduce a carbon pricing plan by 2018 and MPs voted 207 to 81 to back the Paris Agreement.

On 20 July 2016 the European Commission published its legislative proposal for an Effort Sharing Regulation. A paper from Ecologic Institute provides comments on the Commission's proposal. The comments are available for download.

As the EU considers early ratification of the Paris Agreement, this paper explains the related key legal questions that arise should the EU push to ratify without its internal burden sharing in place and without all Member States ratifying simultaneously. The paper is available for download.

Natacha Amorsi et. al. 2016: WaterDiss. Analysis and uptake of water research results. In: André Martinuzzi and Michal Sedlacko (eds.): Knowledge Brokerage for Sustainable Development. Innovative Tools for Increasing Research Impact and Evidence-Based Policy-Making. Routledge: London.

<p>The sixth workshop of the Forum was marked by the beginning of the 2nd management cycle of the Water Framework Directive. At the event, the results of the first management cycle with regard to the status of the fish fauna and the envisaged measures to improve this quality element were reflected. In this context, the assessment methods for the fish fauna in surface water bodies and the passability of barriers and the resulting measures were considered.</p>&#13;&#13;

<p>The framework and a practical example of its application were presented by Gerardo Anzaldua (Ecologic Institute), who led the working group developing the framework, and Nadine Gerner (Emschergenossenschaft), who led the application of the framework on three case study sites in a webinar on 15. September. The webinar includes an ample Q&amp;A session with an extended group of members from the framework development team and lasted over an hour. You also can download the Power Point presentation that was used for the webinar.</p>

On 13 September 2016, the expert workshop "Discussion of an assessment system for civil society initiatives to measure sustainability and transformative potential" took place in Berlin. At the workshop, about 30 participants from science, policy, foundations, and sustainability initiatives discussed the first draft of a criteria catalogue for measuring and presenting the societal benefit of niche sustainability initiatives, especially their sustainability and transformative potential. Stephanie Wunder, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, presented the assessment system. In the workshop, the application of the criteria catalogue to two case studies was also presented. The criteria for estimating the sustainability potential, the transformative potential, the organizational capacity for action, and the scalability of the initiatives were developed from 13 political and scientific assessment systems and from transition literature.

<p>Laudato Si': To Care for our Common Home. Pope Francis' encyclical has created widespread conversation within and beyond the Catholic community. Camilla Bausch of Ecologic Institute along with Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, Klaus Töpfer, Hartmut Graßl, Anton Losinger, Mary Evelyn Tucker and other prominent voices from science, policy and theology provided insights on this discussion at the Institute of Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) three day international workshop on the Papal Encyclical.</p>&#13;

In the latest Work Programme 2016-2018 of the Common Implementation Strategy of the Water Framework Directive, the Water Directors of European countries agreed specific Ad-hoc Task Groups (ATGs) should be set up on the following topics: (1) Best practice and guidance on dealing with hydromorphology and (2) Guidance on WFD Article 4(7) on exemptions for new modifications. Ecologic Institute and its partner Fresh Thoughts have been commissioned to provide to DG Environment of the European Commission support and advice on scientific, socio-economic and technical issues related to the activities of the ATGs on Article 4(7) Guidance and Hydromorphology.

From 4 until 6 September 2016 the Estuarine &amp; Coastal Sciences Association (ECSA) held its 56th multidisciplinary research conference entitled "Coastal systems in transition from a 'natural' to an 'anthropogenically modified' state" in Bremen (Germany). Dr. Grit Martinez of Ecologic Institute and Prof. Paolo Ciavola of the University of Ferrara hosted a special session on "Practical illustration of the human dimension in coastal systems and its drivers for change". Presenters from the FP7-Project RISC-KIT highlighted the state of the art of their interdisciplinary research on reducing human risk in coastal areas which was complimented by further participants from other European and world-wide research projects. The presentation slides are available for download.

A new study by the Ecologic Institute shows how to ensure achievement of the 2030 EU target for renewable energy. The study is available for download.

Ecologic Institute and the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) co-hosted a talk with Dr. Rick Spinrad, Chief Scientist at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). An internationally recognized scientist and executive with more than 30 years of experience, Dr. Spinrad was invited to Germany on behalf of the US Embassy to share insights on the topic of oceans and sustainability. The event was moderated by R. Andreas Kraemer, Founding Director of Ecologic Institute.