Over 25 members of the ELEEP Network met in Brussels and The Netherlands from 14 until 18 May 2014. The Members engaged in a variety of activities, with a specific focus on discussing the organizational and substantive evolution of the ELEEP Network. This face-to-face consideration of how to implement an action-oriented, policy-relevant network – that remains both professionally and personally rewarding – will inform an ongoing discussion of ELEEP’s next steps with the two coordinating organizations (Ecologic Institute and Atlantic Council), as well as the rest of the members in the ELEEP network, over the coming months.

Armao, Fabio et al. 2014: Milesecure 2050 Deliverable 1.4 - Report on the Macroregional Geopolitics of Energy Security. Politecnico di Torino, Torino.

In many regions, the non-native introduction of animal- and plant species is increasing and is one of the greatest threats to biodiversity. Why is this so and what can be done about it? In this 8th event of the series Biodiversity - local/global, Katrin Schneider, from KORINA - UfU e.V. Halle, took a closer look at this problem.

 


On 7 May 2013, Stephan Sina, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, took part in a discussion in Berlin on the energy transition in Germany (Energiewende) organized by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation. The other contributors were Herrmann-Otto Solms (FDP) and Georg Zachmann (Breughel Institut, Brussels). Steffen Hentrich (Liberal Institut) moderated the discussion. About 60 participants attended the event.

In May 2014, the 10th ICAP Training Course on Emissions Trading brought together experts from emerging economies and developing countries to learn about emissions trading as a tool for climate protection and to discuss the options of implementing such systems in developing countries. The session in Santiago was the tenth of its kind and continues a series of past ICAP events held in other cities including Berlin, The Hague, Beijing, Madrid, Dublin, and Istanbul. It was attended by 29 mid-career professionals from eleven countries. Benjamin Görlach and Pedro Barata led the course.

The project Legal Instruments to implement the objective "Land Degradation Neutral World" in International Law was commissioned by the German Federal Environmental Agency. It aimed to explore the legal instruments in three different case study countries which could potentially be up-scaled to the international level to implement the land degradation neutrality target. The findings were translated into a breakdown of conceptual legal approaches to land degradation prevention, remediation/offsetting, and planning.

This science policy brief summarizes the results of the Water Lives policy symposium. The Water Lives science policy symposium was held on 29 and 30 January 2014 in Brussels and was organized by BIOFRESH and REFRESH projects.

Wunder, Stephanie; Martin Hirschnitz-Garbers; Timo Kaphengst 2014: Ressourceneffizienz und Flächeninanspruchnahme. Nexus-Papier 2 im Projekt Ressourcenpolitik: Analyse der ressourcenpolitischen Debatte und Entwicklung von Politikoptionen (PolRess). www.ressourcenpolitik.de

Hsia, Renee Yuen-Jan et al. 2014: "The Association of Trauma Center Closures with Increased Inpatient Mortality for Injured Patients". The Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, Vol. 76, No. 4, 1048-1053.

On 30 April 2014, Ecologic Institute hosted an expert workshop on the significance of the European Commission's proposed new energy governance, focusing on options and implications for electricity infrastructure measures. Twenty-one participants including policy makers as well as representatives of civil society, academia and business discussed possible requirements of, approaches to, and effects of such new measures through a set of structured questions and impromptu presentations. The summary is available for download.

What shape will the future governance framework of European climate and energy policy take? The proposal submitted by the European Commission at the beginning of this year raises more questions than it answers in this regard. Dr. Camilla Bausch and Christine Lucha of the Ecologic Institute invited experts to a workshop to discuss the meaning of the commission's suggestions with a particular view toward electricity infrastructure. All presentation slides are available for download.