The Ecologic Institute together with York university and Faust & Backhaus developed proposals on how to take better account of environmental risks in the authorisation decisions for veterinary pharmaceuticals. The project team assessed different regulations for chemicals and analysed what methods or procedures would be applicable in veterinary pharmaceuticals. Actions to risk reduction and substitution decisions had been assessed.

European Union (EU) legislation, such as the Water Framework Directive (WFD), as well as international, national, and regional environmental policies and strategies explicitly acknowledge the importance of environmental costs and benefits and the need to integrate them into the policy-making process. However, the application of valuation studies to policy often involves a trade-off between the accuracy of the required analysis and the necessity to include all costs and benefits associated with the different policy options. Thus, there is no accepted EU-wide approach on how to deal with environmental benefits in the policy process.

<p>The LIFE Regulation for 2014 - 2020 allows for the first time the use of financial instruments. Three options for a financial instrument part funded via the LIFE Climate Action sub-programme are discussed in the project. An in-depth assessment of the options is required. As options financing instruments for mitigation and climate adaptation are covered, including a flexible loans and guarantee facility for energy efficiency and a technical assistance facility.</p>

Görlach, Benjamin; Homann, Gesa; Wawer, Tim. 2013. Country report: Germany. Contribution to CECILIA2050 Deliverable 1.2: Review of the existing instrument mix at EU level and in selected Member States. Berlin: Ecologic Institute

This paper sums up the results of the third workshop in the Forum on Fish Protection and Downstream Migration. The workshop addressed the biological foundations and management strategies for the protection and preservation of fish populations. The paper is available for download.

On Earth Day 2013, the Center for Strategic and International Studies and Ecologic Institute officially launched the 2013 Arctic Summer College. Following successful programs in 2011 and 2012, the Arctic Summer College 2013 again created a network of emerging leaders and experts that are brought together for 8 weeks in web-based seminars (webinars) from 8 July to 26 August 2013. The program aimed to build a lasting, policy-oriented network of Arctic professionals to strengthen communication between peoples and nations, scientific disciplines, policy areas, and across the science-policy field to improve environmental governance in the Arctic region.

On 8 July 2013, Ecologic Institute began the 2013 Arctic Summer College. Ecologic Institute's Arctic Program hosts the program alongside a number of institutional partners: the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS); the Embassy of Canada, Germany; the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN); and the WWF Global Arctic Programme.

The report "The Underlying Reasons for Resource (In)Efficiencies" documents the work performed in the EU-funded FP7 project DYNAMIX. This report identifies the main inefficiencies of resource use in the EU and investigates their drivers and underlying causes. While progress has been made in increasing the economic benefits of resource use in the EU, there is still significant potential to increase resource efficiency and hence to decouple economic development from resource use and environmental degradation. The report and and accompanying executive summary are available for download.

Dr. Wolfgang Urban, Fellow at Ecologic Institute, contributed to the 7th VDI conference reader "Biogas 2013". He informs about the objectives and guidelines as well as the current status of discussions on the funding framework for renewable energies. He also discusses the possible contribution of bioenergies to future energy supply and future challenges.

The Research Network in Climate, Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials (RECREATE) will assess the impacts of research and innovation in Europe and beyond, as well as derive an outlook and recommendations for future research priorities in the fields of climate, resource efficiency and raw materials, in particular for the Horizon 2020 research programme.