The German Resource Efficiency Program (ProgRess) must be considered a milestone in national resource policy. However, scientific findings point to a need to further develop ProgRess in the next legislative period in order to enhance its effectiveness. Dr. Martin Hirschnitz-Garbers was co-author of a brief scientific perspective on this issue. The third PolRess Policy Paper is available for download.

Ranging from climate policies over the UN Convention on Biological Diversity to biofuels and resource efficiency policies, this paper summarizes the most important political starting points for a more sustainable land use. It has been developed within the project GLOBALANDS and presents the main results of the analysis of more than 120 policies worldwide. The analysis focuses on the policies' objectives and mechanism as well as their relevance for sustainable land use. The full report will be available in August 2013.

The RADOST Report No. 19 deals with international case studies of climate adaptation. For each of the six RADOST focus topics (coastal protection, tourism and beach management, water management and agriculture, ports and maritime economy, conservation and land use and renewable energies) and accompanied by the topics planning and participation, three adaptation examples are presented.

Transitioning the existing economic system in Europe to a green economy in the long term requires making existing knowledge and best practice available to a wider community. The GreenEcoNet project will be initiating a web platform for SMEs to find relevant information, to identify potential partner networks and to receive potential solutions enabling them to proceed towards a green economy. Furthermore, the project aims to gather and generate knowledge support to policy making in order to facilitate enabling conditions for effectively fostering a green economy.

The project accompanies the further development of international and European emissions trading (ETS). At international level the focus is on the implementation and development of ETS, their role in international climate policy, and possibilities of linking between ETS, but also of ETS with other economic instruments (e.g. taxes, offset mechanisms). At the European level the main contents are the reform of the EU ETS, the ETS inclusion of the aviation sector, the inter-dependencies with other climate and energy policy instruments and the market oversight. The Ecologic Institute provides the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) with economic and legal analyses concerning the development and implementation of new concepts and legislation.

You may have read in the press about medicines, like antibiotics and the pill, being found in rivers and lakes, and even in drinking water. Is this true? How do drugs get there, and do they have effects? Is there anything being done to address this? Can I do anything to help?

The Committee of the Regions (CoR) conducted a survey to assess the "Platform against Poverty and Social Exclusion", a flagship initiative of the Europe 2020 Strategy between February and May 2013. The survey summarized in this report seeks to assess the effects and improvements achieved by the "Platform against Poverty and Social Exclusion" (EPAPSA) from the perspective of local and regional authorities.

This report presents the results of the survey on policy options for promoting the use of an EU-wide carbon calculator. It describes the methodology of the project, analyses the results and the strengths and weaknesses of each policy option and draws conclusions based on the results. The report is available for download.

Werde, Julia; Ulrich Braukmann and Ulf Stein 2013: "Untersuchungen der Auswirkungen von Klimaveränderungen auf die Lebensgemeinschaften wirbelloser Tiere in Fließgewässern im Nationalpark Kellerwald-Edersee (Hessen, Deutschland)", in: Ute Feit and Horst Korn (eds.): Treffpunkt Biologische Vielfalt XII. Aktuelle Forschung im Rahmen des Übereinkommens über die biologische Vielfalt vorgestellt auf einer wissenschaftlichen Expertentagung an der Internationalen Naturschutzakademie Insel Vilm vom 20.-24. August 2012. [BfN-Skripten 335]. Bonn - Bad Godesberg: Bundesamt für Naturschutz, 39-46.

In this policy paper, a group of young researchers, among them Ecologic Institute's Holger Gerdes, provides possibilities and suggestions for a transformation of the approach taken in Germany towards ecosystem services, which should allow for the integration of this concept into relevant policy areas and cross-cutting issues. The policy paper is available for download.

During this 6th Biogas workshop Dr. Wolfgang Urban, Fellow at Ecologic Institute, presented the current state, objectives, and procedures on the way to the revised Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG 2.0). He described the challenges within the energy transition process and possible prospects of bioenergies. The presentation slides are available for download.