In a consortium of five research institutes, Ecologic Institute evaluated the effects of the national climate initiative (NKI). With an annual volume of 280 million Euros, this initiative represents a cornerstone of Germany's efforts at climate protection. In the course of the evaluation, the consortium assessed in what way the supported projects have contributed to Germany's climate policy targets. Ecologic Institute covered a range of projects, including the fields of low-carbon transport, industrial transformation and biomass use.

The Water Framework Directive (WFD) (2000/60/EC) has introduced a legal framework for sustainable management of water resources across Europe. According to this directive, Member States (MS) had to prepare drafts of the river basin management plans (RBMPs) and respective programmes of measures (PoMs) by the end of 2009. Successful implementation of the WFD strongly depends on agricultural land use; therefore, this report summarised the results of an in-depth assessment of how the draft plans and programmes address agricultural pressures on EU water resources.

The sharing of benefits from the use of genetic resources between the traditional users and cultivators of such resources and those that wish to use them for commercial or research purposes is a major issue under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). In this book chapter, Christiane Gerstetter of Ecologic Legal develops recommendations for provider countries on how to implement the CBD requirement that benefits should be shared fairly and equitably.

This article explores options for linking emissions trading systems. Combining markets could have many positive benefits (including reducing the costs of compliance), but there are drawbacks. In the short term, however, direct bilateral linkages will be difficult, and achieving the EU-objective of OECD-wide emissions trading by 2015 is therefore ambitious. International negotiations will overcome some of the barriers to linkages and expedite the integration of carbon markets. Michael Mehling of the Ecologic Institute in Washington, DC co-authored this article.

In the current political debate, justice seems equivalent with even income distribution. Other justice aspects appear absent: studies show that low-income groups suffer more from pollution than high-income groups. This includes noise, air pollution and lack of accessible green spaces. At the same time, higher-income groups consume more resources than the poor. Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf discusses in brief these issues in the MigrantInnenUmweltZeitschrift (MUZ), Issue 2.

Environmental policy-makers and stakeholders from the non-governmental, academic and private sectors from 19 countries gathered in Berlin from 27 July to 7 August 2009 in the first ICAP Summer School for Emerging and Developing Countries. The intensive two-week training event, designed and organised by the Ecologic Institute on behalf of and in collaboration with the International Carbon Action Partnership (ICAP), provided insights into the complexities of emissions trading systems to enable participants' countries to harmonise their environmental policies for full participation in a future global carbon market. A second summer school will be held in the Netherlands in 2010.

On 7 July 2009, the Ecologic Institute co-hosted a Dinner Dialogue on "Current Trends in the American Climate Debate and Prospects for a Global Deal in Copenhagen" with the German Marshall Fund of the US. Keynote speakers were Elliot Diringer, Vice President for International Strategies at the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, and Nicole Wilke, Head of Division for International Climate Policy at the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.

On 5-12 July 2009, the second transatlantic Farmer-to-Farmer exchange brought together farmers, foresters, journalists and policy-makers from the United States and Germany to discuss the role of agriculture in future climate policies. On their trip through Ohio and Pennsylvania and ending in Washington DC, the group of 30 participants visited several farms applying climate friendly agricultural practices, as well as biofuel and algae processing facilities. One topic of major concerns was possible ways to off-set GHG emissions by industry through mitigation activities in agriculture. Moreover, participants intensively exchanged knowledge and experiences in different bioenergy applications.

The RADOST project aims at strengthening the adaptive capacity of the German Baltic Sea coastal region towards climate change by fostering the dialogue between science, industry, government and civil society. The Ecologic Institute coordinates this project and is responsible for the design, creation and maintenance of the project's website. In addition to providing information about the project, the website offers a newsletter, a forum and a press section. An extensive internal website area serves the networking of partners and the project management. It contains a document management system, photo galleries, decision-making tools and a joint calendar.

The Ecologic Institute coordinated the five-year project RADOST (Regional Adaptation Strategies for the German Baltic Sea Coast). The Baltic coastline of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Schleswig-Holstein is one of seven model regions in Germany that were supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) through the initiative KLIMZUG ("Managing climate change in the regions for the future"). The aim of the RADOST project was to develop regional adaptation strategies in a dialogue between research institutions, business, public administration and civil society.