In this article, Ana Frelih Larsen examines the encounter between biosecurity and semi-subsistence producers in the Slovenian Alps. The article shows that biosecurity, as part of a broader shift in agri-food governance stemming from Slovenia's entry to the European Union, has dramatically reshaped the playing field for semi-subsistence producers, driving agricultural restructuring and diminishing farmers’ strategies of subsistence slaughter and informal marketing.

<p>&#13; At the EnergyAgency.NRW expert conference on future energies, expert speakers addressed the subject of efficient energy generation, especially regarding biomass, energy storage, geothermal energy, wind energy research and power plant technology. Aaron Best, Ecologic Senior Fellow, spoke in the opening plenary session, highlighting the nascent energy and climate policies of the new Obama administration.</p>&#13;

This European Policy Brief gives an overview of the results of the project "EPIGOV" which aims to co-ordinate and synthesise the research on environmental policy integration. The policy brief summarizes the objectives of the research, the scientific approach, as well as conclusions and impulses. Additionally, it provides key messages for policy makers, businesses, trade unions and civil society actors.

In this book chapter, Sascha Müller-Kraenner raises whether we are facing an increasing number of conflicts on oil resources in the future. He argues that conflicts will not arise over the resource itself, but rather when climate change induces large flows of environmental refugees.

Does water provide occasions for conflicts or does water become the conflict material when social control mechanisms fail or are developed insufficiently or badly? Are water conflicts perhaps provoked to conceal this weakness? How does good Water Governance look and which positive effects can it bring? Nicole Kranz, R. Andreas Kraemer and Grit Martinez of Ecologic Institute discuss these questions in a chapter of the Jahrbuch Ökologie 2010.

In their policy paper for the Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation’s Dialogue on Globalization section, Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf and Christiane Gerstetter of Ecologic Legal, shed light on the most important aspects of the relationship between trade and climate change policies. They investigate which trade-related policies should be adopted to combat climate change and review the compatibility of those measures with the law of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Particular attention is given to issues that are of relevance to developing countries. The first focus of the paper is on the transfer of climate-friendly technologies to developing countries.

In this book chapter, the authors discuss linkages between the environmental crisis, in particular climate change, and the financial and economic crisis. They argue that both crises have at least one cause in common: patterns of production and consumption that are unsustainable from both an ecological and social point of view.

The project expands and develops the development of the EU emission trading system (ETS) and its implementation in Germany. EU legislation is planned or already adopted introducing major changes to the existing ETS, including new allocation rules, the inclusion of aviation and the CCS directive. Ecologic Institute provides legal expertise for the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety in the preparation and implementation of new concepts and legislation.

"Europe's Bid – What we can offer Barack Obama" is the theme of the first issues in 2009 of the journal "Internationale Politik", published by the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP).  R. Andreas Kraemer contributed a preview of the possibilities for future cooperation between the US and Europe in climate and energy policy for jointly meeting the transformational challenges ahead, and in the Arctic, where the future of international relations may well be decided.

<p> Ecologic Institute Senior Fellow Dr Ingmar von Homeyer gave a lecture on the challenges of implementing EU environmental framework directives. The lecture was part of an expert-workshop on recent developments in EU environmental policy. Ingmar von Homeyer explained the distinctive implementation requirements of different types of EU environmental framework directives.</p>

With the aim of contributing its fair share to climate mitigation, the Senate of Berlin adopted a comprehensive Energy Programme for the period 2006-2010. Ecologic Institute contributed to a mid-term review of the program that served to assess the progress made and recommend steps for the further development of climate and energy policies in the Federal State of Berlin.

Emissions trading systems emerging in the United States offer the opportunity of a future trading link to the European carbon market. While such a link promises more efficient allocation of resources in a larger and more liquid market, differences in the design of trading systems can undermine the effectiveness of the linked trading systems. The study is available for download.

Rural areas face a number of new challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss and the increasing demand for biomass. This series of conferences and workshops with different themes and a wide range of actors investigated new strategies for innovation in rural areas, compliant with environmentally friendly economic activities: