Forests play a significant role in many EU objectives for sustainable development such as combating climate change, preserving biodiversity and promoting a sustainable use of natural resources. The project aims at elaborating an EU-wide vision for forest protection by designing an effective Community approach to counter threats to forests across Member States. The final project report is available for download.

Biomass use and the production of biofuels face several international challenges. The main tasks of the project are to describe and compare national and international support programmes and framework conditions for the production of biofuels as well as to accompany discussions on EU Directives in the field of bioenergies and the sustainability of biofuels.

<p>&#13; In an explorative study commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Ecologic Institute is currently analysing the long-term impacts of climate change on Germany’s financial budget. On 26 November 2008, Ingo Bräuer presented first results to the Ministry’s Working Group on Public Finance and discussed methodological questions with the experts in the audience.</p>&#13;

R. Andreas Kraemer of Ecologic Institute gave a keynote presentation on "Threats and Opportunities in a Changing Arctic: Policy Challenges and Transatlantic Relations" at the John H. Chafee Center for International Business of Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island, on 14 November 2008. The presentation draws on the transatlnatic Arctic Transform dialogue.

The European directives in the waste field require Member States to report to the European Commission on the implementation of the directives giving a clear picture of the situation in each Member State. In turn, the Commission has to produce a Community report on the basis of the reports submitted by the Member States. Ecologic partnered by IEEP assist the European Commission in completing this report.

Indicators are a major source of information for efficient economic and political decisions and provide basic quantitative support for the elaboration and implementation of policies. On behalf of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management (BMLFUW), Ecologic analyses the environmental situation of Austria in the context of the EU-27 Member States published in a brochure in November 2008.

<p>Every two years the European Sustainable Development Strategy is being put to the test. With its monitoring report, the European Statistical Office Eurostat presents EU data on the development of the sustainability indicators. In a consortium with the Vienna University of Economics and Business, INFRAS and the Institute for Public Policy Research, Ecologic Institute drafted these monitoring reports for the European Sustainable Development Strategy 2009 and 2011 on behalf of Eurostat.</p>&#13;&#13;

The final symposium of the PICCMAT project (Policy Incentives for Climate Change Mitigation Agricultural Techniques) on 28 October 2008 in Brussels&nbsp;generated high interest among stakeholders. The agricultural sector will be under increased pressure in the future to contribute to the realization of ambitious climate change mitigation targets. Almost 90 participants from the farming, policy and scientific communities engaged in discussions on potential ways forward. The PICCMAT policy recommendations are available for download.