Ecologic Legal | Ecologic Institute: Science and Policy for a Sustainable World

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Project

Environmental Criminal Law: Status quo and Further Development

September 2017 to December 2018

The illegal pollution of soil, water, and air, the illegal trade in protected species or the illegal shipment of waste abroad – these are different forms of environmental crime. Environmental crime has many negative consequences. Its environmental impacts range from the destruction of forests to the pollution of water, soil, and air and even to species extinction. Moreover, many types of environmental crime also affect human health, and organised forms of environmental crime undermine state structures and sustainable development.Read more

News

Climate

Energy

International Environmental Law

Ecologic Legal

Carbon and Climate Law Review (CCLR) Celebrates its 10th Anniversary

Carbon and Climate Law Review (CCLR), a leading journal in the field of climate change law and policy, celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. Since its inception, colleagues from Ecologic Institute have contributed to its success as authors and members of the Editorial Board. To commemorate the anniversary, CCLR invited the authors of the inaugural issue to revisit their articles from a decade ago, and to reflect on them with the present perspective.

Publication

International Environmental Law

Marine Policy

Ecologic Legal

Energie- und Umweltgovernance in der Arktis

The text book on "Regions and Regionalism in the International Relations" offers a theoretical and conceptual overview as well as comparative insights into a range of regional regulatory models, norms and institutions in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas. In a new publication, Arne Riedel, Fellow at Ecologic Institute, outlines the actors and cooperative efforts in the Arctic region and discusses actual regulatory developments, new actors as well as new political challenges. Read more

Project

Framework Agreement: Advising the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy on Energy Policies

September 2016 to August 2018

The framework agreement with the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy includes support in economic, technical and legal issues in the areas of energy efficiency, renewable energy sources for heating and cooling systems and waste heat, among others.Read more

Publication

Verbraucherrechte in internationalen Handelsabkommen

In principle, increased trade resulting from trade agreements can offer consumers access to goods and services that are less expensive or of higher quality. At the same time, there is a risk that rules in trade and investment agreements limit the sovereign right of states to adopt measures for consumer protection at the domestic level. Hence, much depends on how these agreements are designed. A study, compiled by Christiane Gerstetter, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute and Christian Pitschas, provides an overview of consumer-related rights in recent international trade agreements. The study is available fro download.Read more

Project

International Environmental Law

Resources

Ecologic Legal

Options Under Public International Law to Increase Resource Efficiency

June 2016 to April 2019

The research project’s objective is to provide a legal and political science perspective to the Federal Government’s efforts to anchor the protection of resources more strongly at the international level. The project analyses how public international law and other international governance mechanisms can contribute to making the utilisation of resources more efficient and reducing resource consumption.Read more

Project

Consumer Policy

Trade

Ecologic Legal

Consumer Rights in International Trade Agreements and How They Can be Enforced

September 2016 to December 2016

International trade agreements can have an impact on consumers in different ways. On the one hand, they can lead to more or cheaper products to become available for consumers. On the other hand, these agreements contain rules for political and legal meaures that the parties to an agreement may adopt; this can limit the scope for regulation in favour of consumers. How trade agreements are designed is therefore important for consumers. In this project, Ecologic Institute compiles a study for the Federation of German Consumer Organisations, analysing how consumer rights are addressed in international trade agreements and how they can be enforced by consumer organisations.Read more

Project

International Environmental Law

Ecologic Legal

CETA Impacts on the Environment

May 2016 to June 2016

On 30 October 2016 Canada and the EU signed CETA. Ratification of the agreement will be the next step. Ecologic Institute analysed the environmental implications of regulatory cooperation under CETA. The analysis is available for download.Read more

Publication

Report

International Environmental Law

Ecologic Legal

Regulatory Cooperation under CETA

Implications for Environmental Policies

On 30 October 2016 Canada and the EU signed CETA. Ratification of the agreement will be the next step. A new study by the Ecologic Institute analyses the environmental implications of regulatory cooperation under CETA. The study finds that CETA establishes a comprehensive institutional framework for regulatory cooperation between Canada and the EU and sets primarily procedural obligations. CETA does not contain detailed obligations that predetermine specific outcomes of regulatory cooperation. Regulatory cooperation under CETA is voluntary. Regulatory cooperation under CETA has a focus on trade liberalisation and consistency of standards. It does not focus on enhancing environmental protection. The study is available for download.Read more

Publication

EU Effort Sharing after 2020

Review and Ratcheting Up EU Climate Targets

The Paris Agreement requires Parties to scale up their commitments every five years, i.e., with each consecutive "nationally determined contribution" (NDC). The recent proposal of the EU Commission for an Effort Sharing Regulation is essential for the EU to meet this obligation. The proposal, however, does not support adequately continuous scaling up of the EU greenhouse gas reduction targets. A new paper from Ecologic Institute discusses ways in which the Effort Sharing Regulation could support the scaling up of EU climate targets. The paper is available for download.Read more