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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

The Enforcement of Consumer Rights in Trade Agreements

Cross-border trade and the rules governing it impact consumers. Trade has benefits for consumers, such as access to goods not available domestically. Yet it also has certain risks, such as exposure to traded goods that may be dangerous. Against this background, consumer organisations on both sides of the Atlantic have been discussing what a consumer-friendly trade policy could look like. Christiane Gerstetter and Lena Donat of Ecologic Institute's Legal Team have compiled a study examining what complaint mechanisms for consumer organisations concerning international trade agreements could look like. Read more

Project

Global Environment

Ecologic Legal

Environmental Criminal Law: Status quo and Further Development

September 2017 to May 2019

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

Publication

Verbesserte Ausweisung geförderter Strommengen aus erneuerbaren Energien im Rahmen der Stromkennzeichnung

Arbeitspapier im Rahmen des Vorhabens zur Analyse und Strukturierung des übergreifenden Energierechts (Strom) im Auftrag des Bundesministeriums für Wirtschaft und Energie (BMWi)

As part of a project to structure the energy law, Ecologic Institute contributed to a working paper on improved disclosure of subsidized electricity from renewable energy sources in electricity labelling. In this paper, criticisms of the regulations on the disclosure of EEG electricity in electricity labeling are evaluated and proposals for further development are presented. The discussion paper is available for download.Read more

Publication

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

Publication

Consumer Rights in International Trade Agreements

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

Accompanying Projects: Smart Energy Showcases – Digital Agenda for the Energy Transition (SINTEG)

December 2016 to November 2021

In the research programme "Smart Energy Showcases - Digital Agenda for the Energy Transition" (SINTEG), over 300 research institutions and companies in five model regions are developing new solutions for a completely renewable energy system. Ecologic Institute is part of the accompanying research process of the SINTEG programme, where it leads the work on the legal framework. Ecologic Institute supports the Federal Ministry of Economics (BMWI) and the SINTEG showcases in generating insights on how the regulatory framework has to be adapted so that the solutions developed in the programme can be put into practice. Read more

Publication

Report

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

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