The European Commission and EU Member States are currently discussing proposals for a new system of governance. The new set of rules and procedures is expected to help the EU to achieve its climate and energy targets for 2030 and to form an Energy Union. One of the reform’s aims is to streamline existing planning and reporting requirements on energy and climate policy. However, much remains to be clarified about how this new governance framework and the new planning and reporting process will work in practice. The studies are available for download.

This study, carried out by Ecologic Institute, provides a set of tools, policy frameworks, and contextual information that can help Local and Regional Authorities (LRAs) to develop and initiate their own programs towards successful reaching the Europe 2020 strategy's goals. The study is available for download.

Ecologic Institute welcomes twenty climate scholars from the Alexander von Humboldt foundation on their study tour "Knowledge Transfer for Effective Climate Protection Policies". During their tour the scholars will visit different institutions working in the field of climate change, such as the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB), the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) and the Federal Environmental Agency (UBA).

"What does the change of system involve? Switching to tenders for German Renewable Energies Promotion” is the topic of the Climate Talk which took place on October 6, 2015. Cornelia Viertl (BMWi), Sabine Schmedding (BWE) and Fabian Wigand (Ecofys) opened the discussion at the event organized by the Ecologic Institute and the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP).

Both at the international level and in the European Union, governments are currently negotiating future approaches to mitigating global climate change. In both arenas, a key question is how the institutions will follow-up on the implementation of agreed targets and measures. In this debate about appropriate governance tools, planning and reporting requirements occupy a central role. This policy brief by Ralph Bodle and Katharina Umpfenbach explores the relationship between the current and likely future reporting requirements under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the EU's internal governance system. The policy brief is available for download.

Within the European water research project "Demonstrate Ecosystem Services Enabling Innovation in the Water Sector (DESSIN)" a policy brief on governance factors conducive to innovation in the urban water sector was published. Rodrigo Vidaurre and Josselin Rouillard from Ecologic Institute, provide five key recommendations on the types of incentives and stakeholder management strategies that can be employed to encourage innovation uptake in urban water management. The policy brief is targeted to technology companies and innovators and available for download.

Members of the research team of the European water research project DESSIN, a four-year EU-funded FP7 project, published an article in the GAWT Magazine. Authored by Gerardo Anzaldua, Sarah Beyer and Manuel Lago from Ecologic Institute, Nadine Vanessa Gerner and Issa Nafo from the Emschergenossenschaft and Sebastian Birk from the University of Duisburg-Essen, the article provides insights on key findings and presents the evaluation framework developed during the project.

Several recent regional trade agreements (RTAs) include provisions on clean energy and on climate action. They may take the form of concrete commitments of reductions of tariffs or non-tariff barriers, or of commitments on institutional collaboration. Many RTAs also contain institutional provisions which are also of relevance to the implementation of existing environmental, including climate-related, commitments. As such, they constitute important opportunities for trade policy to contribute concretely and positively to a scale-up of clean energy and foster climate action.

In October 2015, DEMEAU, a three-year EU-funded FP7 project, made headlines in the release of the German American Water Technology (GAWT) Magazine. The cover of the latest edition of the magazine features the article entitled "New Approaches & Technologies for Tackling Emerging Pollutants in Drinking & Wastewater." The article authored by Ecologic Institute's Ulf Stein, Evelyn Lukat, and Anna Bee Szendrenyi sheds light on key findings from the DEMEAU project, which recently concluded in August 2015. The article is available for download.

In the project "Scientific coordination of research projects on a sustainable economy" (Wissenschaftliche Koordination der Fördermaßnahme Nachhaltiges Wirtschaften, NaWiKo) Ecologic Institute and its partners coordinate 30 research projects, which deal with a more sustainable economy and are supported by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research. The Ecologic Institute designed and developed the project's website. It contains an interactive map, which gives an overview of all funded projects. Furthermore the webpage provides detailed information on the projects and related events as well as publications for download. User can also directly subscribe for the newsletter.

This report aims at investigating the participation process in climate change adaptation for 22 European BASE case studies. A description of participatory methods and a further analysis of 9 BASE case studies where there has been a deliberative adaptation process present are given. Based on the results presented, a set of recommendations to policy-makers and practitioners are given. The output from D5.3 will lead up to D5.5, in which a more detailed analytical description of the framework will be given and a meta-analysis of the empirical contents will be delivered.

By linking different ETS, regulators create interdependence: decisions taken in one system have effects on the linked systems. Since ETS are evolving over time, there is a need for joint governance structures, to ensure compatibility of the linked systems, to avoid unwanted inferences, and to prepare for eventual disputes. In this report for the German Emissions Trading Authority, Benjamin Görlach, Michael Mehling and Ennid Roberts have looked into possible solutions for these challenges. The report is available for download.

The Rostock Energy Alliance (Energiebündnis Rostock) was founded in April 2011 by the City of Rostock and nine other municipal stakeholders from sectors such as public transport, housing and waste and water management. Their united goal is a locally based energy supply fully sourced from renewables. While CO2 emissions should be reduced, quality of life should not. The Alliance meets face-to-face biannually to exchange knowledge and experience, as well as to seek synergies for various constituent activities. The Alliance aims to reduce the annual CO2 emission per person to 2.5t or less by 2030. Compared to 2010, this is equal to a 2% reduction per year. To date (2015), the Energy Alliance supported the city in the creation of an energy transition concept and the current implementation of associated measures, in addition to the foundation of an energy cooperative.

On 30 September 2015, the conference "SmartSOIL: sustainable soil management aimed at reducing threats to soils under climate change" took place in Brussels. The conference concluded the 4-year research project SmartSOIL funded by the 7th Framework Programme.

A group of 10 leading journalists came to Germany from 27 September to 3 October 2015 in order to explore and discuss German climate and energy policy. Participants were able to speak with representatives from ministries, parliament, think tanks and businesses in Berlin, Freiburg and Stuttgart.