Projects – Ecologic Institute EU

CO-designing the Assessment of Climate Change Costs (COACCH)

December 2017 to May 2021

The COACCH project (CO-designing the Assessment of Climate CHange costs) is an EU funded Horizon 2020 project assessing the economic costs of climate change and climate actions. The project is coordinated by the Euro Mediterranean Centre for Climate Change (CMCC) in Italy and involves a consortium of 14 leading climate research institutes from countries across Europe.Read more

Project

Water

A Peer-to-peer Support Process to Facilitate Improved Water Framework Directive and Floods Directive Implementation

November 2017 to November 2019

At the time of their adoptions, the Water Framework Directive and later on the Floods Directive introduced many new concepts in governance, economic analysis and technical challenges for a sustainable and integrated water resources management. A lot of effort has been put into the development of River Basin Management Plans by Member States and knowledge of water status has considerably improved. Nevertheless, important differences in implementation level across the EU continue to exist and some member states or basins authorities still face difficulties in particular technical areas, which could be discussed with experts from other Member States to find alternative approaches or suggestions for improvement.Read more

Project

Public Diplomacy

Transatlantic Program

Energy Future Exchange (EFEX)

November 2017 to November 2019

The Energy Future Exchange (EFEX) is a two year program of the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, the Ecologic Institute in Berlin and the Ecologic Institute in the US, co-funded by a grant of the European Union to foster the transatlantic civil-society dialogue on Energy in the context of climate change.Read more

Project

Indicators

Elaborating Strategies and Contributions to Implement SDG12 on the National Level for Germany

November 2017 to November 2020

The project "Elaborating strategies and contributions to implement SDG12 (responsible consumption and production) on the national level for Germany" aims at setting up a systematic monitoring for implementing SDG12 on the national level for Germany and thus support the German Environment Ministry as the leading department in developing positions for national and international discussions.Read more

Project

Intra-EU Exchange to Raise Awareness and Build Capacity on Long-term Climate Strategies (Climate Recon 2050)

November 2017 to October 2019

Long-term climate strategies are an important instrument to help policy-makers and relevant stakeholders to establish a direction towards a climate-friendly future. The Paris Agreement asks all countries to establish such strategies – and EU Member States will soon be committed under EU law to produce them by 2020 at the latest. Not all EU countries have tried to establish plans that long into the future (up to 2050 and beyond) and the existing ones differ in scope and specificity. There is thus a need for exchange of the current experience and a sharing of best practice – including improving the understanding of the underlying modelling and scenario work. The Climate Recon 2050 project brings together policymakers from EU Member States, as well technical experts and climate modellers in two parallel fora to provide a space for exactly such a dialogue.Read more

Project

Reforming the EU: Climate Policies as the New Trade Mark of the EU

November 2017 to June 2019

The EU has been going through a series of crises – from the Eurozone crisis and Brexit to controversy around migration, from external threats to the rise of Eurosceptic and nationalistic parties in some Member States. In response, the EU has embarked on an extensive process to reform itself. Against this backdrop, the Ecologic Institute organises workshops on EU reform and its links to climate and energy policies. Workshops take place in Tallinn, Sofia and Bucharest - in the context of the Estonian, Bulgarian and Romanian EU Presidency. A final conference in Berlin will conclude the project in spring 2019. The Ecologic Institute will present a study on the interlinkages between EU reform and climate and energy policy at the final conference.Read more

Project

Ecologic Legal

A Climate Law for Europe

November 2017 to December 2017

Ecologic Institute analysed the existing European rules for climate action. Although comprehensive and detailed, they do not include many features of national and regional climate laws, such as legally binding reduction targets, emission budgets, or independent institutions. However, these features contribute significantly to the implementation of the Paris Agreement. The detailed project report is available for download.Read more

Project

Development of an Assessment Framework on Environmental Governance in EU Member States

November 2017 to March 2019

In February 2017, the European Commission published for the first time an Environmental Implementation Review (EIR). The EIR aims to improve implementation in the field of EU environmental policy, by trying to identify the causes of implementation gaps, and to find solutions to them. The first round of assessment reports for the 28 Member States revealed a lack of sound methodologies for assessing the various aspects of environmental governance.Read more

Project

Sustainable Communities through Digitization?! A method to evaluate the sustainability of local projects

October 2017 to November 2017

The digitization of all spheres of life is progressing steadily, a mega-trend that will continuously and fundamentally change society. Municipalities are also making increasing use of the potential offered by digitization of political and administrative processes. Doris Knoblauch and Susanne Langsdorf (both Ecologic Institute) developed a method that allows municipalities to easily check their (digitization) projects for their contribution to sustainable development. The report and the questionnaire are available for download.Read more

Project

Policy Assessment

Implications of the Paris Agreement for National Climate Protection Ambition

October 2017 to September 2020

In 2018 the "Implications of the Paris Agreement for national climate protection ambition" project is rolled out in support of the Talanoa Dialogue and these 8 countries will be examined carefully: the EU, Germany, China, USA, Canada, Japan, India and Brasil. How are they implementing the Paris Agreement? Can these contributions secure a 1.5-2°C degree world? Who is a climate leader, and who isn't? This new project will shed light on the actual climate impact of said countries mitigation efforts and their level of ambition.Read more

Project

Economics

Analysis of the Competitive Situation and the Carbon Leakage Risk of European Industries

October 2017 to May 2020

Companies in countries with strong climate protection efforts often perceive these efforts as a competitive disadvantage. The risk, that companies lose market share due to asymmetric climate protection efforts or that new investments in ambitious countries decrease is referred to as "carbon leakage". In this project, Ecologic Institute, Öko-Institut and CE Delft examine the impact of new developments in climate policy on the established carbon leakage debate and what policy measures are needed to deal with these developments.Read more

Project

Bioeconomy

Sustainable Resource Use – Requirements for a Sustainable Bioeconomy from Agenda 2030 / SDG Implementation

October 2017 to September 2020

A sustainable bioeconomy could contribute to replacing fossil-based resources and feeding a growing world population. Inherent to a transformation towards such an economy are economic, ecological and social opportunities as well as risks. This project for Germany’s Federal Environment Agency explores these opportunities and challenges. The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are the guiding principles of the 2030 Agenda, serve as a basis for this evaluation.Read more

Project

Innovation in Climate Services Provision (INNOVA)

October 2017 to September 2020

The research project INNOVA will consolidate key factors from adaptive management strategies from leading earlier and on-going European initiatives in Spain (Valencia), Germany (Bay of Kiel) and the Netherlands (Nijmegen) and France’ overseas territories in Guadeloupe and Martinique. INNOVA intends to provide prototypes of climate services including business models, practical frameworks, and recommendations for creating and up-scaling opportunities while adapting to a changing climate.Read more

Project

H2020

Agriculture

Soil

Coordination of International Research Cooperation on soil CArbon Sequestration in Agriculture (CIRCASA)

October 2017 to October 2020

Soils are an enormous reservoir of carbon, containing nearly twice as much carbon as the atmosphere. Preventing soil carbon from entering the atmosphere is essential for climate mitigation efforts. Moreover, agricultural soils also carry a large potential for additional carbon sequestration, especially already degraded soils. Both preserving and enhancing soil organic carbon (SOC) has further benefits, contributing to improved soil quality, agricultural productivity, biodiversity and water protection and thus increased resilience against climate change. CIRCASA project aims to strengthen the coordination and synergies in European and global research on SOC sequestration in agricultural soils, leading to an improved understanding and scientific basis to target ambitious practices required to preserve and enhance SOC.Read more

Project

Public Diplomacy

Platform for Policy Dialogue and Cooperation between EU and China on Emission Trading

September 2017 to September 2020

For several years, the EU and China have cooperated on the design and implementation of carbon markets. Since 2018, the Ecologic Institute has become part of an international consortium led by ICF to deliver capacity building, training and joint research activities in support of a national Emissions Trading System for China. Ecologic experts Benjamin Görlach and Michael Mehling are part of a joint research team, comprised of European and Chinese experts, on the issue of market oversight rules, mechanisms and institutions for a national carbon market in China.Read more

Project

After the Elections: What matters for German policymakers in the EU's energy package

September 2017

The EU is currently negotiating a comprehensive reorientation of energy and climate policy for the decade 2020-2030. Ecologic Institute drafted a strategy paper on how the next German federal government can shape the EU negotiations so as to create an EU electricity market regulation that is conducive to the German energy transition. Four central elements are identified: raising the ambition of energy targets and introducing long-term targets, developing effective oversight instruments to ensure compliance, adjusting the electricity market to the needs of wind and solar power, and initiating an exit strategy for coal firing. The paper is available for download.Read more

Project

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

Project

Water

Plastics

Scientific Coordination of Research Projects on "Plastics in the Environment – Sources • Sinks • Solutions" (PlastikNet)

September 2017 to August 2021

In the framework of the scientific accompanying research (PlastikNet) of the research focus "Plastics in the Environment – Sources • Sinks • Solutions" (Plastik in der Umwelt – Quellen • Senken • Lösungsansätze) Ecologic Institute coordinates 20 joint research projects, which deal with plastics in the environment funded by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, BMBF). Read more

Project

Evaluation

Policy Assessment