On 23 October 2012, the Heinrich Böll Foundation will present and host of a discussion of the study "A European Union for Renewable Energy - Policy Options for Better Grids and Support Schemes." Sascha Müller-Kraenner, Partner of Ecologic Institute, and Susanne Langsdorf, Researcher at Ecologic Institute,
Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, released four videos addressing the themes of the upcoming Rio+20 Conference. The videos tell stories in which the fictional journalist Marta Wisdom investigates the topics of green growth, green economy, and poverty in the EU. In her reportages and interviews she uses EU statistics. The videos explain what green growth could mean for the EU's sustainable development, how Europeans consume and produce electricity, whether poverty is only a question of income, how Europeans feel about poverty in different cities, and how evenly income is distributed in the EU. Ecologic Institute was involved in the development and production of the videos.
Ecologic Institute again ranks 6th among Environment Think Tanks in the prestigious 2011 Global "Go-To Think Tank Index" of the University of Pennsylvania. Ecologic Institute - based in Berlin, Germany, and Washington DC - also reached 6th place in this category in the previous year's ranking. Among the Top 50 Think Tanks in Western Europe, Ecologic Institute took 37th place and was the only environmental think tank in this category.
The Swedish embassy in Berlin hosted a Dinner on June 15, 2011 for the Participants of the international workshop "Regional availability of climate knowledge in the Baltic Sea" at the Nordic Embassies. In his opening address, the deputy head of the Swedish Embassy – Torbjörn Haak – confirmed the interest of his country in the topic and pointed out the work of the Baltic Sea Council, where Germany will succeed Norway in the presidency in July this year.
Scientists and practitioners have rarely had the opportunity to exchange their ideas on climate adaptation in such an up-to-date and direct way as at the second RADOST annual conference on 18 and 19 May in Travemünde. What are the expected impacts of climate change at the regional and local level at the German Baltic Sea coast? How can local stakeholders adapt to these? What kind of scientific information do they need as a basis for implementing such measures? These questions were discussed by 75 scientists in the fields of climate and natural science research, political science and sociology, together with representatives from politics, administration, economy and civil society in several science-practice dialogues. This offered stakeholders willing to promote climate adaptation in their region another opportunity to get involved in the design of this development process.
Insights from Ecologic Institute, Berlin
Berlin, Germany / Washington DC (25 January 2011): Ecologic Institute, based in Berlin, Germany, ranked 6th in the "Environmental Think Tanks" category in the 2010 Global "Go-To Think Tank Index" of the University of Pennsylvania. In the fourth such ranking, Prof. James McGann of the University's Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program tabulated the global ranking. The US-based World Resources Institute (WRI) ranked first among environmental think tanks, and Brookings Institution came in first overall in the ranking.
End of the year, parties to the UN climate negotiations will meet in Cancun, Mexico, to continue their negotiations on the future of international climate protection. In preparation for this, thousands of delegates met in Tianjin, China, beginning of October to negotiate the way forward. Dr. Camilla Bausch and Dr. Ralph Bodle of Ecologic Legal continue to support the German delegation and EU team in the negotiations. In this capacity, they participated in the negotiations in China and will travel to Cancun at the end of November to continue this work.
After the disappointing climate summit in Copenhagen in late 2009, parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Kyoto Protocol are continuing their search for common ground in order to build a future climate change regime. Currently, they are preparing for the upcoming climate summit at the end of the year in Mexico, their first conference of the parties since Copenhagen. Dr. Camilla Bausch and Dr. Ralph Bodle of Ecologic Legal continue to support the German delegation and EU team in the negotiations. In this capacity, they participated in the negotiations in June and August 2010 in Bonn and will travel to China in October to continue this work.
On 20-27 April 2009, the Ecologic Institute launches its newly established Washington DC office with a series of events focused on transatlantic environmental policies. Over the course of this week, Ecologic will partner with established civil society and educational institutions to address a range of timely issues, from new challenges for Arctic governance over comparative approaches to green recovery to transatlantic experiences with the promotion of renewable energy sources.
