In a seminal online article in Internationale Politik, Germany's leading foreign policy magazine, Sascha Müller-Kraenner, Senior Policy Advisor of Ecologic Institute, and Martin Kremer address the newly appointed German Minister of Foreign Affairs with six recommendations for the development of an active climate foreign policy (in German).

<p> The final event of the 13th Hessian Climate Protection Forum was a high level panel discussion on the international climate negotiations in Copenhagen. Panelists included the Hessian Secretary of State Mark Weinmeister, Wintershall Board Member Dr. Gerhard K&ouml;nig, Franzjosef Schafhausen from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, and Dr. Camilla Bausch from the Ecologic Institute. Journalist Thomas Hanke (Handelsblatt) moderated the panel.</p>

Sustainability of biofuel policies is a largely debated issue, particularly with regards to environmental impacts. To address these issues, European and national legislative initiatives have been designed that aim to ensure the sustainability of biofuels. Germany has been among the top runners in trying to implement sustainability criteria for biofuels. In August 2009 the German government set up the Biomass-electricity-sustainability ordinance ("Biomassestrom-Nachhaltigkeitsverordnung", abbreviated "BioSt-NachV"). The background paper written by the Ecologic Institute in October 2009 provides an overview for plant operators who will need to proof their compliance with the new ordinance.

Environmental policy integration, i.e. the integration of environmental concerns into other policy fields, is becoming increasingly important. But how does environmental policy integration relate to different modes of governance? In their article, Ingmar von Homeyer and Doris Knoblauch present the results of the EPIGOV project.

Meyer-Ohlendorf, Nils, Aaron Best; Michael Mehling et. al. 2009: The Green New Deal. Finanz- und Wirtschaftskrise als Chance für eine ökologische Wirtschaftspolitik. Berlin.

Görlach, Benjamin; Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf; Michael Kohlhaas 2009: Nachhaltig aus der Krise. Analyse möglicher Beiträge einer ökologischen Finanzreform.

Using different scenarios of socio-economic and climate development, this study examines potential impacts of climate change on Germany's financial budget. Additionally, the authors include effects of demographic change and assess the scope for action of public authorities.

In the current political debate, justice seems equivalent with even income distribution. Other justice aspects appear absent: studies show that low-income groups suffer more from pollution than high-income groups. This includes noise, air pollution and lack of accessible green spaces. At the same time, higher-income groups consume more resources than the poor. Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf discusses in brief these issues in the MigrantInnenUmweltZeitschrift (MUZ), Issue 2.

The RADOST project aims at strengthening the adaptive capacity of the German Baltic Sea coastal region towards climate change by fostering the dialogue between science, industry, government and civil society. The Ecologic Institute coordinates this project and is responsible for the design, creation and maintenance of the project's website. In addition to providing information about the project, the website offers a newsletter, a forum and a press section. An extensive internal website area serves the networking of partners and the project management. It contains a document management system, photo galleries, decision-making tools and a joint calendar.

An unprecedented donation by media mogul Ted Turner in 1997 resulted in the creation of a non-profit charity devoted to helping the United Nations achieve its objectives. The evolution, key activities and figures of the U.N. Foundation are briefly described in this article by Michael Mehling.

With the plenary speech of the 3rd bioenergy forum Dr. Bernhard Dreher from the German Federal Ministry for the Environment and Jessica Löhndorf, Fellow at Ecologic Institute introduce the European sustainability requirements for biofuels and vegetable oils, which were transposed into German legislation in 2009. Germany was the first member state to implement the sustainability certification in Europe. The authors explain their practical implementation in Germany.

Sina, Stephan; Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf and Ralph Czarnecki 2009: Ein Klimaschutzgesetz für Deutschland. Juristisches Kurzgutachten des Ecologic Instituts. Berlin.

This brief expert report analyses the extent to which the economic stimulus packages launched in 2009 have the potential to drive forward a fundamental and sustainable transformation of the economy or to create new "path dependencies", i.e. to encourage businesses to remain in traditional industries or production methods that have been identified as unsustainable. For these purposes, this study analyses the economic stimulus packages of Germany, Great Britain, South Korea and the USA and briefly presents the programmes of China and Japan. Only initial estimates can be made in the context of this study, assuming that every euro or dollar spent in a given area has a similar environmental impact.