The European Commission has proposed a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to enable ambitious climate policies in EU member states and to incentivize emission reductions in other countries. This paper adopts a dynamic, multilevel, polycentric perspective to discuss how domestic as well as foreign interest groups would be affected by the policy.

On 17 August 2016, McKenna Davis, Fellow at Ecologic Institute, held a presentation on "Barriers and Success Factors for cooperation under Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA)" for the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ) in Bonn. The results presented came from a study commissioned by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN). Both the presentation and original study are available for download.

The final conference of the project "Post-carbon cities of tomorrow" (POCACITO) led by Ecologic Institute, will take place on Friday, 21 October 2016 in Brussels. At the interactive conference we will present our experience in developing long-term strategies with stake-holders through visioning and backcasting workshops and other results of the project, such as a high level document or 'roadmap' to achieve livable post-carbon cities by 2050. Registration is now open!

The BMZ/KFW funded project 'Coastal Protection for Climate Change Adaptation in the Small Island States in the Caribbean' aims to improve coastal ecosystem services to reduce the impacts of climate change in Jamaica, Grenada, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. In total, 11 local adaptation projects have been funded in these four countries. Ecologic Institute provides technical assistance to each of the local adaptation projects by co-designing an indicator framework to monitor and assess their effects on coastal ecosystem services.

Bodle, Ralph (2015): Policy and Regulatory Framework, in: UNEP/CBD/SBSTTA/19/INF/2: Update on Climate Geoengineering in Relation to the Convention on Biological Diversity: Potential Impacts and Regulatory Framework.

In this study, Ecologic Institute researched – together with ICLEI and the Austrian Environmental Agency – how cities and regions that have signed the Covenant of Mayors went through the process of creating and implementing their Sustainable Energy Action Plans (SEAPs). The case studies provide an overview of the multi-level governance activities of Hanover, the Region of Barcelona and the Region of Emilia Romagna. For the case studies pertaining to sustainable financing, the city of Bath, the Region of Sardegna and the city of Namyslow were picked. The study is available for download.

Hermann, Andreas; Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf; Arne Riedel et. al. 2016: Rahmen für Klimaschutzinvestitionen – Hemmnisse und Maßnahmen. Darmstadt/Berlin.

Meyer-Ohlendorf, Nils and Arne Riedel 2016: Erhöhte Absetzbarkeit von Klimaschutzinvestitionen – den alten § 7d EStG neu fassen? Kurzstudie im Rahmen des Projekts "Rahmen für Klimaschutzinvestitionen". Ecologic Institute: Berlin.

Ecologic Institute analyzes to what extent Germany's income and cooperate tax rules promote climate protection. In this context, Ecologic Institute presents proposals for reforming Germany's income tax law. The analysis and the proposal are available for download. This analysis is part of project carried out in cooperation with Oeko-Institut, BCC GmbH, Prof. Janine Wendt (TU Darmstadt) und Prof. Domenik Wendt (Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences). Next to tax rules, the project analyses whether financial market rules and cooperate laws incentives investment in climate protection.

The project "Rural Urban Nexus – Global Land Use and Urbanisation" is developing approaches and policy recommendations directed at an integrated and sustainable rural and urban development.

In implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Germany has to deal with a range of new challenges. Achieving goals in land and soil protection, for example, cannot build on a long tradition of policymaking or on a solid basis of information and data for monitoring. An expert workshop together with the Federal Agency of Environment (UBA) and Federal Ministry of Environment (BMUB) on 6 July 2016 in Berlin sought to clarify how Germany can achieve "land degradation neutrality" domestically. Stephanie Wunder from Ecologic Institute presented results from a report, which served as the basis for intensive discussions among the participants.

Delicately fragranced rose blossoms. Dew drops sparkling on leaves. Buzzing bees, fluttering butterflies and a basket of homegrown fruits and aromatic herbs. Gardening is a sensual experience - a pleasure and a joy. Or, at least, as long as everything goes according to plan. When the roses are infested with vine lice, the tomatoes rot and the dainty white butterfly turns out to be the malicious Pieris brassicae, a relaxing hobby can quickly become a source of stress and a bitter battle against pests and disease. The brochure is available for download.

Did you know that ladybirds, green lacewings, ichneumon wasps and other beneficial insects can be purchased in small packets to fight pests in your garden? Information on this and lots of other eco-friendly measures to apply in private gardens can now be found on the UBA internet portal "Pflanzenschutz im Garten". Alternative and preventative measures are the main focus, although environmentally-relevant side effects caused by chemical pesticides are also considered. Ecologic Institute led the conceptualisation and portal content management sections of the project, as well as the production of a comprehensive brochure.

The ECONADAPT project website advances the knowledge and evidence base on the economics of adaptation, and converts the findings into practical material to support decision-making. Innovative methods were co-developed and tested in a participative way with a diverse user groups engaged in adaptation policy at multiple governance scales. The results and findings from the project brought together in a toolbox.

As part of the DYNAMIX project, three policy reports that synthesised the assessments of three policy mixes (a land use policy mix; a metals and materials use policy mix; and an overarching policy mix) were written in order to support the pathway to absolute decoupling in the EU. The policy brief is available for download.