On behalf of the German Embassy in Cairo and the Federal Foreign Office Ecologic Institute contributes to the "Climate Finance Workshop" in Cairo. The "Climate Finance Workshop" is a part of the "Cairo Climate Talks" programme initiated 2011 by the German Embassy in Cairo to build on the strong partnership between Egypt and Germany in the fields of energy and environment.

Ecologic Institute provides legal counsel to support the reform of the regulatory mechanism of the Trust Fund Adminsitrative Agreement by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. By providing scientific studies, advisory papers and expert assessments on the reform of the development policy Trust Fund of the World Bank the project is continuously assisting the reform process.

Efficient energy policies rely strongly on consistent and comparable data provided by a sound data collection process and robust monitoring and verification (M&V) procedures. The third multEE policy brief presents five concrete policy recommendations to guarantee an efficient data collection process as well as a systematic M&V process of the measures. The policy brief is available for download.

How can European countries better monitor and calculate energy savings and CO2 emission reduction? This short video tutorial, produced by Ecologic Institute presents functionalities and benefits from the use of an innovative Monitoring & Verification Platform (MVP). This IT tool has been designed to provide EU member states with an easy-to-use and cost-effective system to assess the impact of their implemented energy saving measures and plans.

<p>The objective of this project was to provide Members of ENVI Committee of the European Parliament an overview of key issues and stakeholders' positions in preparation to the UN Ocean Conference in June 2017. The brief provides a short overview of the UN 2030 Agenda and specifically, Sustainable Development Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development (SDG 14). The brief identifies key issues for discussion at the upcoming Ocean Conference and the positions of the main stakeholders. The brief also provides an overview of the role of the EU and its current marine policies, actors and institutions. In a final section, several recommendations based on findings are suggested to guide the participation of ENVI Members at the Ocean Conference. The brief relies on discussions and position papers produced in preparation to the Ocean Conference until March 2017.</p>&#13;

Wilson, G. A., Kelly, C. L., Briassoulis, H., Ferrara, A., Quaranta, G., Salvia, R., Detsis, V., Curfs, M., Cerda, A., El-Aich, A., Liu, H., Kosmas, C., Alados, C. L., Imeson, A., Landgrebe-Trinkunaite, R., Salvati, L., Naumann, S., Danwen, H., Iosifides, T., Kizos, T., Mancino, G., Nolè, A., Jiang, M., and Zhang, P. (2017) Social Memory and the Resilience of Communities Affected by Land Degradation. Land Degrad. Develop., 28: 383–400. doi: 10.1002/ldr.2669.

At an Ecologic evening event on 21 February 2017, Prof. James McGann and Sascha Müller-Kraenner discussed the future of US and EU think tanks under a the Trump administration.

In the last few years, regulation of European financial markets has evolved – primarily through the adoption of the second EU Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) and further EU Directives and Regulations, including those on market abuse and money laundering. While the carbon market is not their primary target, these new developments nonetheless have an impact on the European trade of emissions allowances within the framework of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). In the context of this project, Ecologic Institute and its partners, FutureCamp and Professor Weber of the University of Zürich, investigates how the regulation of the financial market has developed recently, how these changes influence market access for actors in the carbon market and how the behavior of plant operators may change – or have changed already – in reaction to the new legal guidelines.

"Climate Change and Innovation: A post-Paris Agenda" was the topic of the Ottawa Climate Talk, which featured Dr. Camilla Bausch of Ecologic Institute as key-note speaker. It was part of a speaking tour in three provinces in Canada. Discussing topics such as innovation and national and municipal climate and energy policies, Dr. Bausch traded ideas and insights in Ottawa, Montreal and Edmonton. This visit came at a dynamic time in Canadian policy making, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a federal ultimatum for provinces to introduce a carbon pricing plan by 2018 and MPs voted 207 to 81 to back the Paris Agreement.&#13;

Bach, Inga; Nick Evans; Zbigniew M. Karaczun et. al. 2016: Bau einer emissionsarmen Wirtschaft. Praxis auf lokaler Ebene in Polen und Deutschland. Warschau.

Striking a balance between centralization and decentralization of competences is a challenge that dates to the start of European integration. There are some drivers that work towards greater centralization of EU climate policies – the need for enhanced climate action, electricity market integration and a realization of the Energy Union. At the same time, centralization in and of itself is not a guarantee for more ambitious or effective climate policies. In a new publication appearing in the journal Climate Policy authors Camilla Bausch and Benjamin Görlach of Ecologic Institute and Michael Mehling of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) trace the evolution and role of the centralization/decentralization debate in the context of EU climate policy. The article looks at emissions trading and the promotion of renewable energy as cases of centralization vs. decentralization, but cautions that this trend is neither smooth nor guaranteed to persist. In the dynamic and reflexive governance system of the EU, there is no one-size-fits-all, optimal balance between centralized and decentralized policy from a climate perspective.

Participation in the adaptation processes of river basin planning is necessary for sustainable water management. The article supports this statement by providing an overview of the work carried out within the framework of the BeWater project. We illustrate the methodology applied in the project, which resulted in four river basin adaptation plans for catchments in Cyprus, Tunisia, Spain and Slovenia. Furthermore, the project's case studies are presented as well as the challenges that stakeholders identified within their respective river basins. We show how the project was initiated in the case study basins and how it influenced their river basin management processes. An overview of the prioritized measures is given as well as a summary of BeWater's contributions to future river basin management undertakings. We end the overview with an outlook on how stakeholder participation can improve river basin adaptation.

The first volume of the International Yearbook of Soil Law and Policy includes an important discussion on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals that are the basis for the post-2015 development agenda up to the year 2030; the Yearbook focuses in particular on Goal 15, which includes achieving a "land degradation-neutral world." It also provides a comprehensive and highly informative overview of the latest developments at the international level, important cross-disciplinary issues and different approaches in national legislation. Ecologic Institute's Timo Kaphengst contributed to the chapter on "The UN Convention on Biological Diversity and Soils: Status and Future Options". Elizabeth Dooley had been involved as advisory editor.

Ever tried bycatch curry, or discussed ocean sustainability while sipping seaweed cocktails? Participants of the first Science Sips event got to experience exactly that on 30 March 2017 while sitting across the impressive dinosaur fossils exhibited at the Berlin Museum for Natural History.