Reaching an emissions pathway consistent with the Paris Agreement requires a transformation of the economy and entails significant public and private expenditure. Auctioning revenue generated by the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) could contribute a critical share of this funding. Ecologic Institute was tasked by WWF European Policy Office (EPO) to execute a series of studies on how auctioning revenues are used by EU Member States for climate finance and what impact proposed reforms to the instrument may have going forward. The key aims of the project are to show the use of auctioning revenues by Member States and assess how reforms to the EU ETS affect auctioning revenues and use.

Ecologic Institute supported the German Environment Agency in hosting the Conference "Decarbonization and Resource Efficiency – 100% Renewable Energy and more," which took place on 8 November 2016 at the "Ludwig Erhard Haus" in Berlin. The conference highlighted synergies and ways to minimize trade-offs between decarbonization and dematerialization policies.

This brief highlights the links between EU policy objectives and global targets for sustainable development, centring on aquatic ecosystems. It describes current research within the EU Horizon 2020 project AQUACROSS (Knowledge, Assessment and Management for AQUAtic Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services aCROSS policies), focusing on an integrative approach – ecosystem-based management (EBM) of aquatic ecosystems – to understand and balance common social, economic, and environmental objectives towards a more sustainable future. The brief is available for download.

During the first period of the Forum Fish Protection and Downstream Fish Migration, more than 200 people from different fields, such as water management and nature conservation by the states and the federal government, the federal waterway administration and transport development, the energy industry, the water engineering, fishery biology, nature conservation, fishery and fishery associations and the university science were involved. In the second cycle of the Forum from 2015 to 2018, three two-day events were held to deepen the statements of the first cycle and to continue the constructive dialogue.

What can we learn from European best practices on the existing Monitoring & Verification schemes and coordination mechanisms in Europe? Can bottom-up methodologies contribute to a more reliable measurement and verification process? The first two policy briefs produced by the multEE project feature a set of policy recommendations, six on M&V schemes and five on coordination mechanisms, aimed at policy makers at different policy levels engaged in the development of effective and coherent energy efficiency policies. The recommendations reflect the conclusions from a broader "Synthesis report on European best practices for M&V schemes and coordination mechanisms" that, based on an initial mapping of existing M&V schemes and coordination mechanisms across Europe, identifies and analyses a vast array of Best Practice cases on M&V schemes and coordination models. The recommendations are available for download.

Concluding four years of interdisciplinary collaboration and research, the BASE project brought together representatives working on climate adaptation policy at EU and Member State level, as well as local practitioners for an interactive day on climate change adaptation in Brussels. The main focus of the workshop was a series of policy observations that emerged from research in the BASE project. As a result another policy recommendation was developed which is available for download.

The BioSTEP policy workshop focuses on local and regional businesses and their role in the regional bioeconomy. It explores a broader model of the bioeconomy (bottom-up, participatory) and discusses how small and medium-sized enterprises, civil-society organisations and further relevant actors can be engaged in the (further) development of a regional bioeconomy strategy in Scotland.

Citizens from around the Mediterranean participated in adaptation planning for the management of their local river basins. Based on a novel approach developed over the course of the EU-funded BeWater project, stakeholders from four case study river basins were engaged in a collaborative process with experts and policy makers to draft River Basin Adaptation Plans. Ecologic Institute was also part of this collaboration.

<p>Within this project Ecologic Institute wrote a paper discussing potential implications of TTIP on the (re-)municipalisation of energy services and community power projects. The paper is available for download.</p>&#13;

Ecologic Institute supported the German Environment Agency (UBA) as managing editors with the preparation of the Factor X book by Harry Lehmann. The book discusses developments in society and politics and presents strategies and concrete examples of achieving more sustainable resource use in practice. It addresses researchers, policy-makers and practitioners interested in resource efficiency and the circular economy.

This Polish-German project looked at local efforts towards a low-carbon economy in both countries. Good practices in Polish and German cities served as examples for innovative or typical projects that aim at carbon dioxide reductions whilst simultaneously stimulating local economies. The goal was to foster a dialogue between Polish and German municipalities that, eventually, results in an exchange of experiences and ideas for the transfer of activities on the local level. As public participation plays an important role in the acceptance of projects by citizens, a particular focus was put on it.

Ecologic Institute provides a legal assessment of whether German law is suitable to achieve the sustainable development goal "land degradation neutral word" (LDN) by 2030, and recommends options for improvement. The project also compiles key insights and lessons learned, in English, as a contribution to the international discussion on implementing LDN. The project results are discussed in an international workshop.

The Europe 2020 strategy is the EU's strategy for creating smart, sustainable and inclusive growth since 2010. In this strategy, the European Union has set five ambitious objectives - on employment, innovation, education, social inclusion and climate/energy - to be met by 2020. Each Member State adopted its own national targets for each of these areas. Concrete actions at EU and national levels underpin the strategy. Andreas Prahl and Katharina Umpfenbach (Ecologic Institute) authored chapter 3 on climate change and energy where the recent development of key indicators in the field of climate change and energy, including data on greenhouse gas emissions, renewable energy and energy efficiency, is analysed. The publication is available for download.

The project &bdquo;Wangeliner Workcamps&ldquo; presents green jobs for the future to young people. During the school holidays of 2016-2018 young people can participate for free in the one-week work camps in the city Wangelin in Mecklenburg, Germany. Workshops are offered in seven areas: organic gardening, renewable energies, clay ovens, mudbrick buildings, straw bale construction, upcycling and ecologically-oriented architecture. The Ecologic Institute supports the public relations work of the Wangeliner Workcamps and developed their webpage.

Residues of veterinary medicines (VETs) can increasingly be detected in soil and water and are becoming the focus of scientific and public debate. This project created information and teaching materials for veterinarians and farmers, in order to make them aware of how to prevent VETs from being introduced into the environment.