Christiane Gerstetter, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, prepared a discussion paper on "The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and its relevance for global sustainable land use" as part of the GLOBALANDS project. The paper is available for download.

On 20 May 2015, the European Environment Agency (EEA) released its State of Nature in the EU technical report, representing the EU's most comprehensive assessment to date of the status and trends of the EU's birds, habitats and non-bird species. The report is accompanied by a summary report and a brochure released by the European Commission's Directorate-General (DG) for Environment that highlight the technical report's key policy messages. Ecologic Institute contributed to each of the technical report's chapters as part of the EEA's European Topic Centre on Biological Diversity (ETC-BD) and is one of the report's lead authors. The report is available for download.

Climate change and its impacts are already tangible and necessitate swift and concrete adaptation and mitigation actions. This involves a dual approach, which combats the causes of climate change and also supports society in dealing with a changing climate and its effects. This comprehensive study synthesizes evidence from ecosystem-based projects from across the German-speaking regions of Europe and presents the goals and activities of such projects, their benefits, and the barriers they face. It also develops recommendations for policy makers. The study is available for download.

To ensure that the EU meets or potentially overachieves its 2030 energy and climate targets and embarks on a decarbonisation trajectory that is consistent its 2050 objective, an effective and robust governance system is of key importance. Given the diversity of interests among EU Member States, there is a need for innovative thinking on how to design effective approaches that can secure consent in the EU policy-making process.
 To contribute to this debate, Ecologic Institute develops policy advice on the potential for streamlining existing planning and reporting requirements in the energy and climate policy field while improving their quality and consistency. Moreover, the team is analysing the relationship between the current and likely future reporting requirements under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the EU's internal governance system.

The first expert workshop of the discussion series "Improving climate protection – for Paris and beyond" dealt with the topic "Paris 2015 – Signals for non-state actors?" The event took place on 15 April 2015 in Berlin.

Wunder, Stephanie and Franziska Wolff 2015: International Governance Screening of Global Urban Policies and their Impacts on Sustainable Land Use. Discussion Paper prepared by GLOBALANDS Project. Öko-Institut, Ecologic Institute, Berlin.

On 9 June 2015, the results of the project "Strategic Development of the National Climate Initiative (NKI)" were discussed at the Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) in Berlin. The half-day conference focused on the presentation of the results of the development of the National Climate Initiative as well as on the exchange and networking of high-ranking stakeholders from policy, business, scientific institutions, and civil society.

The course Energy and Climate Finance introduces students to environmental markets and the policies that create them, focusing mainly on emissions trading systems (ETS) to mitigate climate change. The course also provides an introduction to attributes of the financial sector through its analysis of markets for environmental commodities. Ecologic Fellow Elizabeth Zelljadt has taught this course in summer 2014.

The compatibility of national measures to support renewable energy schemes with international trade and investment law was the topic of a presentation by Christiane Gerstetter, Senior Fellow, Ecologic Legal. The presentation was part of the Annual Conference on European Environmental Law of the Academy of European Law at Trier (Germany). The presentation slides are available for download.

The overall objective of the project is to identify, document and assess the cost and financial impacts faced by community-owned renewable energy projects compared to commercial renewable energy projects, meaning projects realised by large investors.

The American Institute for Contemporary German Studies (AICGS) at Johns Hopkins University released a report detailing the future of power in a post-carbon society. Max Grünig, from Ecologic Institute co-authored the report with David Livingston. This Policy Report offers German and American perspectives on the emerging fuel challenges in the transportation sector and the importance of post-carbon cities. It is an example of AICGS' commitment to comparing and contrasting the interests and policies of Germany and the United States in an effort to identify common policy challenges, choices and opportunities. The report is available for download.

The Water Framework Directive (WFD) obliged Member States to develop the first River Basin Management Plans by 2009 and the second River Basin Management Plans by December 2015. Under its 'Framework contract to provide services to support the development and implementation of EU freshwater policies', the European Commission DG Environment awarded a Specific Contract to a European consortium to provide support in 'Compliance checking of the Water Framework Directive and Floods Directive Implementation'. Ecologic institute is partner in this consortium led by WRc.

Bray, Dennis and Grit Martinez 2014: "Climate-change lore and its implications for climate science: Post-science deliberations?". Futures, Vol. 66, No. February 2015, 54-69.

On 29 April 2015, Ecologic Institute US and the Guarini Center on Environmental, Energy and Land Use Law at New York University School of Law hosted a discussion about the German Energiewende (Energy Transition). The event provided an opportunity for participants to speak with experts with first-hand insight into the Energiewende and the lessons it may hold for policymakers in New York State, currently pursuing their own comprehensive energy reforms. A summary and a video of the discussion are available for download.