Do you need a quick overview of climate targets in the EU? Or have you wanted to find out about stakeholder perspectives on the EU Emissions Trading System? The Climate Policy Info Hub gives the answers and provides insights on consequences of possible climate policy directions.

Christoph Stefes, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, presented during the one-day workshop "Making a case against environmental crime" his case study on environmental crime in the mining sector of the Republic of Armenia. The case study looks at the causes of environmental crime in Armenia, taking the mining sector as an example. It describes measures that the European Union could take to contribute to preventing future environmental crime in the country. The case study is available for download.

'One size fits it all' does not apply when it comes to the right indicators for policymaking. The NETGREEN consortium published its interactive tool which collects green economy indicators in addition to helping users navigate through them. This tool incorporated the most important indicators and useful information about each of them. Additionally, an interpretation aid and information about related indicators were provided. By doing, this, the web application provided guidance to policymakers and researchers who want to use and further develop indicators and tools in the field.

Investment protection and investment tribunals are among the most contentious subjects of TTIP and CETA. Could a permanent Court of Arbitration address the problems of ad hoc tribunals? In this comment (German only), Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf discusses the pro and cons of a permanent Court of Arbitration. The comment is available for download. <br /><br /><br /><br />

The overall objective of the project is to support the European Commission in assessing, programming, implementing and monitoring technology development and demonstration options for wind energy. The focus is on the reduction of the short and medium term costs for both on- and offshore wind electricity, as well as on the integration in the EU's smart electricity networks. In the context of this project, Ecologic Institute develops strategies and solutions for the uptake of new wind energy technologies on the basis of an assessment of possible barriers resulting from non-technological and environmental impacts of these technologies focusing on their cost aspects.

One facet of the "European Union Action to Fight Environmental Crime" (EFFACE) project, coordinated by Ecologic Institute, is research on the instruments, actors, and institutions involved in the fight against environmental crime. The overall work consists of a main report and a variety of studies, focusing on specific legal provisions, institutions, and actors at the national, EU, and international levels. The reports by Ecologic Institute and other institutions are available for download.

Today, water and sanitation services are organized very differently in Britain and Germany, with privatization at a regional level in Britain and municipal companies in charge of several public services in Germany. In this article, written by Founder and Director Emeritus of Ecologic Institute, R. Andreas Kraemer, and Bernard Barraqué, the history of water supply privatization and centralization in Great Britain and Germany is discussed.

Van Dongeren, A., Ciavola, P., Viavattene, C., De Kleermaeker, S., Martinez, G., Ferreira, O., Costa C., R. McCall, 2014. RISC-KIT: Resilience-Increasing Strategies for Coasts–toolkit. In: Green, A.N. and Cooper, J.A.G. (eds.), Proceedings 13th International Coastal Symposium (Durban, South Africa), Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 70, pp. 366–371, ISSN 0749-0208.

Invited by the IASS (Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies) and in cooperation with Ecologic Institute, Michael K. Orbach (Duke University Professor of the Practice Emeritus of Marine Policy) gave a presentation entitled, "Social Sciences in Ocean Policy and Resilience of Coastal Communities – What in the world is going on in America?" Drawing on studies undertaken by Ecologic Institute and Duke University investigating both Germany and the U.S., the talk described the cultural phenomena that underlie public policy regarding climate change in these two countries, with a focus on the U.S.

From 24 to 28 November 2014, Ecologic Institute implemented a study trip for 8 members of the South African Energy Committee. Participants were able to meet and discuss with representatives from ministries, think tanks, NGOs and business representatives in Berlin and Hamburg. Both national policies and examples of local and regional implementation of the German energy policy were highlighted while taking into consideration opportunities and challenges for South Africa.

The infographic allows giving an overview of the climate policies of the EU. It shows the main economic sectors, such as Energy, Industry, Transport, Residential and Commercial, Agriculture and Forestry, Waste. It also displays which policies have been deployed for each of them under the three main target areas: greenhouse gases, renewables, and efficiency. The infographic was part of an article about the European climate policy mix on the Climate Policy Info Hub website.

Since 2007, the European Council has played an increasingly active role in shaping the details of future EU climate policies. This involvement raises important questions about potential interference by the European Council regarding the decision-making process for and content of the implementation of the 2030 climate framework. In a broader perspective, concerns have been raised about the establishment of a constitutional practice, which could in fact circumvent the possibility of adopting implementing acts by qualified majority vote. This would alter the balance of power between the EU institutions. Ecologic Institute's Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf discusses the role and mandate of the European Council. The paper is available for download.

Since 2008, the European Commission (EC) publishes an annual communication on fishing opportunities. The communication provides an overview of the state of the resource and outlines the rules and principles the European Commission intends to follow for proposing Total Allowable Catches (TACs) and fishing effort limitations for the following year.

From 5 until 11 October 2014, Ecologic Institute together with GIZ implemented a program on the German Energy Transition for 17 international experts and journalists. Participants were able to meet and discuss with representatives from ministries, think tanks, NGOs and business representatives in Berlin. Both national policies and examples of local and regional implementation of the German energy policy were highlighted during the tour.

The bioeconomy holds potential solutions to important challenges of the future. The social, economic and environmental impacts associated with its products and processes, however, will require extensive dialogue processes on the future development of the bioeconomy. Coordinated by Ecologic Institute, the BioSTEP project aims at promoting stakeholder engagement and public awareness for a participative governance of the European bioeconomy.