This is the final report for the first assessment of the Environmental Compliance Assistance Programme for SMEs (ECAP). The report is submitted by AEA and Ecologic Institute, the consultants appointed to conduct this evaluation.

The Europe 2020 Strategy sets the goal for the European Union to become a smart, sustainable and inclusive community by 2020. The 27 EU Member States must provide the European Commission with National Reform Programmes (NRPs) demonstrating how they are implementing the Europe 2020 goals and targets. This study is a review of all 27 NRPs regarding the role of local and regional authorities (LRA). The study is available for download.

The international negotiations on the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol have been shaped by the negotiations over a future climate regime. This includes the design of the regime beyond the Kyoto Protocol's first commitment period in the year 2012. Ecologic Legal provides expert advice to the German Federal Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, especially on the development and assessment of German and EU positions. The project builds on the work of the earlier project "Legal and institutional aspects of the international post-2012-climate negotiations".

From 22 to 26 August 2011 the Vereinigung für ökologische Wirtschaftsforschung (VÖW) organized a summerschool on "Sustainable Production Chains" together with the Humboldt University of Berlin. Part of the diverse programme for PhD and master students was a seminar held at the Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering Potsdam-Bornim (ATB) on renewable energies with a special focus on bioenergy and biomass from agro-forest systems. In his presentation Timo Kaphengst, Coordinator for Biodiversity and Forest at Ecologic Institute, highlighted different sustainability challenges within the biomass production chain and presented current policy responses on EU and German level. The presentation can be downloaded.

In light of the increasing importance of climate change, a number of related legislative activities in Germany have occurred. However the resulting climate change law is incomplete and not always coherent. Professor Michael Rodi from the University of Greifswald and Ecologic Institute analysed German federal climate change law and developed proposals for its advancement. The legal study on behalf of the Federal Environment Agency is available for download.

The Ecologic Institute hosted a dinner dialogue on the 7 September 2011, featuring a discussion of the ongoing process of developing alternative welfare indicators in Europe and its inherent challenges and rewards. Klaus Rennings of the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) and Oliver Zwirner from DG Environment of the European Commission provided introductions into the subject and kick started a lively discussion on indicators and their development.

The Arctic Summer College 2011, hosted by Ecologic Institute, provides a platform for Arctic researchers to debate and develop ideas about a range of issues facing Arctic decision-makers, such as: Arctic economic, environmental and security policy; the impacts of large scale energy projects at the regional scale; and approaches to ecosystem-based management.

Ecologic Institute hosted the fourth green salon of the American Voices Abroad on the 16^th of August 2011. Three introductory presentations by Lucas Porsch, Tanja Srebotnjak and Rich Rosen on the need for and the challenges of Beyond GDP indicators triggered a lively discussion on the information needs of policy makers that aim at sustainability. To this end, important similarities and differences were examined in the attitudes to welfare measurement in Europe and the US.


This study investigates the prevailing theories about the effect of trade openness on environmental quality and resource management, providing new insights and empirical support to refute some of these theories. It builds on data collected through the Yale-Columbia 2010 Environmental Performance Index (EPI), which covers 163 countries and an extensive database of trade-related measures from academic and international sources. Senior fellow Tanja Srebotnjak contributed statistical analyses to the study. It is available for download.

The project accompanied the development of the EU emission trading system (ETS) with regard to the third trading period which started 2013, containing major changes such as new allocation rules and the inclusion of aviation. Furthermore, the CCS directive and limiting the energy demand in the housing sector were part of the project. Ecologic Institute provided economic and legal analyses for the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety in the development and implementation of new concepts and legislation.