Christiane Gerstetter and Doris Knoblauch, Fellows of Ecologic Legal, are teaching a seminar at the University for Applied Sciences Bremen in the summer term 2010. The seminar is entitled "Policy consulting by intermediary organisations" and is part of the International Degree Course in Policy Management; its aim is to provide students with first-hand insights into the work of an environmental think tank.

At the EU level, there is great need for legal reforms concerning the liability of enterprises for violations of human rights and environmental norms abroad. This is the result of a study co-authored by Christiane Gerstetter, Fellow Ecologic Legal and pro bono lawyer for the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights.

In this chapter, Ecologic Senior Fellow Ingmar von Homeyer argues that the institutional structures and processes underlying EU environmental governance have undergone a significant transformation in recent years. Important characteristics of this emerging "experimentalism" in EU environmental governance include the transition of many important decisions into the implementation stage, trans-nationally networked implementation, and the creation of indicators and reporting requirements for regular review and revision of policies.

This article, which is co-authored by Senior Fellow Ingmar von Homeyer of the Ecologic Institute, introduces a special issue of the journal International Environmental Agreements on environmental policy integration (EPI) at the international level. Referring to the integration of environmental concerns into other, non-environmental policies, the concept of EPI has been applied at national and EU-level but has rarely been analysed in relation to the global arena.

<p> Over the years the number of think tanks in Brussels has increased significantly. Against this general backdrop, the lecture by Ecologic Senior Fellow Ingmar von Homeyer at the College of Europe in Bruges focussed on environmental think tanks dealing with EU environmental policy. He argued that the role and characteristics of the environmental think tanks differ significantly from those of the Brussels &ldquo;generalist&rdquo; think tanks, which focus on a much broader spectrum of EU policies than their environmental counterparts.</p>

<p>&#13; In this presentation Ecologic Senior Fellow Ingmar von Homeyer provided an overview of the development of EU environmental governance from the early 1970s up to the present. He argued that EU environmental governance can be described as an amalgam of four to five environmental governance regimes which have successively been layered on top of each other over the past 35 years.</p>&#13;

The Arctic is often referred to as the bellwether of global climate change. According to the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment and the most recent assessment from the IPCC, the warming rate is twice that of the global average, with predictions of further increases leading to substantial loss of Arctic sea ice and large-scale thawing of the permafrost. The Arctic has also been a bellwether for the impact of long-range transboundary air pollution, both regarding human health and how pollutants affect wildlife. Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and heavy metals (e.g., mercury) are transported long distances through air and water, are deposited in the Arctic and bioaccumulate through the food chain. Some indigenous peoples have a high exposure to these pollutants, primarily through their diet. The goal of this project is to improve the effectiveness of EU environmental policies with respect to the Arctic region.

<p>As the world's largest economy, Europe must embark upon an immediate and major transformation to avert dangerous climate change and prevent ecosystem collapse. Currently, the impact of the European economy is nearly three times larger than what is required for a sustainable world. The goal of the One Planet Economy Network: Europe (OPEN: EU) Project therefore was to help transform the EU economy to a One Planet Economy by 2050.</p>&#13;&#13;

The Arctic TRANSFORM project, funded by the European Commission's Directorate General of External Relations, engaged experts in a transatlantic discussion of five Arctic-related thematic areas: indigenous peoples, environmental governance, fisheries, offshore hydrocarbon activities, and shipping. Expert working groups addressed each thematic area with the goal of developing policy options for the Arctic marine area. This policy brief draws upon a series of background papers, expert meetings and interviews to provide an overview of the international and EU governance options for addressing the rapid changes underway in the region.

Current Arctic marine shipping is mainly intra-Arctic. Since 2000, there have only been a few trans-Arctic voyages in summer for science and tourism across the Northwest Passage and the Northern Sea Route. The main consequence of climate change for Arctic marine shipping is contained in the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA)'s key finding that "reduced sea ice is very likely to increase marine transport and access to resources". This background paper, prepared by Erik J. Molenaar and Robert Corell for the Arctic TRANSFORM project, focuses on intra-Arctic and trans-Arctic marine shipping in the Arctic marine area.

This background paper, prepared by Erik J. Molenaar and Robert Corell for the Arctic TRANSFORM project, focuses on fisheries that occur in the Arctic marine area, including fisheries for anadromous species that spawn in rivers that flow directly into the Arctic marine area. The paper follows a sectoral perspective, but in pursuance of an ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF). Due to this sectoral perspective, the focus will be exclusively on international instruments and intergovernmental and other relevant international bodies that relate to, or pursue, conservation as well as management. No attention will therefore be paid to those that focus exclusively on conservation of species and habitat by various means, including by the regulation of international trade.

Today, the loss of biological diversity has already reached alarming proportions, proportions which climate change is not expected to reach for several decades. Despite this, climate change continues to dominate political debates, whereas biodiversity is still seen as an issue of secondary importance. In this publication, Sascha Müller-Kraenner, Senior Policy Advisor of Ecologic Institute, summarizes why a political and institutional reassessment of biodiversity is so necessary.