Internationally, the European Union has been acknowledged as a forerunner in the adoption and implementation of sustainable energy and climate policies. But despite remarkable successes, the EU has also encountered serious difficulties on its way – yielding important learning experiences. In their reflection on "Climate and Energy – Lessons Learned: The European Perspective", Michael Mehling and Dr. Camilla Bausch outline the history and present of climate policy efforts in Europe, and identify the most important lessons that can be drawn from the European experience.

Valuing both the environment and the changes in the level of environmental quality is of central importance to environmental policy formulation, as it puts the costs of obtaining certain environmental goals into perspective. In this article, which was published in the December 2008 issue of "Ökologisches Wirtschaften", Holger Gerdes and Anneke von Raggamby propose a methodology to assess the policy impacts of environmental valuations.

In 2006/2007, climate change experienced both a remarkable and unexpected increase in significance in political and public perception. In Germany, the grand coalition took up the issue and chancellor Angela Merkel gave climate change top priority for both the German EU-Presidency and "her" G8-Summit. Dr. Camilla Bausch and Benjamin Görlach take stock of German climate policy since the dual presidency in 2007 and provide an outlook for the future.

More and more instruments require the internalisation of greenhouse gas emissions costs. Yet, it is very unlikely that a single global price for carbon will prevail. A frequently voiced concern is that states with stringent climate policies will place domestic industries at a disadvantage relative to competitors in states with less ambitious climate efforts. In this chapter, published in the briefing paper "Competitive distortions and leakage in a world of different carbon prices" for the European Parliament, the Ecologic authors Michael Mehling, Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf und Ralph Czarnecki analyse restrictive trade measures to offset the regulatory burden of climate policies, particularly border adjustments, from a legal point of view.

Transportation, one of the backbones of today’s economy, is a service that significantly impacts the environment. The volume of transport, transport modes and technology used by transport vehicles determine the level of emissions into air (CO2, SO2, NOx, noise, etc.) and consumption of resources (energy, raw materials, land). At the same time, stakeholder consultations indicate that environmental technologies are not sufficiently used in this sector, partially due to a lack of knowledge and clear information.

The German Federal Ministry for the Environment is currently working on legally binding requirements concerning the use of mineral waste in construction and in soil. A first draft of an Ordinance laying down requirements on the use of mineral secondary construction material in technical buildings (ErsatzbaustoffV) amending the Federal Soil Protection Ordinance (BBodSchV) was completed on 13 November 2007. This workshop taking place in Dessau on 20-21 May 2008 was dedicated to assessing the impacts of the Ordinance and thereby complemented consultations with the Bundesländer, stakeholders and other Ministries.

As an input to the European Parliament (EP) debate on the EU Climate Package, Ecologic led the organisation of a workshop entitled "Effort sharing under the Climate Package - assessing the role of the Clean Development Mechanism" on behalf of the EP directorate for Internal Policies. The workshop was held on 3 June 2008 at the European Parliament. It was chaired by Satu Hassi, MEP, and moderated by R. Andreas Kraemer, Director of Ecologic.

<p>The European Council approved the financial forecast 2007-2013 in December 2005. This approval does not only define the financial framework for this period, but also includes the decision to comprehensively review the EU budget in 2008 and 2009, for which the Commission launched a broad consultation process.  Within this framework, Ecologic Institute analysed the multi-annual EU financial framework from an environmental and sustainability perspective. On this basis, Ecologic Institute formulated a position paper which was submitted to the consultation procedure of the Commission.</p>&#13;

Within the framework of this project, the Ecologic Institute carried out a feasibility study in order to assess the chances and limits of a potential Sustainability Award. The goal was to define the focus of the possible award with regards to its content and strategic orientation.

In the light of increasing prices for energy and raw materials, ecological soundness, technological advance and resource-efficiency are major factors for competitiveness. The Ecologic Institute has carried out a study on Environmental Innovation in Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa in the context of globalisation. This project contributes to and is part of the OECD project on Environmental Innovation and Globalisation.

No international regime operates in complete isolation from other regimes and the wider body of international law. Conflicts and tensions, but also potential synergies, are inevitable consequences of regime coexistence. Such interactions are particularly apparent in the case of the climate regime, which is analysed in this article in relation to the international law on biodiversity protection and free trade.

Looking at the Amudarya river basin in Central Asia, Ecologic Institute's Nicole Kranz, Holger Gerdes and Cornelius Laaser elaborate in this article on how the NeWater project assists with the development of new water governance tools in transboundary river basins. The article was published in the Fall 2008 issue of Schlossplatz³ by the Hertie School of Governance.

The implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) has been an intensive on-going process since the Directive’s adoption in 2000. The aim of the WFD is the achievement of "good status" of surface water and groundwater by 2015. To reach the environmental objectives of the WFD, river basin management plans and programmes of measures must be formulated and implemented in all river basin districts (RBDs) of the EU, including international RBDs.

<p>On 11 and 12 September 2008 in Berlin, Germany, Arctic TRANSFORM held an Expert Workshop, which brought together more than 50 experts on Arctic policy in the areas of environmental governance, indigenous peoples, hydrocarbons, shipping, and fisheries. The workshop was designed to examine policy options for confronting the rapid changes occurring in the Arctic. The workshop synthesis report summarises the key policy insights that emerged during the workshop. Emphasis is placed on cross-sectoral synergies, stakeholder participation, and governance options in the Arctic.</p>&#13;

The Yearbook Ecology 2009 was published at the beginning of September 2008. Ecologic is one of the institutes supporting this yearbook. This year's focus is on the loss of biological diversity.