Together with more than 10 partners from the EU and the Middle East, Ecologic Institute is carrying out the EU-funded research project on "Climate change, hydro-conflicts and human security" (CLICO). CLICO investigates how climate change influences water availability and, consequently, human security and conflicts in the Mediterranean region. The 2nd CLICO policy brief, written by Ecologic Institute, is available for download.

How should policy measures that aim at influencing consumer decisions be designed and evaluated? In this policy brief, the authors summarize their findings with regard to the environmental impacts of consumption, using the concept of behavioural economics.

In a policy brief for the European Parliament, researchers at Ecologic Institute examine how access to land affects development and poverty eradication in developing countries. The authors Christiane Gerstter, Timo Kaphengst, Doris Knoblauch and Krista Timeus discuss the assumption that land ownership increases productivity and provide an overview of land reforms and large-scale land acquisitions in developing countries. Finally, the brief provides a series of recommendations for European policy-makers. The brief is available for download.

In December 2010, the EU Commission published a Green Book on the future of EU development policy, entitled "EU development policy in support of inclusive growth and sustainable development – Increasing the impact of EU development policy." Christiane Gerstetter and Benjamin Görlach of Ecologic Institute responded to a question from the European Parliament on the relationship between climate change, biodiversity and development. The brief is available for download.

This policy brief is the first in a series of briefs presenting results of the CLICO project. This first policy brief presents CLICO's research agenda regarding policy responses to climate change-induced hydro-conflicts; a second policy brief showcasing preliminary results of the project will be available at the end of 2010. The policy brief is available for download.

The German national Sustainable Development Strategy (SDS) has the potential to set the pace for Germany’s development towards a more sustainable society. Unfortunately, the strategy fails to define overarching strategic objectives. Isolated measures, indicators and time plans need to be bundled in an integrated strategy for the future. The authors of the policy brief "Sustainability needs Strategy" recommend that the German Government includes four new areas of action in its current SDS: sustainable wealth; sustainable labour policy; sustainable engagement policy and culture of sustainability. These areas are decisive to successfully embed sustainability in Germany’s government, economy and society and will determine whether Germany remains a leader in sustainability. Anneke von Raggamby, Senior Fellow and Head of European Integration at Ecologic Institute is Associate 2009/2010 at the stiftung neue verantwortung (snv) and was one of the authors of this policy brief. The policy brief "Sustainability needs Strategy" is available for download.

Sustainability of biofuel policies is a largely debated issue, particularly with regards to environmental impacts. To address these issues, European and national legislative initiatives have been designed that aim to ensure the sustainability of biofuels. Germany has been among the top runners in trying to implement sustainability criteria for biofuels. In August 2009 the German government set up the Biomass-electricity-sustainability ordinance ("Biomassestrom-Nachhaltigkeitsverordnung", abbreviated "BioSt-NachV"). The background paper written by the Ecologic Institute in October 2009 provides an overview for plant operators who will need to proof their compliance with the new ordinance.

Illegal fishing and logging, and the international trade in illegally sourced fish and wood products, cause enormous environmental and economic damage. Consumer countries contribute to the problem by importing fish and timber without ensuring legality – a problem the EU tries to address with two new regulations. In this briefing paper, Duncan Brack, Heike Baumüller and Katharina Umpfenbach compare the recently adopted EU regulations on illegal fish and timber products. The authors contrast the very different approaches and highlight areas that might need further strengthening.

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. While reflecting the opinions of its authors, this policy brief benefits from the opinions and insights of the experts participating in the five thematic working groups of Arctic TRANSFORM.

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.

This policy brief outlines the positions and relative influence of the main German stakeholders on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform. These became visible through responses to the Health Check agreement of the CAP and the upcoming Mid-Term Budget Review. Based on this analysis, the policy brief discusses the main issues and directions of the CAP debate in Germany and the likely overall German position towards the future CAP reform in Brussels.

This European Policy Brief gives an overview of the results of the project "EPIGOV" which aims to co-ordinate and synthesise the research on environmental policy integration. The policy brief summarizes the objectives of the research, the scientific approach, as well as conclusions and impulses. Additionally, it provides key messages for policy makers, businesses, trade unions and civil society actors.

In their policy paper for the Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation’s Dialogue on Globalization section, Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf and Christiane Gerstetter of Ecologic Legal, shed light on the most important aspects of the relationship between trade and climate change policies. They investigate which trade-related policies should be adopted to combat climate change and review the compatibility of those measures with the law of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Particular attention is given to issues that are of relevance to developing countries. The first focus of the paper is on the transfer of climate-friendly technologies to developing countries.

Martinez, Grit and Alexander Neubauer 2008: Identification and assessment of training needs, methods and activities for the wider use of environmental technologies in key sectors, Brussels.

This Policy Brief is intended to reflect the conclusions from the ETTAR (Environmental Technologies, Training and Awareness-Raising) project so far and develop policy recommendations based on these conclusions. The ETTAR project is a project under the 6th Framework Programme (financed by the European Commission) and deals with the promotion of environmental technologies in the freight transport sector. The Policy Brief has been agreed within the ETTAR team and is directed at stakeholders in the freight transport sector, such as policy makers, logistics associations and transport NGOs. The report is available for download.