At the European Maritime Day in Bremen (EMD) on 20 May Dr. Grit Martinez, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute presented the first results of a multidisciplinary research endeavor on socio-cultural aspects regarding resilience, preparedness and action to risks at European coast. The research is part of the EU FP7 Collaborative project RISC-KIT (Resilience-Increasing Strategies for Coasts-Toolkit, duration 2013-2017).

During the 11th European IFSA Symposium Dr. Ana Frelih-Larsen, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, outlined the existing mechanisms for soil protection in general and soil organic matter (soil carbon) specifically. She explained the requirements for better policies to protect soil organic matters. Sandra Naumann chaired the session. The presentation slides are available for download.

On 1 and 2 April 2014, Christiane Gerstetter, Senior Fellow on the Ecologic Institute's legal team, gave two presentations in Brussels on investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). She concluded that including ISDS in TTIP would entail incalculable risks for environmental regulation that are not counter-balanced by benefits. She therefore recommended not to include ISDS provisions in TTIP. The presentations are available for download.

Ecologic Institute's Ulf Stein presented first insights of the INTERREG IVb project DROP during the International Conference on Regional Climate Adaptation and Resilience (CLARR 2014) in Bremen. DROP is trying to enhance the preparedness and resilience of northwestern European regions to periods of drought and water scarcity. In his conclusions he developed messages for the domains of natural science, policy and water management. The presentation slides are available for download.

During the 20th Cairo Climate Talk Dr. Camilla Bausch from Ecologic Institute discussed the results of climate negotiations in Poland, the future international climate regime, and policy options for Egypt. Environment Minister Dr. Leila Rashed Iskander Kamel pointed to promising debates in the ministerial cabinet regarding renewable energy support, as well as the controversial debate over increasing the use of coal.

On 14 December 2013, Ecologic Institute's Christiane Gerstetter discussed the potential impact of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) on environmental regulation. She identified real risks for the future regulatory freedom of the involved parties if certain clauses currently under discussion were to be agreed upon. In conclusion, she found the risks posed by TTIP from an environmental point of view to be greater than potential benefits. The presentation is available for download.

Max Gruenig, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, discussed during the "Congres des Collectivites Electromobiles" in Lille the situation of electric cars in Germany.

During the 7th Biomass Forum Dr. Wolfgang Urban, Senior Analyst at Ecologic Institute, presented experiences with the EEG 2012. He outlined the political objectives and guidelines for the further development of the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG). He also gave an overview of initial position, objectives, and procedures for an EEG reform, the current status of these discussions, and the prospects and challenges arising from this for bioenergy. The presentation slides are available for download.

What can be learnt from current experience on EU climate policy? How can the future instrument mix be improved, looking at the transformation that needs to take place to achieve deep emission cuts? Speakers at a side event seminar at the COP19 UN climate conference in Warsaw addressed these and other questions around policy instrumentation and discussed relevant recent research results. All presentation slides are available for download.