Climate
Sustainable development in the European Union. 2009 monitoring report of the EU sustainable development strategy
What is the state of sustainable development in the European Union? The 2009 Eurostat monitoring report reviews the progress and implementation of the EU Sustainable Development Strategy.
The 2009 monitoring report was published on the Eurostat website. As partner in a consortium with the Vienna University of Economic and Business (RIMAS), INFRAS, and the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), the Ecologic Institute played a substantial role in drafting the monitoring report on behalf of Eurostat. Read more ...
DeutschClimate change mitigation in German agriculture
German agriculture is responsible for approximately 11% of national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and thus there is considerable potential for increased mitigation efforts in this sector. The Naturschutzbund Deutschland (NABU) commissioned the Ecologic Institute to analyze the mitigation potential of German agriculture and the necessary policy measures to support emission reductions. The analysis points to a number of measures which can, along with obligatory reduction targets for both agriculture and land-use change, deliver significant GHG-emission reductions. The study is available for download. Read more ...
Climate and Environmental Governance after Copenhagen – Adil Najam
On 22 January 2010, an Ecologic Transatlantic Luncheon was held in Berlin in honour of Adil Najam, a Professor at Boston University. In his short speech, Adil Najam pointed out that Copenhagen was different from other international conferences and also that the wrong conclusions have been drawn from the event. In the lively discussion that followed, participants discussed whether Copenhagen was a spectacular failure or not. Read more ...
Assessment of Proposals on Climate Tech Transfer
Technology transfer is one of the central issues in the international climate negotiations, reflecting a general consensus that effectively mitigating climate change and adapting to it will require the wide-spread use of climate-friendly technologies. Despite this consensus, many of the details – such as funding, institutional mechanisms and the role of intellectual property – remain controversial. Through this project, the Ecologic Institute examined national and international proposals made in the context of recent UNFCCC technology negotiations. Prospective rules and mechanisms incorporated in existing drafts were also analyzed. The final study is available for download. Read more ...
Arctic Transform - Transatlantic Policy Options for Supporting Adaptation in the Marine Arctic
16 November 2009, Brussels - R. Andreas Kraemer
Since 2007, on initiative by the European Parliament, the European Commission (DG Relex) has sponsored transatlantic dialogues with a view to developing new approaches for handling global challenges. A conference in Brussels on 16 November 2009 reviewed the results of the first 5 pilot projects. R. Andreas Kraemer presented the outcomes of the Arctic Transform dialogue initiated by Ecologic Institute. Read more ...
Deforestation and Climate Change: Not for Felling
Deforestation is responsible for roughly one fifth of global carbon emissions, most of it in the tropical forests of the developing world. At the Copenhagen climate talks, negotiators discussed a potential new mechanism to compensate nations for keeping their forests intact. The article by Duncan Brack and Katharina Umpfenbach looks at these REDD proposals (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation), arguing that carbon finance alone might not be enough to stop deforestation – unless part of it is spent upfront on improving forest governance. Read more ...
Evaluation of the National Climate Protection Initiative
In a consortium of five research institutes, Ecologic Institut evaluates the effects of the national climate protection initiative (NKI). With an annual volume of 280 million Euro, this initiative represents a cornerstone of Germany's efforts at climate protection. In the course of the evaluation, the consortium will assess in what way the supported projects have contributed to the Germany's climate policy targets. Ecologic Institute covers a range of projects, including the fields of low-carbon transport, industrial transformation and biomass use. Read more ...
Weichenstellung statt Katerstimmung – Nach dem Kopenhagen-Debakel braucht Europa eine effektive Klimastrategie
Under the title "Setting the Course for the Future, not Nursing a Hangover – After the Copenhagen Debacle, Europe Needs an Effective Strategy for Climate Negotiations", Sascha Müller-Kraenner, Senior Policy Advisor at the Ecologic Institute, suggests options for the future external climate policy of the European Union. The article (in German) is available exclusively online from Internationale Politik, Germany's leading foreign policy magazine. Read more ...
Prospects of Linking EU and US Emission Trading Schemes: Comparing the Western Climate Initiative, the Waxman-Markey and the Lieberman-Warner Proposals
This working paper affirms that emissions trading systems currently under development in the US raise certain challenges for an operational market link, but are not generally incompatible. Specifically, certain design elements of trading systems may give rise to concern, such as cost containment provisions and borrowing and offset provisions. Read more ...
Linking Emissions Trading Schemes
A traditionally jurisprudential perspective on linking emissions trading systems is provided in this book chapter by Michael Mehling. He provides a conceptual framework for the distinction of legal and political criteria for the feasibility of carbon market linkages. Legal considerations, he argues, arise during the process of establishing the link, which necessitates recourse to recognized sources of law and legal procedures; and, second, in the event of a conflict between the link as such with substantive legal norms and principles, whether these originate in international, regional or domestic law. Read more ...
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