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Publications – Ecologic Legal
Rio+20: Sustainable Development Goals - The Environmental Pillar
Ecologic Institute and Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP) prepared a paper that gives an overview of selected sustainable development commitments, their shortcomings, and possible remedies, as discussed and agreed by relevant political fora. The paper and the summary of an expert workshop are available for download. Read more ...
Will there be More Water Conflicts as the Climate Changes? - Third CLICO Policy Brief
The recently published third policy brief of the EU-funded research project "Climate Change, Hydro-conflicts and Human Security" (CLICO) presents preliminary results on the relationship between climate change and conflicts related to water in the Mediterranean, the Middle East and the Sahel region. The policy brief, written by Christiane Gerstetter and Rodrigo Vidaurre of Ecologic Institute, is available for download. Read more ...
EEWärmeG • Erneuerbare-Energien-Wärmegesetz - Kommentar
Lawyer Anke Rostankowski, who works as an Associate at Ecologic Institute, contributed to the latest commentary on the German Renewable-Energy-Heat-Law. Read more ...
EEG • Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz - Kommentar
Ecologic Institute's lawyers Dr. Volker Hoppenbrock (Fellow) and Anke Rostankowski (Associate) have contributed to the latest commentary on the German Renewable-Energy-Law (EEG). Read more ...
Sustainable development in the European Union. 2011 monitoring report of the EU sustainable development strategy
The 2011 Eurostat monitoring report reviews the progress and implementation of the EU sustainable development strategy. The 2011 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 ...
Technologietransfer: politische Kontroversen, Erfolge und Umsetzungsschwierigkeiten
Technology transfer is an important part of ongoing efforts at climate change mitigation and adaptation, and a central issue in negotiations between developed and developing countries. In a German publication for the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, Christiane Gerstetter summarises the state of the debate prior to the Durban climate summit. Read more ...
Cambio Climático
The growing importance of international law for global climate cooperation is underscored in a new book chapter by Michael Mehling and Arturo Brandt, which recently appeared in the first manual on international environmental law for a Spanish-speaking audience. Read more ...
Review of Policies on Climate Change, Water Conflicts and Human Security
The Mediterranean, Middle East, and Sahel region is a climate change "hot spot". Whether climate change undermines human security and creates conflict or results in cooperation over water resources depends in part on the institutions in place and policies adopted in these areas. This report, compiled as part of the CLICO research project, provides initial insight into the current policy landscape on climate change adaptation and water resources management, and the extent to which impacts of hydro-climatic hazards on human security and conflict are already addressed. Read more ...
Addressing the Challenge of Global Climate Mitigation – An Assessment of Existing Venues and Institutions
Recent years have seen the climate negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change fail to achieve a major breakthrough on climate change mitigation, and no such breakthrough is expected in the near future. In a study commissioned by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, Dr. Camilla Bausch and Michael Mehling evaluate various venues and institutions addressing the climate challenge, and assess their influence on the future of global mitigation efforts. The study is available for download. Read more ...
Das Klimaschutzrecht des Bundes – Analyse und Vorschläge zu seiner Weiterentwicklung
In light of the increasing importance of climate change, a number of related legislative activities in Germany have occurred. However the resulting climate change law is incomplete and not always coherent. Professor Michael Rodi from the University of Greifswald and Ecologic Institute analysed German federal climate change law and developed proposals for its advancement. The legal study on behalf of the Federal Environment Agency is available for download. Read more ...
Analysis of the German Federal Government’s National Renewable Energy Action Plan
The National Renewable Energy Action Plans offer a unique insight into the energy policy context of each EU Member State. For a comparative analysis of six European action plans, Katharina Umpfenbach and Stephan Sina contributed a review of Germany's action plan. Read more ...
Country Report – New Developments in the German Renewable Energy Framework
Survey of the policy background and the existing regulatory framework for the use of renewable energies in the electricity, heat and transport sectors in Germany. Read more ...
The European Renewable Energy Yearbook
Review of a yearbook on the current state and developments of European politics in the field of renewable energies. Read more ...
Der Rechtliche Rahmen von Geo-Engineering – Wer darf am Thermostat drehen?
For some, geo-engineering (the large-scale alteration of the Earth's physical or bio-chemical characteristics) is a "plan B" to deal with climate change. The German policy journal "Politische Ökologie" dedicated a recent issue (no. 120) to this topic. Ralph Bodle and R. Andreas Kraemer of Ecologic Institute put the spotlight on the existing and desirable international legal framework. Read more ...
Unternehmensverantwortung - Vorschläge für EU-Reformen
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. Read more ...
Das Internationale Klimaschutzrecht nach Kopenhagen
Researchers and the international community today are essentially in agreement: global warming cannot surpass an increase of two degrees Celsius if dangerous, irreversible and uncontrollable consequences for the environment and society are to be avoided. Protection measures taken by the international community are also pursuing this goal, and yet they leave out adequate mandates for the minimisation of green house gas emission. However, international law is not powerless in this respect. Many far reaching climate protection mandates can be developed out of the customary law prohibition of transboundary environmental disturbances and from the area of human rights. To what extent these obligations can be effective in practice is yet to be known. Read more ...
Die Biomassestrom-Nachhaltigkeitsverordnung (BioSt-NachV): Eine kurze Einführung für AnlagenbetreiberInnen
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. 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 ...
Schöner Leben im Labor? Geo-Engineering und das Recht, die Welt zu verändern
The debate about geo-engineering is unstoppable. Strong interests push for research and experimental application. Geo-engineering is a play for time, at best, but always also a dangerous deviation from emission reduction and climate change adaptation. Properly conducted, the debate can help clarify the design of international institutions, argue R. Andreas Kraemer and Ralph Czarnecki of the Ecologic Institute in an article in Internationale Politik, Germany's leading foreign policy magazine. Read more ...
