Ecologic Institute

The Arctic is often referred to as the bellwether of global climate change. According to the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment and the most recent assessment from IPCC, the warming rate is twice that of the global average, with predictions of further increases leading to substantial loss of Arctic sea ice and large-scale thawing of the permafrost. The Arctic has also been a bellwether for the impact of long-range transboundary air pollution, both regarding human health and how pollutants affect wildlife. Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and heavy metals (e.g. mercury) are transported long distances through air and water, are deposited in the Arctic and bioaccumulate through the food chain. Some indigenous peoples have a high exposure to these pollutants, primarily through their diet. The goal of this project is to improve the effectiveness of EU environmental policies with respect to the Arctic region. Read more ...

The research project LEDDRA deals with the socio-environmental fit of responses to land and ecosystem degradation and desertification (LEDD). It aspires to generate new knowledge on the theory of responses to LEDD, integrated methodologies to assess the fit of responses, and carries out applications adapting the ecosystem approach, and suitable policy guidance of future interventions. In this way, LEDDRA will provide support to sustainable land management and to responsive policy making at national, EU and international level. The Ecologic Institute analyses the policy context and develops policy recommendations as regards diverse responses to LEDD and response assemblages at the different spatial levels. Read more ...

During the summer semester 2010, the Research Group Ecosystem Services will organise a course on “Ecosystem Services and Land Use” at the Humboldt University Berlin. The course is geared toward Bachelor’s and Master’s students in geography or related disciplines. In this context, Holger Gerdes, Fellow at Ecologic Institute, will teach a class on the valuation of ecosystem services. Read more ...

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. Read more ...

The project aims to further refine estimations of costs and benefits associated with Natura 2000 network and to collect information and recommendations on methodologies for these estimations as applied at EU Member State level. Ecologic Institute and its partners have interviewed representatives from different ministries and key stakeholders in all 27 EU Member States to gather insights on costs and benefits associated with the network. Read more ...

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 ...

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 ...

Global change holds many risks for European mountain regions. Melting glaciers, changes in permafrost and vegetation, as well as political, economic and cultural globalization present dangers for mountain populations. Numerous research projects produced valuable findings to ensure sustainable development in European mountain regions. Mountain.TRIP starts where these projects have stopped, translating research findings into useful information for practitioners. Read more ...

The overall purpose of this study is to clarify which models and scenarios are being used and can be used to explore the developments of biodiversity and ecosystems in light of different assumptions of drivers and policies. The results feed into the second phase of the wider Review on The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB). Read more ...

Large-scale environmental valuations are usually accompanied with great methodological difficulties. The aim of this study was to develop guidelines for applying more accurate, less uncertain value transfer using spatial data in a policy-relevant scaling-up approach to large-scale geographical areas. The study results fed into a Technical Report by the European Environment Agency (EEA) that contributes to the wider TEEB initiative. Read more ...

The sharing of benefits from the use of genetic resources between the traditional users and cultivators of such resources and those that wish to use them for commercial or research purposes is a major issue under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The debate has a clear North-South dimension as most institutions interested in using genetic resources are based in the developed countries, whereas the biodiversity hotspots are mostly located in the global South where biodiversity has been cultivated and preserved by indigenous and small farmers’ communities. In this book chapter Christiane Gerstetter of Ecologic Legal develops recommendations for provider countries on how to implement the CBD requirement that benefits should be shared fairly and equitably. Read more ...

Ecosystem services characterise the diverse benefits which the human society obtains from nature. Funded by the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), an interdisciplinary research group analyses the impacts from the use of market-based instruments in climate and nature conservation policies on the provision of ecosystem services. Central European cultural landscapes serve as investigation areas. Read more ...

There is an ongoing debate about the impacts of nature conservation policy on the economy. Ecologic has been commissioned by the European Environmental Agency (EEA) to assess whether a measurement of these effects on an European level is feasible. Various methodologies are evaluated in order to determine a best practice methodology for a larger scope study. Read more ...

This scoping study aims at identifying gaps in knowledge about the economics of biodiversity loss and makes suggestions for future research. It is a component of a larger Review on Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) prepared for the COP-9 meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which took place in May 2008 in Bonn. Read more ...

At COP-9 of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) which took place in Bonn, 19-30 May 2008, countries conducted an in depth review of national efforts to address the threat of invasive alien species under the Convention. In preparation for these discussions, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the Global Invasive Species Program (GISP) sought to engage countries willing to promote actions and efforts against invasive alien species, specifically by making national or regional commitments. Read more ...

The continuing loss of biological diversity will cost the global economy up to 14 trillion Euros by 2050, which is equivalent to 7% of the projected global GDP in 2050. This is the result of a study on the cost of policy inaction (COPI) with regard to the EU’s 2010 biodiversity target. Ecologic contributed to the assessment by establishing a comprehensive inventory of economic valuations of biodiversity and ecosystem services. The study was presented on 29 May 2008 at the Ninth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP-9) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Bonn. It is part of a large-scale review on The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB). Read more ...

The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) is the most recent piece in the current regime complex on plant genetic resources. In their article for the Journal of World Intellectual Property, Christiane Gerstetter, Benjamin Görlach, Kirsten Neumann and Dora Schaffrin investigate the legal relationship between the ITPGRFA, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the TRIPS Agreements of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Acts of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV). Read more ...

Contingent valuation studies and their results are often criticised. This paper describes the findings of an experimental survey that tests the influence of survey design on strategic behaviour. Read more ...

Many bird species depend on agricultural areas and forests. Specific cultivation practices are often a cause of their endangerment. A focus of this study is to analyse which bird species are significantly affected by agriculture and forestry in Germany. Cultivation rules for the protection of selected bird species will be developed. Methodological and technical aspects as well as legal implications will be addressed. Read more ...

Countdown 2010 is a pan-European initiative to halt the loss of biodiversity, hosted by the World Conservation Union (IUCN).Thus far, more than 100 European organisations from all sectors and levels working in one or more pan-European countries expressed and demonstrated their commitment to the 2010 biodiversity target. Read more ...

5 September 2006, Berlin - Rainer Müssner
The Free University of Berlin organised a conference on behalf of The Permanent European conference for the study of the rural landscape (PECSRL) on 4-9 September 2006, focusing on the theme: European rural future: Landscape as an Interface. Rainer Müssner from Ecologic gave a presentation about the importance of landscape issues in public policies. This presentation focused on the following key questions: Is "landscape" a priority issue at the national / European policy agenda?, do we have a coherent "landscape policy"? and what can be done to increase political "weight" of landscape issues? Read more ...

GEM-CON-BIO aims to explore the interactions between governance modes and sustainable development objectives in particular biodiversity conservation. The objective is to identify through case studies, what type of governance processes and institutions can best contribute to the conservation of biodiversity. Read more ...

Escalating human impact on ecosystems is increasingly affecting the capacity of eco-systems to provide services critical to human well-being. The objective of this project is to document EU examples where decreasing bio-diversity has led to the loss/degradation of ecosystem services, and consequently to economic costs and/or social losses. Therefore, 37 relevant examples from 18 Member and Accession States within the EU were analysed. The final project report is available for download. Read more ...

Taking action to halt the rapid loss of biological diversity was the focus of this year’s Green Week, the European Commission’s annual conference and exhibition event dedicated to the environment. Under the banner Biodiversity is Life!, the Green Week took place from 30 May to 2 June 2006 in Brussels. Stephanie Schlegel and Rainer Müssner participated actively in the different sessions including "Understanding for management: research, indicators and monitoring"; "Biodiversity on the political decision table"; "The system of international governance and biodiversity" or "Reap what you sow: Agriculture and forestry". Read more ...

29 September 2005, Isle of Vilm - Nicole Kranz
During an international capacity-building workshop for participants from Central and Eastern Europe which was convened from 29 September to 1 October 2005, Nicole Kranz discussed the application of a valuation of ecosystem services for the implementation of the requirements of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). Read more ...

14. September 2005, Northampton - Rainer Müssner
Recent reports on Europe’s biological resources prove that the loss of biodiversity has not yet been halted despite efforts in this field. One reason for this is that the instruments used to address conservation issues do not always serve their purpose. The presentation given by Rainer Müssner at the International Association of Landscape Ecologists meeting in Northampton (IALE-UK) therefore dealt with procedural aspects of how to improve landscape planning (LP) and the codes of good farming practice (GFP). Read more ...

This policy report seeks to give an overview of the current state of biodiversity and relevant law, and policy in Central Asia and Mongolia. It elaborates the international and national legal basis for access to genetic resources and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits derived from their utilization, as well as for the protection of traditional knowledge. Read more ...

This study on the Inter-Relations between Intellectual Property and the Conservation of Genetic Resources  involved researching a range of global, regional and national laws and policies, and assessing these in the context of several commercial sectors. Read more ...

This project analyzes the results of the meeting of the Ad Hoc Open-Ended
Working Group on Access and Benefit Sharing, held in Bonn on 22-26 October 2001.
The study has benn elaborated withthe view to informing the German negotiating
position for the Sixth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties of the
Convention on Biological Diversity. Read more ...