Climate Change Negotiations

Emissions Trading

Trade and the Environment

EU Enlargement

Events and Networks

UNEP Reform
The World's Water
Common Agricultural Policy

Greening the Treaties
Exchanging Knowledge

Climate Change Negotiations
Ecologic brings a decade of experience to the negotiations of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol. Ecologic staff members advised the German delegation during climate change negotiations, and Ecologic is engaged in discussions on climate policy actions for the period after 2012.

Climate Change Projects:

• Capacity Building in the New Member States on  further climate change action (post-2012)

• Preparation of a Handbook on the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
• Kyoto Mechanisms and Compliance
• Options for a financial mechanism under the Kyoto Protocol
• EU Policies and Measures on Climate Change
• Green House Gas Emissions and EU Enlargement

Climate Change Publications:

• Klimaschutz und Recht

• The Kyoto Protocol - International Climate Policy for the 21st Century
• Institutional Interaction to Address Greenhouse Gas Emissions from International Transport: ICAO, IMO and the Kyoto Protocol

Climate Change Events:

• Kyoto and Beyond - Climate Change and Transatlantic Storms
• Global Warming and Implementation of the Kyoto Protocol
• Climate Dialogue in Bavaria in the Light of the Kyoto Process

Emissions Trading
Ecologic is involved in the implementation of the EU CO2 emissions trading system in Germany, for example by helping to draft the German Greenhouse Gas Emissions Law (TEHG).

Emissions Trading Projects:

• Legal framework for a national Emissions Trading Scheme
• National Allocation Plan for the European Emissions Trading System
• Development of a national Emissions Trading Scheme
• Working Group on Emissions Trading as a Means to Combat the Impacts of Greenhouse Gases

Emissions Trading Publications:

• Datengrundlage Emissionshandel in Deutschland
• Emissionshandel in Deutschland

Emissions Trading Events:

• Climate Talk
• The Impacts of Russian Ratification and American Election on the Climate Regime

Trade and the Environment

Since 1996, Ecologic has been conducting projects on institutional issues of trade and the environment, labelling requirements, green investment, and sustainability impact assessments of trade agreements. Another area of expertise is the impact of trade and public procurement rules on sustainable forest management.

Trade Projects:

• Concerted Action on Trade + Environment (CAT+E)
• Sustainability A-Test
• Trade, Societies and Sustainable Development
• Green Investment - market transparency and consumer information
• Coherence in the MEAs/WTO Relationship

Trade Publications:

• Internationaler Handel und Umweltschutz. Zielkonflikte und Ansatzpunkte des Interessenausgleichs

Trade Events:

• "Moving forward from Cancún" - Conference on the Global Governance of Trade, Environment and Sustainable Development
• Seminar on MEAs and WTO rules
• Architecture of the Global System of Governance of Trade and Sustainable Development
• Investment regimes - Achilles' heel of international economic policy?

EU Enlargement
Ecologic has researched environmental aspects of EU enlargement since 1995. Twinning and capacity building projects have addressed environmental problems facing the accession countries, and advised them on preparing their national legislation and administration. Ecologic's work has identified consequences and reform needs resulting from the recent and future enlargements
for the EU as a whole.

Enlargement Projects:

• Capacity Building in the New Member States on further climate change action (post-2012)
• Capacity Building in Latvia and Lithuania
• Green House Gas Emissions and EU Enlargement
• Eastern Enlargement: An Opportunity for Environmental Business

Enlargement Publications:

• Differential Effects of Enlargement on EU Environmental Governance
• EU: CAP and Enlargement - an Opportunity for Nature and Environment?
• Umweltpolitik in Mittel- und Osteuropa. Analyse der EU-Osterweiterung

Enlargement Events:

• On the Environmental Dimension of the European Neighbourhood Policy
• The European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) and the Presidential Elections in the Ukraine
• EU-Enlargement and Environmental Policy: The role of the regions
  

Events and Networks
Ecologic's Conference Team organises events that create a space for focused discussions about current environmental policy issues and research results. For instance, the Ecologic Dinner Dialogue series provides a forum for decision-makers and opinion leaders from Berlin and abroad to exchange views and develop fresh ideas. As Europe comes together, Ecologic is an active member of many international networks formed to promote sustainable development and enhance mutual understanding of the issues across geographical, cultural, and disciplinary boundaries.

Selected Links:

• Ecologic Dinner Dialogues
• All Ecologic Events

UNEP Reform
Ecologic stimulates debate and organises various events about strengthening international environmental governance, including the possibility of establishing a United Nations Environmental Organisation (UNEO).

UNEP Reform Projects:

• Specific Needs of Developing Countries - Design Option for a UNEO
• UNEP Roundtable
• NGO's in International Environmental Policy

UNEP Reform Publications:

• Reforming International Environmental Governance: An Institutionalist Critique of the Proposal for a World Environment Organisation

UNEP Reform Events:

• Towards a Stronger System of International Environmental Governance
• New Directions in Global Environmental Governance
• UN-Reform and the Future of UNEP

The World's Water
Since 1995, Ecologic's extensive work in this area has covered different institutional arrangements of water service provision and pricing of water and sanitation services, environmental effects of water policies, benchmarking indicators of water services, and assessment of related environmental and resource costs. Ecologic shapes the implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) in many EU Member States. For example, Ecologic's work has significantly influenced the WFD guidance documents on Economics as well as Heavily Modified Water Bodies.

Water Projects:

• WATERBENCH, Benchmarking indicators for Water Supply and Sanitation services
• Environmental and Resource Costs in the Water Framework Directive: the Case of Germany
• The Scope of the Economic Analysis in the Water Framework Directive
• SWIFT-WFD, Screening Methods for Water Data Information in support of the implementation of the Water Framework Directive
• HarmoniCOP - Public Participation and the European Water Framework Directive
• RhineNet - Participatory management of the Rhine river basin
• Sustainable water management in Germany against the background of European liberalisation trends
• Options, chances and general framework of opening the market for a sustainable water supply

Water Publications:

• International Comparison of Water Management
• Die EU-Wasserrahmenrichtline als Ansatz für ein integriertes Flussgebietsmanagement
• Linking Transboundary River Management to Water Security: the Example of Flooding in Europe
• Heavily Modified Water Bodies – Synthesis of 34 Case Studies in Europe
• Economic Instruments for Water Management: Experiences from Europe and Implications for Latin America and the Caribbean
• Basic principles for selecting the most cost-effective combinations of measures for inclusion in the programme of measures as described in Article 11 of the Water Framework Directive

Water Events:

• The Economic Analysis according to the WFD: Status of Implementation
• Cost-effective combination of measures in the framework of the Water Framework Directive
• Report 2004 to the European Commission: Implementation of the Water Framework Directive in Germany
  

Common Agricultural Policy
Since 1996, Ecologic has been working on the ongoing reform process of the European CAP and its impact on land use, nature, and the environment. Various instruments of the CAP, such as direct payments, cross-compliance, and the rural development programmes have been analysed, with a focus on the new Member States which joined the EU in 2004.

Agriculture Projects:

• EU-Enlargement, Common Agricultural Policy and Nature Conservation
• Agriculture, Trade and Biodiversity
  

Agriculture Publications:

• EU-Enlargement: Impact of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) on Environment and Nature Conservation
  

Agriculture Events:

• EU CAP and Enlargement - An Opportunity for Nature and Environment?

Greening the Treaties
Ecologic advocates greening the treaties constituting the European Union, such as the Maastricht, Amsterdam, and Nice Treaties as well as the European Constitution. This includes informing civil society representatives about the issues at stake and discussing the reform proposals with them. This work comprehends elaborating proposals on how to improve EU environmental governance.

Treaty Projects:

• EcoFuturum - A Sustainable Constitution for Europe
• EU environmental governance
• Assessing the 5th Environmental Action Programme and the Cardiff Process
• Integrating the Environment into EU External Affairs
• The EU Open Method of Co-ordination: Risks & Chances for Environmental Policy

Treaty Publications:

• Democracy, Efficiency, Transparency- The European Convention’s Proposals for Institutional Reform from an Environmental Perspective
• The Division of Competencies- Reform Suggestions and Implications for the Environment
• The European Constitution - An Evaluation from an Environmental Perspective
• Energy Policy in the Constitutional Treaty - Future Options for a European Energy Policy and Implications for the Environment
• The Environment in the Future European Constitution
• The Draft Constitution for Europe and the Environment

Treaty Events:

• Actively shaping European Environmental Policy
• The Open Method of Co-ordination - Risks and Chances for European Environmental Policy

Exchanging Knowledge
Ecologic supports the international exchange of researchers in order to enhance mutual understanding of how environmental policy issues are framed, discussed, and handled in the international arena. 15 Transatlantic Interns and Fellows from the US and Canada have embraced the opportunity to work in the Berlin office to date.

Selected Links:

• Ecologic Transatlantic Program
• Transatlantic Relations: DIE ZEIT Interview with Melissa Keeley, one of Ecologic’s Transatlantic Fellows