On 19 December 2012, the first monitoring report from the Federal Government and the joint statement from the expert commissions about the "Energy of the Future" monitoring process were presented. The independent expert commission, composed of Prof. Dr. Andreas Löschel, Prof. Dr. Georg Erdmann, Prof. Dr. Frithjof Staiß, and Dr. Hans-Joachim Ziesing, provided scientific support and delivered a joint statement on the monitoring process, which should show progress towards the German "Energiewende", and with it a highly efficient energy system based on renewable sources by the year 2050,. Ecologic Institute provided scientific support to this work with a focus on the key topics that Dr. Hans-Joachim Ziesing and the expert commission selected for their joint statement. The joint statement is available for download.

The better integration of renewable energy, the creation of more flexibility for variable renewable energy, and the optimization of network expansion are shared challenges that China and Europe face on the way to a low-carbon economy. These topics were the discussion of a Dinner Dialogue hosted by Ecologic Institute with an expert delegation from China.

The project "From 'The Blue Sky above the Ruhr' to the Energiewende" aimed at shedding light to the factors that have driven the development of scientific environmental policy advice in Germany. The project team applied the "oral history method", holding a total of 20 interviews with contemporary witnesses. Ecologic Institute produced the project website which provides an overview of the goals, methods and partners of the project. The project's findings as well as videos of the interviews are available for viewing in the media library.

Although Mongolia's GDP has grown consistently in recent years due to the booming mining sector, poverty is still widespread. This article aims to determine the extent to which agriculture contributes to food security in Mongolia and highlights the problems and challenges this sector is facing. In this article, published in the Geographische Rundschau, the authors Zoritza Kiresiewa (Ecologic Institute), Ankhtuya Altangadas, and Jörg Janzen answer these questions.

Co-hosted by Ecologic Institute. Please, consult the event's website for further information.

Mainstream economic indicators still dominate practical policy making. In this journal article, Lucas Porsch explains how the connection of sustainability measures and these mainstream indicators can be a tool for policy makers to understand and manage trade-offs between different sustainability categories.

<p>The first in a series of workshops on the topic of fish protection and downstream migration highlighted the congruent and contradictory goals of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the German Renewable Energy Act (EEG) as they relate to the topic of hydropower development and fish protection. A results paper (in German) presenting the detailed findings of the workshop is available for download.</p>&#13;

The final policy brief of the European Union research project "Climate Change, Hydro-conflicts and Human Security" (CLICO) presents the results of three years of research in the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and the Sahel (MMES). It also gives policy recommendations. The policy brief is available for download.

From 23 until 26 October 2012 the conference 'Taking stock' on the future of the EU Common Fisheries Policy was held in Lübeck as part of a series of seminars for European journalists. The conference was organized by Internews’ Earth Journalism Network (EJN) in collaboration with the Ecologic Institute.