This report evaluates the National Climate Initiative which aims at reducing German greenhouse gas emissions by 40% until 2020. In detail, 21 individual projects, 4 directives and 3 increases from 2008 to 2011 are examined.

Prof. Dr. Martin Jänicke was one of Willy Brandt’s helpers in his 1969 election campaign, was co-founder of the German Green Party, has founded—together the with Lutz Mez—the Environmental Policy Research Centre (FFU) at the Free University of Berlin, and has thus taken part in creating the scientific infrastructure of environmental policy consultancy. Moreover, Prof. Dr. Martin Jänicke is co-founder of the "Berlin School on Environmental Policy Sciences," which gained worldwide recognition and whose approach is also followed by Ecologic Institute. As a policy consultant, Prof. Dr. Martin Jänicke is a key figure in Germany, where he was part of the German Advisory Council on the Environment (SRU). Seventy-five years old, he is now travelling more than ever and is one of the most important consultants for the Chinese government. On 18 October 2012 Prof. Dr. Martin Jänicke was interviewed by R. Andreas Kraemer about the beginning of environmental policy consultancy in Germany. Portions of the conversation (in German) can be watched online.

The European Union needs a common vision for its energy future. A shift towards renewable energy sources will increase security of supply, improve the competitiveness of the European economy, and put Europe on a path towards sustainability. The Heinrich Böll Foundation commissioned a working group of experts from different backgrounds to provide a collection of policy ideas for two key areas that will define the future of renewable energy development in Europe: grids, and support and remuneration schemes for renewable energy technologies. The report 'A European Union for Renewable Energy' was co-authored by Sascha Müller-Kraenner, Partner of Ecologic Institute and Susanne Langsdorf, researcher at Ecologic Institute. The study is available for download.

This study about the costs and benefits of adaptation measures in Germany shows that many such measures can deliver results and are economically viable. Included here are green roofs that protect against heat waves in cities, the restoration of floodplains, and heat-resistant asphalt for street cover. Measures to increase awareness of adaptation opportunities were also found to have positive effects.

Does international law allow implementing climate policies of different speeds? Can countries form pioneer alliances for ambitious climate protection or are the UN Framework Convention and the Kyoto Protocol a straight jacket? A new Ecologic paper answers these questions. It discusses whether and in what form legally binding measures outside the Convention are lawful and meaningful. The paper is available for download.

In his presentation, Dr. Wolfgang Urban, picked out the future expansion of renewable energies. He presented, from the perspective of the German federal government, the challenges and prospects for biogas. After the placement of bioenergy in the "orchestra of renewable energies" he examined the contribution of biogas and biomethane in order to achieve the policy objectives. He ended his remarks with a presentation of the latest developments and the conveyor frame. The presentation slides are available for download.

This series of 13 posters has been developed for the final conference of the project "Evaluation of the National Climate Protection Initiative (NKI)". Each poster presents a project that has been assessed within the NKI evaluation. The objective of the poster series was to present selected projects at the event and to serve as a hook for discussion. The evaluation of the projects is visualized in a comparable way. The concept that has been developed for the poster series follows the principle of targeted information segmentation. Pictures of persons and quotes are used to create attention and identification.

The Yearbook Ecology 2013 was published at the end of August. Ecologic Institute is one of the institutes supporting this yearbook and contributed a chapter in the 2012 edition. This issue's focus is on the German "Energiewende," the development towards environmentally friendly energy production, which is examined from economic, social, technical, and ecological points of view. Dr. Hans-Joachim Ziesing, Senior Policy Advisor at Ecologic Institute, contributed a chapter about energy saving and energy efficiency in Germany.