The German national Sustainable Development Strategy (SDS) has the potential to set the pace for Germany’s development towards a more sustainable society. Unfortunately, the strategy fails to define overarching strategic objectives. Isolated measures, indicators and time plans need to be bundled in an integrated strategy for the future. The authors of the policy brief "Sustainability needs Strategy" recommend that the German Government includes four new areas of action in its current SDS: sustainable wealth; sustainable labour policy; sustainable engagement policy and culture of sustainability. These areas are decisive to successfully embed sustainability in Germany’s government, economy and society and will determine whether Germany remains a leader in sustainability. Anneke von Raggamby, Senior Fellow and Head of European Integration at Ecologic Institute is Associate 2009/2010 at the stiftung neue verantwortung (snv) and was one of the authors of this policy brief. The policy brief "Sustainability needs Strategy" is available for download.

The financial and economic crisis that Germany has been going through since 2008 has shed a new light on the pros and cons of economic growth and the methods of measuring welfare. Whereas some indicators indicate that the worst effects of the crisis are behind us, others reveal that we may not have seen the end of the crisis just yet. In the 2/2010 edition of “Berliner Republik”, Benjamin Görlach, Senior Fellow at the Ecologic Institute, discussed how the crisis has played out in different economic indicators, why politics still resort to GDP as the main indicator for economic welfare and what the perspectives are for establishing alternative indicators.

At the end of this year in Cancún, Mexico, a Roadmap for a binding climate agreement should be in place. After finding themselves at the sidelines of what was a disappointing Copenhagen summit, it is even more important that Europeans now inject new life into the negotiations.

In her publication for the Journal for New Energy Law (Zeitschrift für Neues Energierecht), Anke Rostankowski, Associate of Ecologic Institute, investigates the prerequisites for a sustainable energy supply. She also analyses the effects of the market integration of renewable energies on their own further development.

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.

Ecologic Institute (2014): Regional Adaptation Strategies for the German Baltic Sea Coast (RADOST) Newsletter. Newsletter. Berlin: Ecologic Institute.

The Yearbook Ecology 2011 focuses on geo-engineering as an important alternative to the policy of reducing emissions and adapting to climate change. Two prominent technology variants are presented in detail, and the pros and cons of geo-engineering are carefully mapped and evaluated. Other chapters are devoted to related developments in law, business and civil society. The Ecologic Institute is one of the institutes supporting the yearbook and has contributed a chapter to the 2011 edition.

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.

On 14 December 2009, the critically acclaimed documentary film “The End of the Line” had its German premiere in Berlin. It was the first major feature documentary film revealing the devastating impact of overfishing on our oceans. The screening (with German subtitles) was followed by a panel discussion on the EU Common Fisheries Policy.

In a seminal online article in Internationale Politik, Germany's leading foreign policy magazine, Sascha Müller-Kraenner, Senior Policy Advisor of Ecologic Institute, and Martin Kremer address the newly appointed German Minister of Foreign Affairs with six recommendations for the development of an active climate foreign policy (in German).

<p> The final event of the 13th Hessian Climate Protection Forum was a high level panel discussion on the international climate negotiations in Copenhagen. Panelists included the Hessian Secretary of State Mark Weinmeister, Wintershall Board Member Dr. Gerhard K&ouml;nig, Franzjosef Schafhausen from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, and Dr. Camilla Bausch from the Ecologic Institute. Journalist Thomas Hanke (Handelsblatt) moderated the panel.</p>

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.

Environmental policy integration, i.e. the integration of environmental concerns into other policy fields, is becoming increasingly important. But how does environmental policy integration relate to different modes of governance? In their article, Ingmar von Homeyer and Doris Knoblauch present the results of the EPIGOV project.

Görlach, Benjamin; Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf; Michael Kohlhaas 2009: Nachhaltig aus der Krise. Analyse möglicher Beiträge einer ökologischen Finanzreform.

Meyer-Ohlendorf, Nils, Aaron Best; Michael Mehling et. al. 2009: The Green New Deal. Finanz- und Wirtschaftskrise als Chance für eine ökologische Wirtschaftspolitik. Berlin.