Researchers of the project "GLOBALANDS – Global Land Use and Sustainability" have published a comprehensive governance screening analyzing the most relevant international policies with a high impact on global sustainable land use. The report further identifies current "windows of opportunity" to strengthen sustainable land use through international policies. The work was carried out by Ecologic Institute and the Öko-Institut, led by Stephanie Wunder, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute. The discussion paper is available for download.
The objective of the DYNAMIX project is to identify policy mixes to absolute decoupling of economic growth from resource use and its associated environmental impacts. This study by Ecologic Institute's Katharina Umpfenbach serves to clarify the shared key assumptions that are used throughout the project and ensure their consistent application. It goes on to present a framework for assessing the effectiveness, sustainability, and cost-effectiveness of EU policy mixes aimed at achieving absolute decoupling. The study is available for download.
Despite the legislation in place and the growing awareness of the need for full cost recovery and incentive pricing in the European water sector, Member States have not yet achieved the objective of integrating these key principles into their water policy. Through a comparative analysis of water pricing schemes and governance structures across selected European countries, a recent study in which Ecologic Institute participated provides practical information on the implementation of the key principles under Article 9 of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). The study is available for download.
Climate change has and will continue to have far-reaching impacts on environmental, social and economic conditions. Increasingly, climate change and the associated increase in the frequency of extreme weather events such as floods, droughts and rising sea level is recognized as not only having humanitarian impacts, but also creating political and security risks that can affect national/regional stability and the welfare of people. This report presents a comprehensive regional assessment of these questions in the CLICO study area – the Mediterranean, Middle East, and Sahel – and is available for download.
Hirschnitz-Garbers, M. / Porsch, L. (2013): Bürgschaften für die Finanzierung von Aktivitäten zur Steigerung der Ressourceneffizienz von KMU. Kurzanalyse 4 im Projekt Ressourcenpolitik: Analyse der ressourcenpolitischen Debatte und Entwicklung von Politikoptionen (PolRess). www.ressourcenpolitik.de
The Baltadapt Strategy and its accompanying Action Plan on Adaptation to Climate Change in the Baltic Sea Region were launched and presented during the final Baltadapt Conference. The aim of the Baltadapt Strategy is a connected region with informed actors on all levels, where the specific objective of the Action Plan is to strengthen the capacity for adaptation action at all relevant levels and to enhance adaptive capacity in the region. The aim of the Baltadapt project was to formulate a Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change in the Baltic Sea Region, as well as an accompanying Action Plan with recommended actions and proposed guidelines for climate change adaptation. Both documents are available for download.
Gerdes, Holger et al. 2013: Ökosystemleistungen. Landnutzung, Lebensqualität und marktbasierte Instrumente in land- und forstwirtschaftlich genutzten Kulturlandschaften. Ecologic Institut, Berlin-Brandenburgischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Öko-Institut e.V.
The objectives of the report were to provide information on how inspections are currently being undertaken for selected Member States in the policy areas of water, nature protection and CITES so as to identify their strengths and weaknesses. Furthermore, combined with information from other studies, the study developed options that could be taken forward at EU level to strengthen inspection and control and it assessed the impacts of those options.
Görlach, Benjamin; Homann, Gesa; Wawer, Tim. 2013. Country report: Germany. Contribution to CECILIA2050 Deliverable 1.2: Review of the existing instrument mix at EU level and in selected Member States. Berlin: Ecologic Institute
The report "The Underlying Reasons for Resource (In)Efficiencies" documents the work performed in the EU-funded FP7 project DYNAMIX. This report identifies the main inefficiencies of resource use in the EU and investigates their drivers and underlying causes. While progress has been made in increasing the economic benefits of resource use in the EU, there is still significant potential to increase resource efficiency and hence to decouple economic development from resource use and environmental degradation. The report and and accompanying executive summary are available for download.
This collection of country reports assesses climate and energy policies in all 28 Members States of the European Union (EU). The reports were jointly produced by Ecologic Institute and eclareon to support the Directorate General for Climate Action (DG CLIMA) of the European Commission in its contributions to the European Semester. Covering the period between May 2012 and January 2013, the reports provide insight into national policy developments and progress towards the achievement of the EU’s climate and energy targets. The reports are available for download.
Drought has many different causes, features and impacts. However, it can be most efficiently tackled by societies through the application of "good governance" principles and strategies. Together with other research institutions working in the DROP project, Ecologic Institute developed a Governance Assessment Tool specifically adapted to drought purposes. This tool is available for download.
Agricultural management is a key priority area for achieving the objective of good ecological status of European waters under the Water Framework Directive (WFD). This report presents the outcome of work by the River Basin Network (RBN) on WFD and Agriculture in the period from 2010 to 2012. The RBN is a technical network established within the Expert Group on WFD and Agriculture. Comprised of 21 River Basins representing 14 Member States, the RBN mandate was to facilitate exchange of practical experiences and knowledge on good practices in support of the WFD implementation. The publication is available for download.
The negative external effects of profit oriented businesses on the environment and society have become increasingly visible following the financial crisis, and are most extreme in developing countries where high corruption rates often impede meaningful enforcement of existing legislation and where compensation measures for adversely affected groups rarely exist.