1. Effort sharing under the Climate Package - assessing the role of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) - Workshop Announcement
2. Forest fires: Causes and contributing factors in Europe - Study online
3. Sustainable Transport - Goal or Myth - Dinner Dialogue with Sebastian Bäckström
4. Adapting/Adopting: Perspectives on International Cooperation in Addressing Climate Change - Riverside Chat with Nicole Wilke and Alina Bokde
5. Renewable Energy: A Boom for Europe? - Lecture
6. Transboundary Regimes: The Amudarya - Insights from the Newater project - Lecture
7. Wind energy all over the world - Interview with Stephanie Schlegel
8. Ecologic welcomes the German Green Party in the Network Countdown 2010 on behalf of the IUCN

1. Effort sharing under the Climate Package - assessing the role of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) - Workshop Announcement
Ecologic is the lead institute organising the European Parliament's upcoming CDM workshop. This half-day workshop, to be held in the European Parliament in Brussels on 3 June 2008 from 15:00 - 18:30, will be chaired by Satu Hassi, MEP, EP Rapporteur for the Effort Sharing Decision. The workshop will explore the use of CDM as proposed in the European Commission's Climate Package announced in January 2008. The event is free of charge and open to all. For detailed information and registration, please visit the event website.
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2. Forest fires: Causes and contributing factors in Europe - Study online
Forest fires are the greatest threat to forests and wooded areas in southern Europe. Forest fires in recent years have also been responsible for the loss of human lives and caused extensive damage to infrastructure. Eleftheria Kampa and Sandra Cavalieri (Fellows at Ecologic) co-authored a study for the European Parliament's Environment Committee on the causes of recent forest fires in the EU, focusing on southern European countries.
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3. Sustainable Transport - Goal or Myth - Dinner Dialogue with Sebastian Bäckström
An Ecologic Dinner Dialogue took place on the eve and in anticipation of the 3rd ETTAR (Environmental Technologies, Training and Awareness Raising) Workshop dealing with training and awareness-raising needs to improve the environmental performance of freight transport. Sebastian Bäckström (WSP, Sweden) shared his personal views about the need for more sustainable transport featuring low emissions and prices reflecting the environmental impact. Mr. Bäckström's starting point was that "something is wrong" in the organisation of current transport systems and transport patterns.
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4. Adapting/Adopting: Perspectives on International Cooperation in Addressing Climate Change - Riverside Chat with Nicole Wilke and Alina Bokde
On 6 May 2008, an Ecologic International Riverside Chat brought together Alina Bokde and Nicole Wilke to discuss the topics of adaptation and adoption of climate policies in the context of addressing the challenges associated with climate change. Alina Bokde is Vice President of the Environmental Affairs Commission of Los Angeles, Nicole Wilke is Head of the International Climate Policy Division at the German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. The speakers touched upon the competing roles of adaptation and mitigation, innovative efforts to adapt to the effects of climate change and the importance of information gathering, sharing and learning.
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5. Renewable Energy: A Boom for Europe? - Lecture
On 23 January 2008 the European Commission put forth an integrated proposal for Climate and Renewable Energy Action. The Commission's ambitious objective to achieve an overall binding target for the European Union of 20% renewable energy by 2020 and a 10% minimum target for the market share of biofuels by 2020, has received much attention around the world. At the ACG's dinner discussion "Renewable Energy: A Boom for Germany and Europe?" Stephanie Schlegel, Fellow at Ecologic, gave a presentation on the current policies and developments of renewable energy in the European Union.
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6. Transboundary Regimes: The Amudarya - Insights from the Newater project - Lecture
On occasion of a policy briefing, Nicole Kranz of Ecologic presented the first results of a study on factors favoring and hindering adaptive transboundary water management regimes in the Amudarya basin. The lecture is available for download.
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7. Wind energy all over the world - Interview with Stephanie Schlegel
Worldwide, wind energy is one of the fastest growing industries in the renewable energy sector. The interest in wind energy is evidenced by large scale developments of wind parks onshore and offshore as well as small projects on a community and farm scale. Policies and technologies vary considerably in different parts in the world. On 25 March 2008, the independent radio station KGNU in Boulder, Colorado explored and compared new wind energy developments in Europe, the U.S., Colorado and Boulder. Its program "Hemispheres" discussed wind energy's growth since 2004 and the potential of the industry. Stephanie Schlegel, Fellow at Ecologic, was interviewed as part of this program regarding the European and German developments.
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8. Ecologic welcomes the German Green Party in the Network Countdown 2010 on behalf of the IUCN
From 19 - 30 May 2008, the ninth Convention on Biological Diversity takes place in Bonn, Germany, the last before 2010. Until the year 2010, the 1992 UN Convention aims to considerably reduce the extinction of species. This is also the goal of the pan-European initiative Countdown 2010 of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Ingo Bräuer from Ecologic, member and representative of the initiative welcomes the German Green Party as the first political party in Network Countdown 2010. The Green Party signed the Declaration on 7 May 2008, culminating a day of action on biodiversity in front of the German Bundestag. This brings the total to 622 organisations, including governments, public authorities, NGOs and businesses that have joined the initiative Countdown 2010.
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