1. The economic impacts of illegal timber trade for the German timber industry and forestry - Study online
2. Biofuels: Between Energy Security and Climate Change - Latin America and the international discussion - Lecture
3. From Autonomy to Integration? International Law, Free Trade and the Environment - Publication
4. River Basin Management - Is the water sector following the wrong approach? - Publication
5. WFD meets CAP - Towards the first River Management Plan - Conference Summary online
6. Tough Choices - Land Use under a Changing Climate: German-US Conference and Scientific Field Trip - Summary online
7. The De-Nationalization of Transatlantic Environment Relations: How Sub-national Partnerships Transform the Transatlantic Energy and Climate Debate - Transatlantic Luncheon with Dale Medearis

1. The economic impacts of illegal timber trade for the German timber industry and forestry - Study online
On 14 October 2008 Greenpeace published a study on illegal timber imports to Germany which was compiled by Ecologic. The study analyses how illegal timber imports impact the economic viability of the timber and forestry industries in Germany. The study shows that the substantial long-term economic damage can result from reputation problems, price dumping and the unsustainable use of the industry's resource base. The paper concludes with policy recommendations.
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2. Biofuels: Between Energy Security and Climate Change - Latin America and the international discussion - Lecture
This workshop from 28-29 August 2008 in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) aimed towards a common understanding between representatives of Latin America, Asia, Europe and the US on future biofuel development. Timo Kaphengst outlined in his presentation the renewable energy policy of the European Union, more specifically the main controversies within decision-making bodies of the EU on biofuel targets and sustainability standards. The presentation is available for download.
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3. From Autonomy to Integration? International Law, Free Trade and the Environment - Publication
In recent years, the debate on trade and the environment seemed to lose some of its earlier controversy: after a string of highly polarizing cases before the WTO, the Appellate Body's Article 21.5 Implementation Report in the Shrimp/Turtle case appeared to finally herald a period of reconciliation between free trade and environmental concerns. Upon closer analysis, however, this assessment proves to be misleading: as a matter of substantive law, the chasm between both issue areas is still substantial.
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4. River Basin Management - Is the water sector following the wrong approach? - Publication
Since the 1992 Dublin and Rio de Janeiro conferences, the river basin approach to the management of water resources has become more and more established. This trend reached its preliminary apex in Europe with the Water Framework Directive (WFD), which binds all Member States to this approach in order to achieve its ambitious goals. In the issue 7/2008 of the journal "KW - Korrespondenz Wasserwirtschaft", Stefan von Keitz (biologist) and Peter Kessler (legal practitioner), Senior Policy Advisor with Ecologic, put this approach to test and deliver a series of arguments for a restricted use of the river basin management approach. In the journal's following issue (8/2008), Prof. Uwe Grünewald (hydrologist) disagrees with this position and argues for a consistent application of an integrated water management approach with the river basin as its basic unit.
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5. WFD meets CAP - Towards the first River Management Plan - Conference Summary online
The exchange of information is a top priority settled in 2004 by the EU Strategic Steering Group on Water Framework Directive (WFD) and Agriculture. Over the last three years, three conferences were held to allow a better understanding of the potential synergies of Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) and WFD. The conference on CAP and WFD in Bonn (18-19 September 2008) was the fourth conference of this series, and provided a forum to discuss the different approaches concerning the elaboration of the River Basin Management Plans. In particular, the conference created a space in which participants shared experiences and approaches to the programme of measures and the criteria for exemptions.
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6. Tough Choices - Land Use under a Changing Climate: German-US Conference and Scientific Field Trip - Summary online
From 2-4 October 2008, a joint German-US conference convened 80 scientists from both sides of the Atlantic to address future land use strategies and to identify common research goals. A complementing post-conference program included field visits to the Leibniz-Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) and the German Meteorological Service (DWD). A background paper on the event is available for download.
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7. The De-Nationalization of Transatlantic Environment Relations: How Sub-national Partnerships Transform the Transatlantic Energy and Climate Debate - Transatlantic Luncheon with Dale Medearis
At an Ecologic Transatlantic Luncheon on 24 September 2008, Dale Medearis spoke about trends in climate and energy policy in the United States at the national, state and local level. Dale Medearis is senior environmental planner for the Northern Virginia Regional Commission, where he leads the regional climate and energy programmes and manages its international environmental partnerships through the European Network of Metropolitan Areas and Regions (METREX).
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