<p>&#13; The 2010 Senior Congressional Staff Study Tour of Germany brought Chiefs of Staff of members of the US Congress to Berlin and Cologne to take stock of the political situation in Germany after the federal election in September 2009 and before the vote in North Rhine-Westphalia in May 2010. On invitation by The United States Association of Former Members of Congress (USAFMC), R. Andreas Kraemer of Ecologic Institute led a discussion on the current trends and outlook for energy policy in Germany and the European Union.</p>&#13;

In March 2010, Dr. Camilla Bausch and Benjamin Görlach of Ecologic Institute hosted the 14th Climate Talk, together with Dr. Susanne Dröge of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, where questions concerning the governance of the international climate finance were discussed.

<p>&#13; The Water Integrity Network (WIN), hosted by Transparency International (TI) in Berlin, convened 20 experts for a consultation on the nexus of water corruption and integrity, environment and climate change.  The consultation on 29 March 2010 was held in the headquarter of the Heinrich Boell Foundation; it was chaired by R. Andreas Kraemer of Ecologic Institute, and supported by Grit Martinez of Ecologic Institute and WIN.</p>&#13;

The RADOST project brought together roughly 100 participants to its first annual conference, which took place in Schwerin. The focus of the conference was set on the challenges of climate change in the German Baltic Sea region. Discussions were held about the current state of scientific knowledge and approaches and practical examples of adaptation measures. The conference took place under the auspices of the Ministry of Economy, Labour and Tourism Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

<p>&#13; In 2010 the German Energy Agency GmbH (dena) and the German American Chambers of Commerce (AHK USA) organized the 2nd German American Energy Conference. This year’s conference was themed „Promising Markets for Renewables and Energy Efficiency”. It offered information about current trends and support frameworks within U.S. and EU energy markets and how companies can benefit from them. The event attracted more than 400 participating experts and high level speakers. Within a panel discussion Stephanie Schlegel, Fellow und Coordinator Bioenergy and Agriculture at the Ecologic Institute spoke about opportunities for German biomass companies in the U.S. market and the relevance of sustainability requirements for the further development of transatlantic bioenergy markets.</p>&#13;

<p>&#13; As part of this year’s theme “Climate Change and Security Policy,” the Tönissteiner Kreis held this panel discussion in cooperation with the International Club of the Federal Foreign Office of Germany.  Stephan Sina from Ecologic Institute along with Steffen Bauer (German Development Institute) and Bernd Mesovic (Pro Asyl) sat on the panel. The discussion was moderated by Dagmar Dehmer (Tagesspiegel).</p>&#13;

<p>&#13; "Towards a Nuclear Power Renaissance? – Challenges for Global Energy Governance" was the theme of the 7th Transatlantic Energy Governance Dialogue convened by the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPI) and the Brookings Institution, supported by the European Commission, in Potsdam, Germany, on 4 to 5 March 2010.  R. Andreas Kraemer of Ecologic Institute offered his reflections on the proceedings and spoke about "A Transatlantic Agenda for Global Nuclear Governance" at the concluding panel.</p>&#13;

<p>&#13; Are the levels of cost recovery, investment and financing sufficient to ensure affordable access to freshwater and sanitation services?</p>&#13;

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.

<p>The international debate on biofuels is mostly dominated by environmental and economic aspects while the question of how biofuels can be produced in a socially acceptable way is not systematically tackled. The project "Biofuel as Social Fuel" examines for two regions in Germany and Brazil the social dimension of biofuel production. Timo Kaphengst gave a lecture at the project`s kick-off event stressing the role of certification systems in biofuel governance.</p>&#13;

<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>