The mission of the Climate Technology Initiative (CTI) is to bring countries together to foster international co-operation in the accelerated development and diffusion of climate-friendly and environmentally sound technologies and practices. The promotion of technology transfer under the Kyoto Protocol as incorporated in the Marrakech Accords is at the core of CTI's work. Ecologic supports the organisation of a seminar that is part of CTI. It is the 7th event of a series sponsored by the German Federal Environment Agency.

Climate change as a global phenomenon requires global action. The strategies of states are very multi-faceted and variable: next to the Kyoto Protocol (KP), which sets forth binding reduction targets, are a number of initiatives such as the Asian Pacific Partnership agreement for Clean Development and Climate (AP6) with a voluntary, technology-based approach, and the Action Program for climate protection put in place at the G8 Summit in Gleneagles. At the 9th climate talk it was debated whether these varied approaches are effective for climate protection, and to what extent they complement or compete and thus hinder one another.

The Free University of Berlin organised a conference on behalf of The Permanent European conference for the study of the rural landscape (PECSRL) from 4 until 9 September 2006, focusing on the theme: European rural future: Landscape as an Interface. Rainer Müssner from Ecologic gave a presentation about the importance of landscape issues in public policies. This presentation focused on the following key questions: Is "landscape" a priority issue on the national / European policy agenda?, do we have a coherent "landscape policy"? and what can be done to increase the political "weight" of landscape issues?

There are obvious successes in Transboundary Water Management. How can the Landscape sector profit from these experiences, considering there exists an insufficient level of co-operation between states? Rainer Müssner in collaboration with Eduard Interwies gave a presentation focusing on these issues at the 22nd conference of The Permanent European Conference for the Study of the Rural Landscape.

<p>On 31 August 2006 a conference on "Resource Efficiency - Innovations for the Environment and Job Creation", jointly organised by the German Federal Ministry of the Environment and IG Metall (Industrial Trade Union of Metalworkers), was held in Berlin. Central in the discussion was the intelligent use of energy and raw materials as a key component of increased employment and economic success. Participants agreed that only a linkage between economy and ecology through the use of energy-efficient products and procedures will both provide chances for the future and preserve natural resources. Ecologic supported the organisation of the conference.</p>&#13;

<img alt="Jonathan Wiener" hspace="4" src="Download/dinner_dialogue/2006/wiener_80_80.jpg" align="right" vspace="4" border="0" />The Transatlantic Climate Dinner in honour of Dr. Jonathan B. Wiener focused on the question of how national interests can be engaged to establish a comprehensive and effective international climate change regime. The dinner's discussion showed that a future system can only be ecologically effective and economically efficient if all major emitting countries participate and show a common effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, Dr. Wiener made clear that major constraints of the current system must be overcome to achieve this.

In celebration of the 20th anniversary of the founding of the German Federal Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), a symposium was held in Berlin on 6 June 2006. Camilla Bausch chaired the Forum on "European and International Environmental Policy".

The main cause of global climate change is the burning of fossil fuels, especially coal. The future climate policy will encounter major challenges from an expected substantial buildup of coal-fired power plants, resulting from the security of supply and production cost reasons. Some experts hope for a clean solution to this problem by turning to Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). The Climate Talk on 24 May 2006 focused on the questions, of whether climate policy can reconcile itself with coal-fired energy production by using CCS and what kind of problems and challenges can be expected from this new technology.

EU Member States have until the end of June 2006 to submit their National Allocation Plans (NAPs) to the European Commission. These plans are a decisive element of the preparation for the second phase (2008-2012) of EU Emissions Trading Scheme and thus a cornerstone of European climate policy. Currently, the Member States are hurriedly preparing their respective Plans. Again, as with the preparation of the first NAPs, some fundamental questions are raised, for example regarding allocation methods for emissions certificates, the emission caps, and the installations covered by the Scheme. But in contrast to 2004, when the NAPs for the first trading period (2005-2007) were drafted, this time the Member States can draw upon some experiences.

The implications of rising oil prices and the effects of climate change for growth in Germany were the topic of the Dinner Dialogue in honour of Dennis Meadows, co-author of "Limits To Growth". The 30 year update of the 1972 best seller has been the staring point for the discussion taking place in Berlin on 3 April 2006.

Based on an initiative of the Grüne Liga e.V. a seminar with the title: On the way towards the "Good status"- Critical aspects of the WFD was held on 24 March 2006. Rainer Müssner from Ecologic gave a presentation about the Common Agricultural Policy of the EU and the Water Framework Directive. The main focus of Müssner's presentation was the linkages between these policy areas and options to create synergies.

The US energy and climate policy – particularly political dynamics at the sub-national level – was the topic of the Transatlantic Climate Dinner in honour of Jim Marzilli.  Since 1990, Marzilli has been campaigning for environmental- and energy-sector reforms in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Against the backdrop of increasingly dynamic climate and energy policy debates, the participants discussed the potential for reforms as well as possible hurdles at the city and state levels.  The Transatlantic Climate Dinner took place on March 16, 2006 in Berlin.

The German development co-operation is putting five million Euro towards the establishment of a trans-border protected areas fund for the Southern Caucasus. The Federal Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul made the announcement at the opening of the conference "Nature Protection in the Caucasus", which Ecologic organised, on 9 March 2006 in Berlin.