The EU-U.S. Summit on 30 April 2007 passed a statement on energy security, efficiency, and climate change that is strong on rhetoric but weak on substance. Sascha Müller-Kraenner, Director of the Europe program at the Nature Conservancy and Senior Policy Advisor to Ecologic Institute, provides some critical commentary on the substance of the summit.

A Tisza River Basin Analysis Report was developed by the Tisza Expert Group of the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube. The Report is an important step for the preparation of a river basin management plan under the EU Water Framework Directive. Ecologic was commissioned to assist the Tisza Expert Group with the development of three chapters on the identification of artificial and heavily modified water bodies, on the assessment of risk of failure to reach the WFD environmental objectives for surface water bodies and on the characterisation of groundwater bodies.

On 4-5 June 2007, a workshop on the Water Framework Directive and Hydropower was held in Berlin. Focus of the workshop was on hydropower use and the relationship to hydromorphological changes. The workshop aimed at the exchange of information and views on good practice in hydropower use, strategic priorities on the catchment level as well as instruments to promote hydropower and to improve water status.

The ball you see here is one of the first of its kind. It has two seals: A Fair Trade seal and the FSC seal of the Forest Stewardship Council. FSC works for the protection of forests and the peoples living and working in them. The bladder inside this ball is made from latex (rubber) produced in accordance with the strict social and environmental criteria of the FSC.

The Low Carbon Accelerator (LCA) is a closed-ended investment company listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange. LCA invests in a diverse portfolio of unquoted private companies providing low carbon products and services, which deliver immediate reductions in carbon dioxide emissions. R. Andreas Kraemer of Ecologic advises the fund.

Combinations of electrical, information and communication technologies allow for Smart Grids to provide dynamic efficiency for power generation, transmission and distribution. Ecologic took the lead in preparing a Learning Centre on the current state and potential of Smart Grids at the 15th Session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD 15). The course highlighted the benefits of smart grids for an increased use of variable renewable power sources, while enhancing energy security, stabilising electricity grids and reducing the need for reserve capacity, leading to economic benefits and reduced carbon dioxide emission.

The transport sector has significant environmental impacts and subsidies are a significant piece of the policy framework that influences public and private decisions about transport. This report, which was published by the European Environment Agency (EEA) and co-authored by Ecologic, provides a comprehensive picture of transport subsidies, classifying them by subsidy type and transport mode.

Scientific evidence that climate change is caused by human activity has boosted ongoing efforts to address the problem. Now the focus is primarily on what will happen after 2012 when the validity of the Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty designed to limit global greenhouse gas emissions, expires. From 11-12 April 2007, representatives of the EU, the World Bank and the new EU Member States met in Prague to discuss the challenges ahead.

The European Community has undertaken an ambitious program aimed at improving the sustainability of energy use across Europe. At the heart of this program are efforts by the European Union and its Member States to encourage the use of renewable sources of energy. Bioenergy has become a focal point in efforts to increase the use of renewable energy. This policy brief summarises the development and status quo of the EU bioenergy policy framework and links it to the current debate on sustainability of bioenergy.

Economic analysis for policy appraisal is generally interested in answering two questions, "is a given policy objective worth achieving" and if so, "has the policy objective been achieved in the most cost-effective way?" While the first question is addressed in a cost-benefit analysis (CBA), the second question can be answered with the help of a cost-effective analysis (CEA). The authors of this book chapter focus on ex-post CEA and reveal problems, challenges and opportunities of CEA at the European level.