<p>&#13; Emissions trading systems emerging in the United States offer the opportunity of a future trading link to the European carbon market. While such a link promises more efficient allocation of resources in a larger and more liquid market, differences in the design of trading systems can undermine the effectiveness of the linked trading systems. In a presentation at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium, Michael Mehling and Jason Anderson provided legislators and their staff with an update of recent policy developments in the US and identified the prospects of an eventual market link across the Atlantic. This presentation and a series of commissioned background studies helped brief EU parliamentarians visiting the US in 2009.</p>&#13; <p>&#13; </p>

<p> In view of rising food and energy prices with impacts on vulnerable groups of society, the European Commission (DG Employment) convened a conference in Brussels on 24 February 2009 on social impacts of sustainable development, and policies aimed at making production and consumption more sustainable.&nbsp; R. Andreas Kraemer of Ecologic Institute presented the success case of the German ecological tax reform, which creates jobs, helps stabilise social security systems, and induces improvements in energy efficiency and structural change.</p>

<p>&#13; In the run up to the NATO Summit in Strasbourg-Kehl in April 2009, NATO Public Diplomacy Division and Carnegie Europe launched a discussion on "The Next Generation of Security Threats" and the reprogramming of NATO. They invited R. Andreas Kraemer of Ecologic Institute to provide keynote commentary on the question: "Should Climate Change be a Priority?" at the inaugural event of a new series.</p>&#13;

<p> The need to better understand and monitor the linkages between social exclusion and unsustainable development, and the quest for a toolkit to assess the social impacts of environment policy measures, the European Commission (DG Employment) convened a workshop for scientific support for promoting social fairness in sustainable development in Brussels on 23 February 2009.&nbsp; R. Andreas Kraemer of Ecologic Institute was invited to speak on social exclusion and a poor environment.</p>

The final symposium of the PICCMAT project (Policy Incentives for Climate Change Mitigation Agricultural Techniques) on 28 October 2008 in Brussels&nbsp;generated high interest among stakeholders. The agricultural sector will be under increased pressure in the future to contribute to the realization of ambitious climate change mitigation targets. Almost 90 participants from the farming, policy and scientific communities engaged in discussions on potential ways forward. The PICCMAT policy recommendations are available for download.

<p>&#13; The meeting, which took place at COPA-COGECA in Brussels, was attended by representatives from different agricultural unions of the EU. Thomas Dworak focused his lecture on the main links between the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the Common Agricultural Policy.</p>&#13;

cologic taught a Johns Hopkins Summer School on European Environmental Politics on 9-20 June 2008. Ecologic staff members and guest speakers conducted lessons on subjects, ranging from European Integration to European Water Policies. Johns Hopkins students also met with a variety of stakeholders in Berlin and Brussels to discuss European Environmental Policy.

As an input to the European Parliament (EP) debate on the EU Climate Package, Ecologic led the organisation of a workshop entitled "Effort sharing under the Climate Package - assessing the role of the Clean Development Mechanism" on behalf of the EP directorate for Internal Policies. The workshop was held on 3 June 2008 at the European Parliament. It was chaired by Satu Hassi, MEP, and moderated by R. Andreas Kraemer, Director of Ecologic.

<p>At an Ecologic Dinner Dialogue in Brussels on 24 April 2008, Jamie Shea and Helga Schmid discussed the role for the EU and NATO in responding to threats arising from climate change. Jamie Shea is Head of Policy Planning at NATO. Helga Schmid is Policy Unit Director at the EU Council Secretariat. Both agreed on the importance of the issue. While it is already on the agenda and reflected in various EU documents, Jamie Shea laid out reasons why it is not yet at NATO’s agenda and made recommendations that could help change the current situation.</p>&#13;