<p>&#13; In the context of the Coordination Action INNOVA-MED, an international conference took place on innovative processes and practices for wastewater treatment and re-use in the Mediterranean region. Eleftheria Kampa, Senior Fellow with the Ecologic Institute, gave a lecture on the constraints to the broader application of treatment and reuse technologies in Mediterranean Partner Countries of North Africa and Middle East.</p>&#13;

<p> Christiane Gerstetter of Ecologic Legal, gave a presentation to young diplomats, participating in the 4th Executive Seminar for Diplomats from Latin America and the Caribbean on the international legal framework for climate protection and the current climate negotiations.</p>

In the context of the conference "Coastal Management &amp; Climate Change: Status Quo" on 5 and 6 October 2009 in Rostock – Warnemünde the RADOST project (Regional Adaptation Strategies for the German Baltic Sea Coast) celebrated its regional kick-off.

The project aims to enhance transparency on voluntary sustainability standards and increase opportunities for sustainable trade. It addresses these challenges by collecting, organizing and disseminating information on voluntary sustainability standards and related research results in a web-based tool. This web-based tool called ITC Standards Map centralizes information such as the standards' content requirements, the related verification and certification mechanisms, product scope, market outreach and standards-related research results. The information is made accessible to producers, exporters, trade promotion organizations, trade support institutions, policy-makers, and intermediate private or public buyers.

<p>&#13; The potential for renewable energies is greater in the US than in Germany, and foundations can do much to unlock growth, help create jobs, stabilise communities, and phase out fossil energies and atomic power.  R. Andreas Kraemer of Ecologic Institute presented the German experience at the EGA Fall Retreat in Anchorage, Alaska, on 2 October 2009.</p>&#13;

Deforestation is responsible for roughly one fifth of global carbon emissions, most of it in the tropical forests of the developing world. At the Copenhagen climate talks, negotiators discussed a potential new mechanism to compensate nations for keeping their forests intact. The article by Duncan Brack and Katharina Umpfenbach looks at these REDD proposals (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation), arguing that carbon finance alone might not be enough to stop deforestation – unless part of it is spent upfront on improving forest governance.

Illegal fishing and logging, and the international trade in illegally sourced fish and wood products, cause enormous environmental and economic damage. Consumer countries contribute to the problem by importing fish and timber without ensuring legality – a problem the EU tries to address with two new regulations. In this briefing paper, Duncan Brack, Heike Baumüller and Katharina Umpfenbach compare the recently adopted EU regulations on illegal fish and timber products. The authors contrast the very different approaches and highlight areas that might need further strengthening.

Sustainability of biofuel policies is a largely debated issue, particularly with regards to environmental impacts. To address these issues, European and national legislative initiatives have been designed that aim to ensure the sustainability of biofuels. Germany has been among the top runners in trying to implement sustainability criteria for biofuels. In August 2009 the German government set up the Biomass-electricity-sustainability ordinance ("Biomassestrom-Nachhaltigkeitsverordnung", abbreviated "BioSt-NachV"). The background paper written by the Ecologic Institute in October 2009 provides an overview for plant operators who will need to proof their compliance with the new ordinance.

The Swiss Federal Office for the Environment commissioned this study to develop a set of recommendations for environmental reporting to ensure a "True and Fair View" on the environmental impacts of consumption and production.

Within this project Ecologic Institute supported the European Commission concerning the thematic strategy on waste prevention and recycling and developed recommendations.