In this book chapter, Ecologic Senior Fellow Ingmar von Homeyer provides an analytical overview of EU environmental governance from the early 1970s up to the present. He argues that EU environmental governance can be described as an amalgam of four to five environmental governance regimes which have successively been layered on top of each other over the past 35 years.

An unprecedented donation by media mogul Ted Turner in 1997 resulted in the creation of a non-profit charity devoted to helping the United Nations achieve its objectives. The evolution, key activities and figures of the U.N. Foundation are briefly described in this article by Michael Mehling.

In this book chapter, R. Andreas Kraemer from Ecologic Institute addresses the governance of water and the EU's Water Framework Directive, focusing mainly on subsidiarity applied to water policy. He describes the conflict arising from a territorial and a bioregional perspective on the subject, and the management of this conflict through the principle of subsidiarity. The chapter features an outline of the Water Framework Directive's origin and its core ideas, illustrates approaches of water management using examples, including one from the Danube River region, and a number of hydrological maps and gives an outlook to further developments of the water governance area.

<p>&#13; "Options and Opportunities for the future EU Sustainable Development Strategy" was the theme of the ESDN Conference 2009 in Prague on 17-19 June 2009, hosted by the Czech EU Presidency in cooperation with the Swedish EU Presidency.  Ecologic Institute contributed a background paper, and R. Andreas Kraemer of Ecologic Institute was invited to speak on "Economic Stimulus Packages in Europe", and comment on the coherence of policy strategies in Europe and the challenges of policy integration.</p>&#13;

<p>&#13; On behalf of the WWF, Ecologic Institute researched how middle and long term climate change goals could best be anchored in German law. At a Parliamentary Evening of the WWF on June 17th, Stephan Sina, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, presented the expert report. Its results were discussed afterwards in a debate including the members of Parliament Eva Bulling-Schröter (Die Linke), Michael Kauch (FDP), Ulrich Kelber (SPD), Sylvia Kotting-Uhl (Bündnis 90/Grüne) and Prof. Dr. Stefan Rahmstorf (PIK). The Moderator was Regine Günther (WWF).</p>

This policy brief draws upon a series of background papers, expert meetings, and interviews to provide an overview of the international and EU governance options for addressing the rapid changes underway in the region. While reflecting the opinions of its authors, this policy brief benefits from the opinions and insights of the experts participating in the five thematic working groups of Arctic TRANSFORM.

<p>&#13; On 12 June 2009, Michael Mehling of the Ecologic Institute in Washington DC moderated a plenary session on the “Global Climate Policy Debate” at Carbon Finance North America 2009, an annual trade conference organised in New York. The panel focused on preparations for a post-2012 climate regime and the integration of US policy into an international post-Kyoto agreement, reviewing developments since Poznan (COP 14) and expectations for Copenhagen (COP 15).</p>&#13;

With the plenary speech of the 3rd bioenergy forum Dr. Bernhard Dreher from the German Federal Ministry for the Environment and Jessica Löhndorf, Fellow at Ecologic Institute introduce the European sustainability requirements for biofuels and vegetable oils, which were transposed into German legislation in 2009. Germany was the first member state to implement the sustainability certification in Europe. The authors explain their practical implementation in Germany.

New maps identifying 77 Areas of Ecologically or Biologically Significance (EBSAs) in the Arctic marine environment are now available through a recent project led by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Ecologic Institute. The report identifies 13 "Super EBSAs" which are of key importance because they meet many or all criteria developed under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).The report is available for download.