Linking emissions trading schemes has attracted interest as a means of reducing costs and expanding market size and liquidity. A number of studies have explored the compatibility of schemes, although little attention has been devoted to the implementation of links. In an article published in the peer-reviewed journal Climate Policy, Michael Mehling, President of the Ecologic Institute in Washington DC, and Erik Haites, former IPCC lead author, identify mechanisms required for the establishment and operation of a trading link over time.

This working paper affirms that emissions trading systems currently under development in the US raise certain challenges for an operational market link, but are not generally incompatible. Specifically, certain design elements of trading systems may give rise to concern, such as cost containment provisions and borrowing and offset provisions.

Against the background of Turkey's decision to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, Ecologic Legal analysed the legal status of Turkey in respect of its eligibility for the flexible mechanisms and presented the results at a Turkish-German workshop at the Turkish Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MoEF) in Ankara.

Legal and Institutional Dimensions of the Copenhagen Regime – this is the title of the most recent issue of the Carbon & Climate Law Review (CCLR). Camilla Bausch, Ralph Czarnecki and Michael Mehling edited this issue, which opens the stage for a timely discussion on the most recent international climate negotiations. It features a preface by Congressman Edward J. Markey, who co-authored the successful climate and energy bill for the U.S. House of Representatives.

<p>&#13; Are the levels of cost recovery, investment and financing sufficient to ensure affordable access to freshwater and sanitation services?</p>&#13;

During the 2009 Aspen Environment Forum, the conversation addressed the changing Arctic in discussion with Sven Lindblad of Lindblad Expeditions, NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco, Climate Communications Director Susan Joy Hassol, Oceanographer Sylvia Earle, author Charles Wohlforth, Elizabeth Cheney of Shell Oil, Ecologic Institute Director R. Andreas Kraemer, and University of Alaska Chancellor Fran Ulmer. Aspen Institute's Executive Director of the Energy and Environment Program, David Monsma, moderated

<p>&#13; Solutions for International Environmental Governance were a theme of conversation at the 2009 Aspen Environment Forum.  Moderated by former US Senator Gary Hart, the discussants were the Minister of Environment of Panama Ligia Castro de Doens, Deputy Director in the Ministry of Environmental Protection of China Jia Feng, the Director of the North America office of UNEP Amy Fraenkel, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution David Sandelow, the Director of the Global Environmental Governance Projects at Yale University Maria Ivanova, and Ecologic Institute Director R. Andreas Kraemer.</p>&#13;

This brief expert report analyses the extent to which the economic stimulus packages launched in 2009 have the potential to drive forward a fundamental and sustainable transformation of the economy or to create new "path dependencies", i.e. to encourage businesses to remain in traditional industries or production methods that have been identified as unsustainable. For these purposes, this study analyses the economic stimulus packages of Germany, Great Britain, South Korea and the USA and briefly presents the programmes of China and Japan. Only initial estimates can be made in the context of this study, assuming that every euro or dollar spent in a given area has a similar environmental impact.

Dr. Grit Martinez, Fellow at Ecologic Institute and Advisor to the Water Integrity Network, moderated the seminar "Beyond Water Bribes: How to build a Corruption-Resistant Water Sector?" at the 5th World Water Forum in Istanbul on 18 March 2009. Ecologic Institute had already co-convened an awareness-raising event showcasing the new Water Integrity Network (WIN) at the 4th World Water Forum in Mexico.

At the International Scientific Congress “Climate Change: Global Risks, Challenges &amp; Decisions”, experts presented a summary of scientific findings since the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Assessment. The congress attracted broad international attention in the run-up to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP-15) in Copenhagen in December 2009. In the session entitled “Integrating Climate Change into Global Sustainability”, Sandra Cavalieri presented transatlantic and international policy options to protect the Arctic marine environment that had emerged from the Arctic TRANSFORM project.

During the course of this framework contract, Ecologic Institute will provide scientific services on a range of issues relating to scientific and technological developments in the environment field in order not only to support STOA’s work specifically but also the European Parliament’s work in general.