<p>&#13; Border Adjustment Measures (BAM) have been discussed as a tool to equalize costs that industries with stringent greenhouse gas requirements have to bear, as some international competitors do not face these costs and allegedly enjoy a free ride. At a workshop of the German Federal Environment Agency (UBA), Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf and Michael Mehling discussed whether BAM are an adequate tool to address competitiveness concerns arising from the EU's ambitious climate change policies.</p>&#13;

<p>On 11 and 12 September 2008 in Berlin, Germany, Arctic TRANSFORM held an Expert Workshop, which brought together more than 50 experts on Arctic policy in the areas of environmental governance, indigenous peoples, hydrocarbons, shipping, and fisheries. The workshop was designed to examine policy options for confronting the rapid changes occurring in the Arctic. The workshop synthesis report summarises the key policy insights that emerged during the workshop. Emphasis is placed on cross-sectoral synergies, stakeholder participation, and governance options in the Arctic.</p>&#13;

This paper presents an overview of the existing institutional and legal framework relevant to environmental governance, as well as formal and informal governance structures in the Arctic marine area. It highlights the complexity of approaches applicable at the local, regional and international scales, rather than identifying gaps in governance at the sectoral scale. The background paper is available for download.

This background paper, prepared by the Arctic Centre in September 2008 as part of the Arctic TRANSFORM project addresses the magnitude of current oil and gas activities in the offshore Arctic and outlines the potential environmental, social and economic consequences of the offshore hydrocarbon activities. It examines the international legal framework for offshore oil and gas activities in the Arctic, including transboundary environmental assessment of oil and gas activities and addresses the current policy context in offshore oil and gas activities in the Arctic.

No international regime operates in complete isolation from other regimes and the wider body of international law. Conflicts and tensions, but also potential synergies, are inevitable consequences of regime coexistence. Such interactions are particularly apparent in the case of the climate regime, which is analysed in this article in relation to the international law on biodiversity protection and free trade.

The Water Framework Directive acts as a driver for integrated water management in EU member states. In this paper, Eleftheria Kampa, Fellow at Ecologic, and Hans Bressers, Professor at the University of Twente, use a conceptual framework from institutional resource regime theory to characterize and explain the development of the Greek national water regime in terms of integration. The article was published in the Journal "Water Policy" 10/5.

The article by Dr. Camilla Bausch and Jonathan Donehower analyses the flexible mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol used by the international community to fight rising carbon emissions. The most prominent example of regional implementation of emissions trading, the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), is presented in detail with an outlook on potential future improvements.

This article describes the important changes to the Renewable Energy Sources Act due to the amendment within the framework of the Integrated Energy and Climate Programme of the German government. The article is published in issue 3, volume 19, Zeitschrift für Umweltrecht.

In this project, OECD examines the long term sustainability of water services: Are the levels of cost recovery, investment and financing sufficient to ensure affordable access to freshwater and sanitation services?

<p>&#13; This workshop from 28-29 August 2008 in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) aimed towards a common understanding between representatives of Latin America, Asia, Europe and the US on future biofuel development. Timo Kaphengst outlined in his presentation the renewable energy policy of the European Union, more specifically the main controversies within decision-making bodies of the EU on biofuel targets and sustainability standards.</p>&#13;

In a Discussion Paper for the German Development Institute (DIE), Sascha Müller-Kraenner analyses the energy-related foreign policies of China and India, both "anchor countries" with fast-growing economies. Their quest for energy security as well as climate policy have become defining elements of both countries' foreign policies, a fact that the EU and the US must respond to.

Rural areas face a number of new challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss and the increasing demand for biomass. In this project, a series of conferences with different themes and a wide range of actors will investigate new strategies for innovation in rural areas, compliant with environmentally friendly economic activities.