<p>&#13; Integrated sustainability assessment is a key element for advancing sustainable development by assessing the economic, environmental and social impacts of policy proposals. While the EU Commission has committed to producing high quality impact assessment, Anneke von Raggamby evaluates the availability and actual use in EU Commission Impact Assessment practice at the OECD workshop on Sustainable Assessment Methodologies.</p>&#13;

The Arctic TRANSFORM project developed transatlantic policy options for supporting adaptation in the marine Arctic environment based on input from more than 50 experts on Arctic policy in the areas of environmental governance, indigenous peoples, hydrocarbons, shipping, and fisheries. Emphasis was placed on cross-sectoral synergies, stakeholder participation, and governance options in the Arctic.

This scoping study aims at identifying gaps in knowledge about the economics of biodiversity loss and makes suggestions for future research. It is a component of a larger Review on Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) prepared for the COP-9 meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which took place in May 2008 in Bonn.

Finding a place for public participation in the policies and practices of European river basin management planning is a challenge for the authorities in the participating countries and territories. Understanding the relationship between national culture, the historical and political differences in the respective countries, and their practical experience with participation is considered important in the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive. Knowledge and understanding of this relationship will help to provide a context and basis from which new participatory practices can be designed and experiences evaluated, and will also facilitate the identification of conditions necessary for social learning.

Water scarcity and drought was one of the main environmental policy priorities for the EU Presidency of Portugal in 2007. The Informal Council of Environment Ministers on "Water Scarcity and Droughts" on 31 August and 1 September 2007 in Lisbon was designed to further the debate in the European Union. A paper and presentation by R. Andreas Kraemer supplemented a background paper provided by the Portuguese Presidency and the European Commission "Addressing the challenge of water scarcity and droughts in the European Union" of 18 July 2007.

The European Union (EU) made a proposal to upgrade the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) to a UN Environment Organization (UNEO). This book chapter by Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf and Markus Knigge places the proposal in the broader political debate, by summarizing the most relevant initiatives in the context of the ongoing UN reform process. The chapter discusses the main differences between UNEP and a potential UNEO and presents the arguments for and against the upgrade of UNEP to a UNEO.

The EU has set ambitious targets to raise the share of renewable energies, particularly biofuels. This article, written by Stephanie Schlegel and Timo Kaphengst, discusses the role that bioenergy plays in the European policy context and the approach the EU is currently following to ensure the sustainability of biofuels. It addresses the limits of the chosen approach, concluding that certification schemes can not serve as the only safeguard for sustainable bioenergy, but need to be complemented by other tools and policies.

Integrated assessment is rapidly spreading as a practice at different levels of governance. However, the choice of using certain tools in an assessment is often not well founded. In this paper, Wouter de Ridder, John Turnpenny, Måns Nilsson and Anneke von Raggamby present a framework that scientifically underpins the role of, and thus choice of, tools within an integrated assessment.

<p>This project analysed the key legal, economic and environmental issues related to using specific trade-related measures as a means of supporting the EU&#39;s climate change objectives and policies. Three trade measures are examined: 1) carbon equalisation mechanisms; 2) export credits and investment guarantees; and 3) conditions on access to the EU carbon market. The primary focus of analysis is on the first measure: carbon equalisation measures.</p>

An earlier article by Michael Mehling in American University’s Sustainable Development Law and Policy journal assessed the prospects and legal implications of a link between regional trading systems in the US and the EU emissions trading system, highlighting the relevance of the respective constitutional and legal frameworks for such a link.