On 19-21 February 2003 the international conference entitled "EU: CAP and Enlargement – An Opportunity for Environment and Nature?" took place in Potsdam, Germany. The primary goal of the conference was to analyse and discuss the complex interactions between EU enlargement, the Common Agricultural Policy and the related impacts on nature and environment. In October 2003 conference proceedings have been published in the series BfN-Skripten of the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation.

Policy makers increasingly need accurate and timely information to meet reporting requirements linked to environmental legislation and decision making. This project explored the extent to which Earth Observation (EO) services can help meet the special reporting requirements of two important European Union (EU) environmental policy areas, namely the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the Soil Protection Initiative (SPI).

Kraemer, R. Andreas; Britta Pielen; Anna Leipprand 2003: Global Review of Economic Instruments for Water Management in Latin America. Regional Policy Dialogue. Environment Network. II Meeting: The Application of Economic Instruments in Water and Solid Waste Management. Washington D.C. 11-12 February 2003.

As part of the implementation of the IPPC Directive the Best Available Techniques (BAT) for waste treatment, industries are being identified and described in the BAT REFerence document (BREF) "waste treatment industries". Ecologic is compiling the best available techniques of selected waste treatment facilities relevant to Germany.

The aim of this project is to support the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube (ICPDR) and its member countries in conducting in the Danube River Basin the economic analysis according to the Water Framework Directive. A synthesis report of national scoping studies provides an assessment of the current capacities within the Danube River Basin to carry out the economic analysis and identifies preliminary measures for closing priority gaps.

The economic analysis according to Article 5 of the European Union Water Framework Directive (WFD) must be completed by the end of 2004. In Scotland, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) is the lead authority in the WFD implementation process. In this context, SEPA commissioned this project to scope the economic analysis in the WFD with regard to its implementation in Scotland.

Sustainable development calls for the integration of environmental protection requirements into international development projects. Ecologic assists the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in creating a UNDP Strategy on Environmental Mainstreaming.

The implementation of policies to mainstream environmental issues into international organisations and their activities represents an important part of the sustainable development agenda. To this end, Ecologic supports the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in preparing a UNDP Practice Note on Mainstreaming Environment.

Simon Marr and Sebastian Oberthür have together with Christoph Bail co-authored a chapter which has been published in one of the leading German handbooks on European and German environmental law. The chapter, entitled "Climate protection and law", appears in the Handbuch zum europäischen und deutschen Umweltrecht, which is edited by Hans-Werner Rengeling.

The Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention) requests the contracting parties to promote environmental education and environmental awareness among the public, especially on how to obtain access to information, to participate in decision-making and to obtain access to justice in environmental matters. The new European Directive on Public Access to Environmental Information implementing the Convention on a European level contains a similar provision. The objective of the project is to inform the German citizens about their rights under the Convention by means of a brochure in order to enable them to perform these rights.

The future of the water sector in Europe has been increasingly at the heart of political debates. Potential evolution of the water supply and sanitation (WSS) sector had not, however, been the subject of in-depth studies. The EUROMARKET project filled this gap by analysing a selection of scenarios for the evolution of the European WSS sector, ranging from delegation contracts to community management, and investigating their social, economic, environmental and institutional implications.

The ball you see here is one of the first of its kind. It has two seals: A Fair Trade seal and the FSC seal of the Forest Stewardship Council. FSC works for the protection of forests and the peoples living and working in them. The bladder inside this ball is made from latex (rubber) produced in accordance with the strict social and environmental criteria of the FSC.

Gehl Sampath, Padmashree; Richard G. Tarasofsky 2002: Study on the Inter-Relations between Intellectual Property Rights Regimes and the Conservation of Genetic Resources. Berlin.