Scientific evidence that climate change is caused by human activity has boosted ongoing efforts to address the problem. Now the focus is primarily on what will happen after 2012 when the validity of the Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty designed to limit global greenhouse gas emissions, expires. From 11-12 April 2007, representatives of the EU, the World Bank and the new EU Member States met in Prague to discuss the challenges ahead.

The book "Water and Liberalisation. European water scenarios" presents the results of the EUROMARKET project that analysed the organisation of the water supply and sanitation (WSS) sector in Europe. At the heart of the project was the development of possible scenarios for the future of the European WSS sector. Ecologic contributed one chapter to the book and analysed the environmental implications of the different scenarios.

The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) initiated the first regional greenhouse gas emissions trading system in the United States. This cap-and-trade program will begin on 1 January 2009 and will include sources from the electricity generating sector. The article by Camilla Bausch and Sandra Cavalieri analyses the implementation design of the RGGI trading scheme and its significance for the evolution of the international carbon market.

The Open Method of Coordination has so far mostly been applied in areas in which the EU has weak legislative competencies. Recently, however, several OMC-type mechanisms have emerged in the environmental field, where the EU has a significant legislative role. In this article, Ingmar von Homeyer discusses two environmental OMCs: the environmental dimension of the Lisbon Strategy and the Common Implementation Strategy of the Water Framework Directive.

Economic analysis for policy appraisal is generally interested in answering two questions, "is a given policy objective worth achieving" and if so, "has the policy objective been achieved in the most cost-effective way?" While the first question is addressed in a cost-benefit analysis (CBA), the second question can be answered with the help of a cost-effective analysis (CEA). The authors of this book chapter focus on ex-post CEA and reveal problems, challenges and opportunities of CEA at the European level.

The transport sector has significant environmental impacts and subsidies are a significant piece of the policy framework that influences public and private decisions about transport. This report, which was published by the European Environment Agency (EEA) and co-authored by Ecologic, provides a comprehensive picture of transport subsidies, classifying them by subsidy type and transport mode.

The European Community has undertaken an ambitious program aimed at improving the sustainability of energy use across Europe. At the heart of this program are efforts by the European Union and its Member States to encourage the use of renewable sources of energy. Bioenergy has become a focal point in efforts to increase the use of renewable energy. This policy brief summarises the development and status quo of the EU bioenergy policy framework and links it to the current debate on sustainability of bioenergy.

Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) play a substantial role in the financing of infrastructure in developing countries. As the activities of ECAs are backed-up by public resources, national governments have the power to set guidelines for ECA lending policies. Most governments include social and environmental aspects in their ECA guidelines. This book section has a closer look at the role of transparency, information disclosure and participation in the cover decisions of ECAs.

The impact of climate change on Europe's water resources is a critical issue for people's lives and the economy. Even if emissions of greenhouse gases were stabilised today, increases in temperature and the associated impacts, including water availability and flooding, will continue for many decades to come. This report, which was published by the European Environment Agency (EEA) in February 2007 and co-authored by Ecologic, shows that there is a need to adapt to climate change for water resource policy and regulation across Europe. The report assesses the strengths and weaknesses of current policies and regulations, and describes progress and activities in European countries.

What is the role of civil society actors in the assessment of trade agreements with regard to their sustainability impact? The book chapter authored by Markus Knigge and Nicole Kranz analyses the underlying processes and contexts and makes suggestions for the effective involvement of stakeholders in the assessment process at the EU level.

Martinez G., Shordt, K., Reducing corruption in the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector. Contribution of Netherlands' development assistance to risk assessment and mitigation of corruption in the WASH sector. Final report, 08 February 2007 (unpublished). At request at the Directorate-General for International Cooperation of the Netherlands (DGIS).

The heads of state of the eight major industrialised nations recently reinforced that the United Nations will remain “the appropriate forum for negotiating future global action on climate change.” Within the U.N., however, a number of concurrent “tracks” have emerged for negotiations and discussions, accompanied by a certain degree of overlap, and giving rise to questions on the mandate, scope and limitations of each track as a pathway to a future climate regime. Options for global climate governance beyond 2012 have been addressed in formal negotiations based on Article 3 (9) and 9 of the Kyoto Protocol, while parties to the UNFCCC have initiated an open and non-binding dialogue on future co-operative action under the Convention. In this article Dr. Camilla Bausch and Michael Mehling provide an overview of these developments.

Bowyer, Catherine; Peter Hjerp; Alexander Neubauer 2006: The Proposed Directive on Waste. An assessment of the Impact Assessment and the Implications of the Integration of the Hazardous Waste Directive into the existing Waste Framework Directive. Brussels.