Businesses, cities, states, universities and churches are striving to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to protect the Earth's climate. A new transatlantic survey by Michael Northrop reveals a multitude of initiatives, both in the U.S. and in Europe. Michael Northrop directs the Sustainable Development grantmaking program at the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF) in New York City and is the author of this paper.

The Doctoral Thesis of Simon Marr, lawyer with Ecologic Legal, has been published. The purpose of this study is to examine the present status of implementation of the precautionary principle in the law of the sea and to extract evidence of its acceptance as part of customary international law. The thesis examines the precautionary principle in the law of the sea. The precautionary principle is a risk management tool for policy makers which has been broadly implemented in international environmental law in a variety of different sectors and formulations.

2003: Deliverable 1 - EUROMARKET Water Liberalisaion Scenarios - Analysis of the European Unions Explicit and Implicit Policies and Approaches in the Larger Water Sector. ENGREF/IHE/EPFL/Paris VIII/Delft UT/University Bocconi/University of Birmingham/Ecologic/UCL/University of Zaragoza.

Ecologic experts on private sector participation and regulatory oversight in the water sector contribute to an OECD publication on "Social Issues in the Provision and Pricing of Water Services". This book explores the interface between environmental and social elements of water pricing policies in OECD countries. It focuses on the affordability of water services, as well as on the social measures aimed at resolving these affordability problems.

Hamada, Ana-Mari M.; Eduard Interwies; R. Andreas Kraemer 2003: Water Governance & Private Sector Participation in OECD Countries. Ecologic-Institut für Internationale und Europäische Umweltpolitik, Berlin.

This Ecologic Brief is part of the project EcoFuturum "Europe's Democratic Challenge: Actively Shaping European Environmental Policy". It is part of a series of contributions to the European constitutional debates, and Ecologic thus continues its tradition of work on "Greening the Treaties".

Görlach, B., E. Interwies, S. Loubier et al. (2003): Economic Assessment of Groundwater Protection: Executive summary. Berlin: Ecologic.

What are the impacts of European infringement procedures regarding the non-compliance with nature conservation legislation? To what extent are infringement procedures capable of enforcing the implementation of this legislation? And, on the other hand, to what extent can protected areas contribute to fulfill the requirements of the nature conservation legislation by means of sustainable management with appropriate financing? In order to discuss these issues an international conference entitled "Applying EU Environmental Legislation in the Field of Marine and Coastal Protection" took place on the Ionian Island of Zakynthos on May 19th and 20th, 2003. The preparation and organisation was carried out by Ecologic in co-operation with the National Marine Park of Zakynthos.

On 21 May, the Kyiv report "Europe's environment: The third assessment" was released in the run-up to the meeting of Environment ministers from the wider European continent in Kyiv, Ukraine, which was organised by the UN's Economic Commission for Europe (UN-ECE). Chapter 13 dealing with progress in managing the environment was drawn up with the joint help of Ecologic and IEEP London.

The results of the workshop entitled "The Architecture of the Global System of Governance of Trade and Sustainable Development" that took place on 9 and 10 December 2002 in Berlin have been published in an Ecologic Brief. Based on the background paper of the workshop and the debates which took place during the discussions, this brochure seeks to give an overview of the complex issue of the global governance of trade and sustainable development and to convey to a wider audience the main questions facing the research community.

The main conclusions and results of a study exploring functions, rules and practices of NGO participation in international environmental co-operation are presented in an Ecologic Brief. This Ecologic Brief identifies a number of options for a strengthened participation of NGOs in international environmental governance and is intended to contribute to the related international discussions.

Ecologic – Institute for International and European Environmental Policy; Fridtjof Nansen Institute; Foundation for International Environmental Law and Development; Institute for European Environmental Policy 2003: Institutional Interaction – How to Prevent Conflicts and Enhance Synergies between International and EU Environmental Institutions. Final Report.

Ecologic - Institute for International and European Environmental Policy; Fridtjof Nansen Institute; Foundation for International Environmental Law and Development; Institute for European Environmental Policy 2003: Institutional Interaction - How to Prevent Conflicts and Enhance Synergies between International and EU Environmental Institutions. Technological Implementation Plan.

Interwies, Eduard and Eleftheria Kampa 2003: The "screening" framework for selecting measures and application of derogation tests - which role for economics? Ecologic, Berlin.

Görlach, B. and E. Interwies (2003): Economic Assessment of Groundwater Protection: A survey of the Literature. Berlin: Ecologic.