<p>&#13; <strong>We celebrate 15 years of Ecologic Institute in Berlin:</strong><br />&#13; 15 years of enthusiasm in science and policy, in dialogue, with ideas, and the will to shape the future. For a better environment.</p>&#13;

Dr. Camilla Bausch and Benjamin Görlach of the Ecologic Institute and Dr. Susanne Dröge of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs hosted the 16th Climate Talk at the end of August 2010. The evening’s theme was: US climate policy after a hot summer - from "Yes we can" to"Sorry – we tried"?

<p>&#13; Hessen's State Ministry for Environment, Energy, Agriculture and Consumer Protection and its partners held a half-day conference on the themes of emissions trading and climate policy in the USA as part of a year-long series of events. Dominic Marcellino, Fellow, Ecologic Institute Washington, gave a presentation on the current political situation in the United States with respect to climate change.</p>&#13;

<p>&#13; Civil society groups are spreading the word on the upcoming 2012 Earth Summit, a United Nations meeting on international environmental governance. Ecologic Institute’s Emily McGlynn stressed the importance of youth participation at a recent UNFCCC side event on preparation for the Earth Summit.</p>&#13;

<p>&#13; The 7th Greifswald International Summer Academy "Energy and the Environment" was put on by the University of Greifswald. Dominic Marcellino, Fellow at Ecologic Institute in Washington, spoke to the participants, delivering remarks on some of the ethical implications of expanded renewable energy production, specifically wind.</p>&#13;

<p>&#13; "Greening Investment Standards for the Financial Sector" was the subject of a workshop report by R. Andreas Kraemer of Ecologic Institute to the conference on "Mobilising Private Capital to Reduce Climate Change: Instruments and Policies to Mobilise International Green Energy Investment Berlin".  The conference was hosted by the German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety, an the KFW Entwicklungsbank in Berlin on 29 and 30 June 2010.</p>&#13;

Dr. Camilla Bausch and Benjamin Görlach (Ecologic Institute) along with Dr. Susanne Dröge German Institute for International and Security Affairs, Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik hosted the 15th Climate Talk in June 2010 on ‘Research on Geoengineering’ and the necessary framework for or limitations of such research activities. Ralph Bodle (Ecologic Institute), Elmar Kriegler (Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research) and Friederike Herrmann (Environment Protection Agency, UBA) opened the discussion with key statements on the issue.

<p>&#13; In a Faculty and Expert Seminar, R. Andreas Kraemer of Ecologic Institute delivered the Keynote Address to an audience of mainly US and Canadian university and college faculty.  The group travelled to Berlin and Brandenburg to study local, regional and national approaches to sustainability.  The Studienform Berlin organised the study tour as part of the Transatlantic Climate Bridge.</p>&#13;

The first Smart Energy Dialog, held on 9 June 2010 in Berlin, established a forum for discussion on the co-transformation of the energy and transport sectors. Sixty European and American experts from the areas of industry, research and policy-making came together at the Hertie School of Governance to discuss a roadmap towards energy security, energy efficiency and the decarbonisation of our economies.

As part of the Transatlantic Climate Bridge, an informational trip for a group of political decision makers and entrepreneurs from the southern United States took place from 6 to 12 June 2010. The programme informed the participants about job creation in a “green” economy by using Germany as an example. In so doing, the main challenges and opportunities of a progressive climate and energy policy were presented. In addition to the focus on law making and political factors, other important aspects of the programme were the information exchange with experts in this field and the identification of best practice examples. The tour was organized and implemented by the Ecologic Institute.

R. Andreas Kraemer of Ecologic Institute moderated a panel entitled "Quo Vadis Carbon Trading?" at the conference "The Great Transformation – Greening the Economy", which was jointly organized by the Heinrich Böll Stiftung, the Center for American Progress, and the Mercator Foundation. The panel focussed on economic instruments in climate policy, the EU Emission Trading Scheme and its links to carbon markets and also Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects in other countries.<p></p>

At the invitation of the U.S. Consulate General Leipzig Katharina Umpfenbach held a lecture on U.S. climate and energy policy on 27 May 2010. The event was part of a lecture series titled &ldquo;Obama and the &lsquo;new&rsquo; U.S.&rdquo; organised jointly by the political science faculty of the University of Erfurt, the Regional Center for Political Education and the U.S. Consulate General.</p>