On the occasion of a delegation visit of water experts and environmental activists from Korea to the Berlin Water Works on 26 October 2004, Ecologic Fellows Britta Pielen and Nicole Kranz spoke about the German water sector, current developments in EU water policy as well as public participation in water management.

The Arctic has been described as an indicator region for global environmental health. Both in the case of persistent organic pollutants and in the case of global warming, detrimental effects on indigenous peoples are becoming visible throughout the region - impacts that will also be felt in other parts of the world. A Dinner Dialogue with John Crump discussed possible impacts and the actions taken by the Arctic Council in response to these threats. The Dinner Dialogue took place in Berlin on 13 October 2004.

International Climate Protection Policy was the subject at the Dinner Dialogue in honor of Lee Lane, Executive Director of the Climate Policy Center in Washington DC. The roots and the role of growing US conservatism as the driving force of American climate policy were controversially discussed, as well as the most efficient and promising approaches to tackle climate change issues. The Dinner Dialogue took place on 6 October 2004 in Berlin.

The Linking Directive was the topic of the Climate Talk event which took place on 11 August. Experts from business, science, and government discussed the legal framework and the difficulties of putting JI (Joint Implementation) and CDM (Clean Development Mechanism) into practice within the framework of the European emissions trading scheme. Presentations were given by Dr. Patrick Graichen (Federal Government for the Environment - BMU), Thomas Langrock (German Agency for Emissions Trading - DEHSt) and Dr. Sascha Lafeld (3C).

In his contribution for the symposium "Representation of Interests by NGOs at European Level" at the Bucerius Law School, Dr. Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf focused on the influence of European environmental interest groups on European environmental Policy. Dr. Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf analysed the institutional structures of European environmental NGOs and illustrated their success and deficits in influencing European environmental Policy. Therein, he focused on the Green G8, an umbrella association of European environmental NGOs and the European Environmental Bureau (EEB).

High level representatives, among them the Ambassador of Costa Rica to Germany, exchanged views on the role of education and potential of fair trade in rural areas of developing countries. One of the main issues debated at the Dinner Dialogue on 1 July 2004 in Berlin with Dr. José Zaglul, Rector of Earth University in Costa Rica, was the question of the contribution of agricultural education and fair trade to rural development in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The first Climate Talk discussion revolved around "Climate Protection and Competition", as the contemporaneous debates between EU member states about the National Allocation Plans had raised many questions about climate protection measures and the distortion of competition. Presentations were given by Dr. Simon Marr (Deutsche Emissionshandelsstelle – DEHSt) and Steffen Hentrich (Rat von Sachverständigen für Umweltfragen – SRU).

Eduard Interwies, Senior Economist at Ecologic, presented an assessment of the impact on the German water sector of recent developments concerning the potential liberalisation of water services at EU level.

"The Transatlantic Dialogue on climate change is as important as ever". This was one of the results of a Dinner Dialogue with Prof. David A. Wirth. 19 representatives from policy making, research institutes, NGOs and business came together to informally discuss climate change and the future of the Kyoto Protocol from a transatlantic perspective.

As part of the Sustainable Development Strategy process, a conference entitled "Dialogue for the National Sustainable Development Strategy: How could its environmental profile be strengthened?" will be held on 18-19 March 2004. By means of this conference, the German Federal Environment Ministry is seeking to engage all stakeholders in a dialogue, to reflect on achievements and to come up with proposals for the further development of the strategy.

The issue of "Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns" has gained a new impetus in international debates as a result of the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg 2002. The States now face the challenge of fleshing out the "10-year-framework for programmes" by integrating programme content at their respective national levels. Germany currently faces a multitude of approaches and initiatives to promote sustainable production and consumption patterns,  and the challenge now lies in how to consolidate these methods. Ecologic supports the German Federal Environmental Ministry and the Federal Environment Agency in this project.