Water resource licensing is increasingly becoming a cornerstone of integrated water resources management (IWRM). Licensing and other allocation mechanisms are important because they determine who gets access to water and provide a means of managing water fairly, efficiently and sustainably. As water grows scarce in an increasing number of countries, there is a significantly greater risk of corruption in the water licensing process. These risks, and their underlying factors, are not well understood. The authors of the report explore the nature of the risk of corruption using a 2007 field study, with Chile and Kazakhstan as case studies.

Under the title "Setting the Course for the Future, not Nursing a Hangover – After the Copenhagen Debacle, Europe Needs an Effective Strategy for Climate Negotiations", Sascha Müller-Kraenner, Senior Policy Advisor at the Ecologic Institute, suggests options for the future external climate policy of the European Union. The article (in German) is available exclusively online from Internationale Politik, Germany's leading foreign policy magazine.

This working paper affirms that emissions trading systems currently under development in the US raise certain challenges for an operational market link, but are not generally incompatible. Specifically, certain design elements of trading systems may give rise to concern, such as cost containment provisions and borrowing and offset provisions.

<p>&#13; The results of the study "Connecting public transportation with car and bike sharing programs" were presented by Dominic Marcellino at a transportation policy workshop organized by Ecologic Institute, the Heinrich Böll Foundation, and the Brookings Institution.</p>&#13;

In the North polar region, key nations of the world will answer the key question: Will confrontation or cooperation reign in the Arctic of Tomorrow. R. Andreas Kraemer of Ecologic Institute sketched the future as keynote panellist at the Arctic Future Forum of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and the Rideau Institute in Ottawa, ON, on 29 September 2009. The Forum focused on security and arms control, climate change and energy. The key findings and a summary report of the Arctic Future Forum in Ottawa, ON, on 29 September 2009 is available download.

As the Cold War ends and the ice is melting in the Arctic, security and arms control, climate change and energy, present a new situation for the relations among nations and the joint management of the region. On 29 September 2009, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and the Rideau Institute convened an expert meeting in Ottawa to take stock of "The Arctic Today and Finding Common Transatlantic Ground". R. Andreas Kraemer of Ecologic Institute acted as discussant and moderated a session on energy and the environment. The key findings and a summary report of the Arctic Future Forum in Ottawa, ON, on 29 September 2009 is available download.

<p>&#13; In a Carleton University Podcast Interview conducted by Helen Morris, R. Andreas Kraemer, Director of Ecologic Institute in Berlin, discusses policy co-operation in the area of European environmental governance.  He focuses on some of the challenges facing different policy communities such as transport, energy, and agriculture when trying to work together on environmental concerns.  He also highlights the potential for sharing ideas and for Canadians and Europeans to learn from each others' experiences.</p>&#13;

<p>&#13; Successive policy challenges and EU enlargement have added layers of policy, legislation, and institutions to create the current system for addressing environment, climate, energy, and sustainable development. R. Andreas Kraemer of Ecologic Institute was invited to speak on "European Environmental Governance: Options for Cooperation" at the Centre for European Studies of Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, on 28 September 2009.</p>&#13;

During the 2009 Aspen Environment Forum, the conversation addressed the changing Arctic in discussion with Sven Lindblad of Lindblad Expeditions, NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco, Climate Communications Director Susan Joy Hassol, Oceanographer Sylvia Earle, author Charles Wohlforth, Elizabeth Cheney of Shell Oil, Ecologic Institute Director R. Andreas Kraemer, and University of Alaska Chancellor Fran Ulmer. Aspen Institute's Executive Director of the Energy and Environment Program, David Monsma, moderated

<p>&#13; "Options and Opportunities for the future EU Sustainable Development Strategy" was the theme of the ESDN Conference 2009 in Prague on 17-19 June 2009, hosted by the Czech EU Presidency in cooperation with the Swedish EU Presidency.  Ecologic Institute contributed a background paper, and R. Andreas Kraemer of Ecologic Institute was invited to speak on "Economic Stimulus Packages in Europe", and comment on the coherence of policy strategies in Europe and the challenges of policy integration.</p>&#13;

<p>&#13; Solutions for International Environmental Governance were a theme of conversation at the 2009 Aspen Environment Forum.  Moderated by former US Senator Gary Hart, the discussants were the Minister of Environment of Panama Ligia Castro de Doens, Deputy Director in the Ministry of Environmental Protection of China Jia Feng, the Director of the North America office of UNEP Amy Fraenkel, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution David Sandelow, the Director of the Global Environmental Governance Projects at Yale University Maria Ivanova, and Ecologic Institute Director R. Andreas Kraemer.</p>&#13;

<p> In view of rising food and energy prices with impacts on vulnerable groups of society, the European Commission (DG Employment) convened a conference in Brussels on 24 February 2009 on social impacts of sustainable development, and policies aimed at making production and consumption more sustainable.&nbsp; R. Andreas Kraemer of Ecologic Institute presented the success case of the German ecological tax reform, which creates jobs, helps stabilise social security systems, and induces improvements in energy efficiency and structural change.</p>

<p> The need to better understand and monitor the linkages between social exclusion and unsustainable development, and the quest for a toolkit to assess the social impacts of environment policy measures, the European Commission (DG Employment) convened a workshop for scientific support for promoting social fairness in sustainable development in Brussels on 23 February 2009.&nbsp; R. Andreas Kraemer of Ecologic Institute was invited to speak on social exclusion and a poor environment.</p>

R. Andreas Kraemer of Ecologic Institute gave a keynote presentation on "Threats and Opportunities in a Changing Arctic: Policy Challenges and Transatlantic Relations" at the John H. Chafee Center for International Business of Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island, on 14 November 2008. The presentation draws on the transatlnatic Arctic Transform dialogue.