<p>&#13; On 14 October 2010, the German American Energy Forum - a one-day international event that aims to open a dialogue between experts on various energy issues - was held in Washington DC Michael Mehling, President of Ecologic Institute, Washington DC, moderated the first panel focused on energy infrastructure. Ecologic Institute is a supporting partner.</p>&#13;

<p>Why has Germany become a world leader in developing and installing renewable energy, while the United States was a laggard until recently? For the past few years, Christoph Stefes of the University of Colorado Denver and Ecologic Institute Berlin as well as Frank Laird of the University of Denver have conducted research to answer this question. They have recently presented the results of this research, which received generous funding from the National Science Foundation, at an event of Ecologic Institute Washington, DC.</p><p>

In this article, Ecologic Institute's Max Grünig provides an overview of different definitions of "green jobs" and describes advantages and problems connected with this concept. He emphasizes that it is not enough to create new green jobs, but that every job has to become more environmentally-friendly.

Using different scenarios of socio-economic and climate development, this study examines potential impacts of climate change on Germany's financial budget. Additionally, the authors include effects of demographic change and assess the scope for action of public authorities.

The objective of this project was to characterize the impacts biodiversity loss has or on vulnerable groups in Europe and the developing world and, more specifically, on jobs depending on the use of natural resources from healthy ecosystems. The project used the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA) framework to describe the link between biodiversity and the provision of ecosystem services in order to generate an understanding of the welfare people attain from such services. The study is available for download.

<p>&#13; Climate change threatens the access to essential resources for millions of people. Moreover, climate change directly threatens the lives of people. The conflicts that might result from climate change could escalate into violent conflicts within and between states. In his presentation, Christoph H. Stefes, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, discussed under which circumstances conflicts might turn violent and how the Western community could assist in preventing or solving these conflicts.</p>&#13;

In her publication for the Journal for New Energy Law (Zeitschrift für Neues Energierecht), Anke Rostankowski, Associate of Ecologic Institute, investigates the prerequisites for a sustainable energy supply. She also analyses the effects of the market integration of renewable energies on their own further development.