Integrated assessment is rapidly spreading as a practice at different levels of governance. However, the choice of using certain tools in an assessment is often not well founded. In this paper, Wouter de Ridder, John Turnpenny, Måns Nilsson and Anneke von Raggamby present a framework that scientifically underpins the role of, and thus choice of, tools within an integrated assessment.

The article by Dr. Camilla Bausch and Jonathan Donehower analyses the flexible mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol used by the international community to fight rising carbon emissions. The most prominent example of regional implementation of emissions trading, the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), is presented in detail with an outlook on potential future improvements.

Ecologic, together with IÖW – Institute for Ecological Economy Research, will host a summer school on Methods and Tools for Impact Assessment from 16 - 20 June this year in Berlin. The summer school addresses young scientists and consultants from European institutes who are involved in sustainable development and environmental research and want to improve their knowledge and skills in impact assessment. The programme combines input lectures with practical training sessions on relevant methods, such as stakeholder participation, scenario building, multi-criteria analysis, and cost-benefit analysis.

Is there a legal right to weather? Weather modification technologies have been used for over 50 years. Clouds are seeded with chemicals in order to induce or prevent rain, hail or snow. In his article, Ralph Czarnecki, Senior Fellow at Ecologic, analyses perspectives on a future weather law against the background of scarcer precipitation and the ensuing problems such as "rain theft" and distributional justice.

The three-part seminar series "What Price Energy Transformation" dealt with the energy and security policy challenges evoked by climate change. The participants from Europe and the USA discussed their views and knowledge on the causes, impacts and solutions of the changes with the aim of developing a common paper providing concrete recommendations and instructions for policy-makers.

The unique structure of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) makes it difficult to grant it a legal status in Germany that matches its importance. The project renders a legal opinion analysing international, national and German rules and practice, and drafts a statutory instrument for endowing IUCN with a privileged status.

<p>&#13; Integrated sustainability assessment is a key element for advancing sustainable development by assessing the economic, environmental and social impacts of policy proposals. While the EU Commission has committed to producing high quality impact assessment, Anneke von Raggamby evaluates the availability and actual use in EU Commission Impact Assessment practice at the OECD workshop on Sustainable Assessment Methodologies.</p>&#13;

On 27 February 2008, an Ecologic Dinner Dialogue was held in honour of Suedeen Kelly, Commissioner at the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). In her initial remarks, Suedeen Kelly pointed out that many electric utilities in the United States are indeed aware of the potential new grid technologies have – the “fairy kiss” by information technology seems to be happening. However, the deployment of smart grids is not going to happen on its own.

Thomas Bosecke critically evaluates coastal protection measures of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea according to an extensive analysis of the biogeographic conditions. He proposes a cautious approach and the Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM). The proposed solutions are then reviewed for their legal enforceability with regard to land use planning, nature conservation, property rights and different questions concerning regulatory approval.

Water scarcity and drought was one of the main environmental policy priorities for the EU Presidency of Portugal in 2007. The Informal Council of Environment Ministers on "Water Scarcity and Droughts" on 31 August and 1 September 2007 in Lisbon was designed to further the debate in the European Union. A paper and presentation by R. Andreas Kraemer supplemented a background paper provided by the Portuguese Presidency and the European Commission "Addressing the challenge of water scarcity and droughts in the European Union" of 18 July 2007.

Pharmaceuticals in the environment is an issue receiving growing attention. Over the past few years, the amount of research on the potential environmental effects and risks of pharmaceuticals has greatly increased. It thus becomes essential to point out key issues to be addressed in order to increase the effectiveness of research. The EU project KNAPPE aims to identify relevant priority actions to be taken in order to reduce the occurrence, impacts and risk of pharmaceutical products in the aquatic environment.

<p>&#13; At a panel discussion, Stephanie Schlegel, Fellow at Ecologic, gave a presentation on the current achievements and crucial discussion points of renewable energy politics in Europe. The presentation focused on the developments in the context of the "Climate action and renewable energy package" - the recently published legislative proposal of the European Commission.</p>&#13;

This article describes the important changes to the Renewable Energy Sources Act due to the amendment within the framework of the Integrated Energy and Climate Programme of the German government. The article is published in issue 3, volume 19, Zeitschrift für Umweltrecht.