Most foundations have a charter aimed at improving the state of the world in which we live. The single most important resource to achieve this goal is through financial donations, or the income generated from endowments. The reputation risk of endowments being associated with speculative or unethical business practices, or investments that are in contrast with a foundation’s objective, has increasingly been an agenda item of foundation boards. In this project the PRIME Toolkit has been developed to help foundations manage their endowments in a socially responsible way.

In the end of 2005 the parties to the Kyoto Protocol convened to decide on a number of operational aspects of the international climate regime. More importantly, they also agreed to launch consultations on future mitigation commitments for the period after 2012, when the current "Kyoto targets" expire. Dr. Camilla Bausch and Michael Mehling analyse the outcome of the meeting in an article and discuss the summit’s significance as a first step in the further evolution of the international climate regime.

This project covers new environmental policy initiatives in 2006 in the EU Member States and Acceding Countries. Relevant information is collected and analysed against the background of the renewed Sustainable Development Strategy (SDS) and the Lisbon Strategy.

The Lisbon strategy was re-launched in 2005 with a strengthened focus on growth and jobs across Europe but also with an emphasis on coherence with the Sustainable Development Strategy. The objective of this project is to develop a methodology for assessing to which extent the environmental component has been taken into account in the National Reform Programms (NRPs) and how committed the Member States are to delivering their pledges made. NRP are key tools for the implementation of the renewed Lisbon Strategy.

<p>On 31 August 2006 a conference on "Resource Efficiency - Innovations for the Environment and Job Creation", jointly organised by the German Federal Ministry of the Environment and IG Metall (Industrial Trade Union of Metalworkers), was held in Berlin. Central in the discussion was the intelligent use of energy and raw materials as a key component of increased employment and economic success. Participants agreed that only a linkage between economy and ecology through the use of energy-efficient products and procedures will both provide chances for the future and preserve natural resources. Ecologic supported the organisation of the conference.</p>&#13;

The EU Water Framework Directive has been a key influence for water policies in Europe since its entry into force in 2000. A first review and stocktaking of the Directive's impact is scheduled for 2007 by the European Commission. In this context, DG Environment has asked a consortium to provide information on the costs and benefits of the WFD implementation, with a particular focus on the agricultural sector.

In the cases of climate change, overfishing of oceans, biodiversity loss, and land erosion and desertification, inadequate - or the complete lack of - environmental protection policies impose significant costs on the affected parties. In this scoping study the costs of policy inaction related to different environmental issues are explored. The emphasis is on methodological considerations such as the accrual and valuation of such costs and the use of the results to support policy making.

In implementing the Water Framework Directive, cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) is an essential part of choosing between options from the Programme of Measures. Ecologic contributed the European expertise in a project commissioned by The UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to assess what type of data were available for CEA. An analysis of the German, Dutch, Austrian and French approaches was carried out and conclusions drawn about their transferability.

On behalf of the European Commission, DG Environment, Ecologic Fellow Thomas Dworak participated in a workshop on the WFD and Agriculture and gave a presentation on EU agricultural policies and water management. The workshop was held in Malinska, Croatia on 25 and 26 April 2006 and organised by the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) together with the UNDP-GEF Danube Regional Project.

The current and future impact of the European Union on the sustainable development of its neighbours to the south and east and proposals for the future direction of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) were the themes of this session that took place at the 2006 Annual Conference of the European Foundation Centre (EFC). During the event an Ecologic Brief on European Neighbourhood Policy , written by Sascha Müller-Kraenner, was launched.

"Ambitious Environmental Policy – The Basis for Sustainable Industrial Development" was the theme of a Side Event at the 14th Session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) in New York on 11 May 2006. It addressed the relations between business and policy-making, and the role of regulation and dynamics of change in China and Germany. German environment minister Sigmar Gabriel opened the event, chaired by R. Andreas Kraemer.