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.

On 25 February 2008, an Ecologic Dinner Dialogue was held in Berlin in honour of Mark Halle, European Director of the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) as well as Global Director of Trade &amp; Investment. Mark Halle introduced key aspects of the role of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in international environmental governance (IEG). He pointed out that environmental issues for governments often come second, leaving NGOs as important actors in the field of IEG.  The decisive question of how to move environmental issues to the centre of political decision making still needs to be tackled.

The Environmental Performance Index (EPI) identifies targets for several core environmental policy categories and measures how close countries come to meet them. Ecologic compiled and analysed the data sources of the EPI for Germany, and assessed the methodologies of the Index. Based on this assessment, both the scientific and political relevance of the index for German environmental policy performance were determined. The report was published by the German Federal Environment Agency in UBA-Texte 09/08.

This book deals with integrated water management and institutional water regimes in Greece, on a national level and in specific river basins. The book presents the results of the doctoral dissertation of Eleftheria Kampa, Fellow at Ecologic.

The Arctic TRANSFORM project developed transatlantic policy options for supporting adaptation in the marine Arctic environment based on input from more than 50 experts on Arctic policy in the areas of environmental governance, indigenous peoples, hydrocarbons, shipping, and fisheries. Emphasis was placed on cross-sectoral synergies, stakeholder participation, and governance options in the Arctic.

At a Transatlantic Luncheon on 18 January 2008, Molly Hall introduced key aspects of sustainability management practices of two US and two EU companies that are recognised leaders in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Drawing on the history of CSR as it developed on both sides of the Atlantic, she highlighted differences in their respective approaches. Molly Hall teaches environmental law at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside and is a consultant to the German Environmental Ministry.

In a discussion paper for the recently launched Forum for Atlantic Climate and Energy Talks (FACET), Camilla Bausch and Michael Mehling look back on the recent negotiations at the U.N. climate conference in Bali, Indonesia, and analyse the implications of the "Bali Roadmap" for the future of the international climate regime.