Launched in 2003, a French Initiative gave new impetus into the debate about upgrading UNEP to a United Nation Environment Organisation (UNEO). In this context Ecologic - in cooperation with IDDRI - organizes a conference in May 2005. It is the conference's objective to discuss and explore the potential benefits of a UNEO. 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Winner Prof. Wangari Maathai as well as Federal Minister of Environment Juergen Trittin will be among the conference's speakers.

Wenke Hansen and Nadine Herbke's article, "Quality has its price! But which? - Future of the Water Supply and Wastewater Sector" is published in the documentation of the convention "Füllhorn oder Büchse der Pandora? – GATS, the European Internal Market and the liberalisation of public services in Germany". The article addresses the evolution of prices and charges in the European water and sanitation sector, and the debate over the liberalisation of the German water sector. <br /><br />

An international workshop, organised by the OECD EAP Task Force, highlighted "best practice" for benchmarking initiatives in the water supply and sanitation sector of the EECCA region (Eastern Europe, Caucasus, Central Asia) and provided a discussion forum on potential future applications in the context of investment decisions. In her contribution, Nicole Kranz presented recent national experiences with benchmarking programmes in France, England and Wales, the Netherlands, Brazil and Sweden.

Launched in 2003, the "French Initiative" gave new impetus into the debate about upgrading UNEP to a full-fledged UN Agency. In this project, Ecologic analyses the specific challenges for developing countries in implementing international environmental policies. Based on the findings Ecologic designs options for a future United Nations Environmentmal Organisation (UNEO). The project's policy paper is available for download.

In the third issue of the Journal for European Environmental and Planning Law (JEEPL), Nicole Kranz, Benjamin Görlach and Eduard Interwies published an article on the selection of cost-effective combinations of measures according to Article 11 of the Water Framework Directive (WFD). The article highlights the results of the project "Basic principles for selecting the most cost-effective combinations of measures", conducted by Ecologic in 2003 for the German Federal Environmental Agency.

International climate policy, the significance of Russia's ratification of the Kyoto Protocol and the US elections were the subject at the Dinner Dialog on 6 December 2004. It was held in honour of Oran Young, university professor in the U.S. and in Norway. The institutional structure and goals of the international climate regime, the opportunities, both for the further development of existing structures and agendas and for the creation of possible new regimes as well as the need for concrete action, were vividly and controversially discussed.

In July 2004, the German Federal Cabinet adopted the draft amendment of the law governing non discriminatory network access (EnWG – Energiewirtschaftsgesetz). It transposes the EU Acceleration Directive for electricity and gas into German national law. Nicole Wilke and Camilla Bausch explain the essential elements of the draft amendment in an article.

"Greening of Policies – Interlinkages and Policy Integration" was the title of the Fourth Berlin Conference on the human dimension of global change. Organised by the Environmental Policy Research Centre of the Freie Universität Berlin, the conference took place on 3 and 4 December 2004 in Berlin. Ecologic Fellows Benjamin Görlach and Markus Knigge presented their work on transparency in export credit agencies.

"Sustainable Development within the context of economic globalisation" was the subject discussed at a seminar organised by the University Nürtingen. The event took place on 26 and 27 November 2004 and was dedicated to raising awareness about environmental issues within Germany's higher education system. Markus Knigge, Ecologic Fellow, gave a presentation on the relationship between multilateral environmental agreements and the international trade regime.

The European Environmental Agency (EEA) wishes to improve its methodological framework in the area of cost-effectiveness assessments and environmental-economic analysis. Ecologic supports the EEA in this task by creating an inventory of applied ex-post evaluation studies with a focus on methodologies, guidelines, legal requirements and good practice examples from the EU Member States. <p>Ecologic in co-operation with eftec and IVM carries out a review of experiences with cost-effectiveness analyzes, methods and outcomes in the environmental arena. The project's objectives are:</p>&#13; <ul></ul>

The study on "Public participation in water management in the co-ordination area Havel (Berlin-Brandenburg)" authored by Nicole Kranz, Antje Vorwerk and Wenke Hansen was published as the first volume of the new publication series of the KompetenzZentrum Wasser Berlin (KWB - Berlin Centre of Competence for Water).