<img alt="lee lane" hspace="2" src="downloads/dinner_dialogue/2005/lee_lane_II_80_80.jpg" align="right" vspace="2" border="0" />US energy and climate policy was the topic of the Transatlantic Climate Dinner in honor of Lee Lane, Executive Director of the Climate Policy Center in Washington, D.C. The event participants discussed the possibility of and need for an effective US climate policy, in light of the developments at the sub-national, federal and international levels. This Transatlantic Climate Dinner took place on 14 December 2005 in Berlin.

On occasion of the capacity-building workshop on Integrated Water Resources Management, R. Andreas Kraemer spoke to participants from several Maghreb countries about the management of flood and drought events. After contrasting the specific situations in Europe and Northern Africa and outlining the differences, but also common challenges, he went on to discuss structural and non-structural measures to prevent negative effects from floods and droughts in both regions.

In her contribution at the international capacity-building workshop on Integrated Water Resources Management Nicole Kranz discussed the experiences with participative water management in the Rhine basin and outlined possible inspirations to be derived for water management in Northern Africa.

During an international capacity-building workshop for participants from Central and Eastern Europe which was convened from 29 September to 1 October 2005, Nicole Kranz discussed the application of a valuation of ecosystem services for the implementation of the requirements of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD).

Debates and discussions are still taking place on the aims of the European Commission as regards the strengthening of competition in the water sector. The question is: What would the consequences be for the German water and wastewater sector, if water provision was to be increasingly subjected to competition, public procurement and internal market rules?

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region belongs to the most water-scarce areas in the world. Population growth, urbanisation and industrialisation have led to an increase in water demands and resource pollution. As a result, there is a growing need for an integrated concept to manage the available water resources. Against this background, InWent – Capacity Building International, Germany, in co-operation with the World Bank Institute (WBI) and Office Nationale de L'Eau Potable (ONEP), organised the capacity-building workshop “Integrated Water Resources Management: Course for North Africa”. The workshop took place from 28 November to 3 December 2005 in Rabat, Morocco.

The aim of this project is to develop concepts for the protection of species in Germany for the implementation of Article 12 of the habitats directive (92/43/EEC). It will focus on the protection of animal species within agricultural land and forestry. Approaches taken by other EU Member States for the implementation of the directive will be taken into consideration. The concept will eventually be tested using two animal species as case studies.

Recent reports on Europe's biological resources prove that the loss of biodiversity has not yet been halted despite efforts in this field. One reason for this is that the instruments used to address conservation issues do not always serve their purpose. The presentation given by Rainer Müssner at the International Association of Landscape Ecologists meeting in Northampton (IALE-UK) therefore dealt with procedural aspects of how to improve landscape planning (LP) and the codes of good farming practice (GFP).

Ecologic acts as a consultant to the German Federal Ministry for the Environment for the legal implementation of the tasks resulting from the amended Renewable Energy Sources Act (Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz, EEG). The project focuses on answering the judicial questions related to the creation of a register of installations. In addition, questions related to the Renewable Energy Sources Act shall be analysed in the context of the revision of the German energy laws. Furthermore a legal analysis and evaluation of the current "mix of instruments" in the field of climate protection and energy supply will be carried out - involving the developments at european and international level. The different renewable energy support schemes will be studied and compared with the Renewable Energy Sources Act.

In 1980, Sweden decided to phase out nuclear energy. In 2004, however, an IEA study showed that Sweden had the highest production of nuclear energy per citizen, whereas the use  of wind power potential, for instance, was only recently seriously furthered.  Ecologic brings critical light to the inconstant swedish energy policy, and their effects on nuclear and renewable power.

U.S. and European views on a number of environmental issues, such as climate change or genetically modified organisms, are frequently viewed as irreconcilable. Interestingly, there seems to be more mutual understanding and agreement on the sub-national level. In recent years, a number of transatlantic partnerships between regional and local institutions have evolved in order to exchange information and best practices in the environmental policy area. Senior Fellow Markus Knigge presented his research on the role, functioning and the effectiveness of transatlantic environmental partnerships at an AICGS workshop on 19 October 2005 in Washington, D.C.

On 13 July 2005, the new German energy law entered into force. In their article, Dr. Camilla Bausch and Julia Rufin LL.M. explain the implementation of the European Directives in accelerating the liberalisation of the internal electricity and gas market. Following a description of the previous process of liberalisation at the European and National levels, the introduction of the new regulation of the energy market is discussed and the new rules concerning the de-monopolisation of the energy sector are explained. Furthermore, specific national rules outlining the European requirements are illustrated.

On 12 October 2005, the Climate Policy Center and the German Marshall Fund of the United States conducted an international workshop designed to clarify and improve R&D strategy for climate change solutions. The one-day meeting helped experts in the United States and Europe focus on key strategic questions about relevant R&D priorities and policies. Senior Fellow Markus Knigge gave a presentation on the impacts of the German Renewable Energy Sources Act and the Eco-taxes on innovation and commercialization of clean technologies.