From Fossil to Future Fuels. How to push forward the gradual but critically important switch from ?fossil fuels' to ?future fuels' was the topic of the fifth British?German Environment Forum, which met in Berlin in February 2004. The 60 participants represented the spectrum of activity in sustainable energy in both countries: politics and policy-making (at local, national and European levels), technological and commercial development, and research, reporting and campaigning. Three main challenges were debated: how to reduce dependence on imports of fossil fuels; how to promote a more rapid take-up of sustainable and energy-efficient practices and technologies and how Germany and the UK can more effectively pursue common aims within the international energy system..

By Anglo-German Foundation, UK, Germany.

Climate Change Policy Resource.

Past and Future of the Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol is the most prominent and complex global environmental agreement, consisting of differentiated greenhouse gas emission caps for industrialized countries. The Kyoto regime has an extensive institutional embedding and has introduced a set of flexible compliance instruments. A major reason why the Kyoto Protocol was realized despite widely divergent interests was that the main concerns of different nation states were met. If the Kyoto regime fails after all, because of insufficient ratification or noncompliance with targets, the consequences may be disruptive. Pessimism may spill over to other fields of environmental and/or international cooperation. The media may also magnify the impact of a failure. Government should prepare the management of such a disruption, in particular by anticipatively elaborating alternative strategies (such as a renegotiation of the Protocol, maintaining the Kyoto institutions and mechanisms, or concluding agreements with businesses) and by effectively communicating causes and consequences to the public. We recommend that the future climate policy of Dutch national government should aim at linking the climate issue to other, high-priority policy areas. Other ministries (especially economic affairs, internal affairs, and foreign affairs) should be actively involved. The necessity of an active climate policy should be well communicated to the public at large by highlighting concrete consequences of (in)action. Government should also facilitate and build proactive coalitions within the EU and other supranational fora in order to create leverage. Finally, government should make its international financial support to developing and transition countries contingent on the recipients? climate performance. By Frank Wijen and Kees Zoeteman to GLOBUS Institute for Globalization and Sustainable Development .

By Globus, Netherlands.

Climate Change Policy Resource.