CFACT Europe is looking back at a very successful working year. A number of well-respected experts joined its advisory board, several successful events and presentations were hosted or attended, and last but not least, a German edition of Paul Driessen’s book “Eco-imperialism” was published and was well received in the German media.

  1. New members of the advisory board
    CFACT Europe’s advisory board, chaired by Dr. Peter Doerell, a highly respected international energy consultant from Brussels (Belgium), was joined by law philosopher Dr. Carlo Lottieri, Professor at the University of Siena (Italy), and Dr. Tom Victor Segalstad, Associate Professor of Resource and Environmental Geology and Head of the Geological Museum at the University of Oslo (Norway). Dr. Segalstad is also expert reviewer to the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC). Other new prominent members who recently joined include Sallie Balliunas, Ph.D., Staff Scientist, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (USA), Kelvin Kemm, Ph.D., Pretoria (South Africa), and Dr. Cécile Philippe, Economist, Brussels (Belgium).

  2. Events and presentations
    In December 2005, CFACT Europe hosted a side event during the United Nations COP/MOP climate conference in Montreal (Canada), which turned out to also be a stimulating public debate with Greenpeace activists. In February 2005, five CFACT activists participated in the “Capitalist Ball” in Brussels, the annual gathering of the European free market movement. In April 2006, CFACT Europe Executive Director Dr. Holger Thuss participated in a very lively panel discussion on the consequences of the Chernobyl nuclear accident of 1986. And in May, CFACT-representatives participated in the IUF-Reform Summit in Berlin.

    Later in June, Dr. Thuss participated in the IIIrd European Ressource Bank meeting in Vienna, a conference of around 250 representatives of libertarian and conservative think tanks and educational organizations, where he had the opportunity to present CFACT’s activities to many of the participants. In August, Dr. Thuss participated in a panel discussion on future energy strategies, hosted by “Wirtschaftsrat”, a network of conservative business people. The same month, CFACT Europe co-hosted a lecture by author and civil rights activist Ms. Freya Klier in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the East-German freedom activist and pastor Oskar Brusewitz’ self-incineration. Finally, on August 28, CFACT Europe’s Dr. Thuss presented the activities of his network to the participants of a mini-symposium of the Baltic Cruise with SEPP and the newly-established International Panel to Stop the Incipient Ice Age (IPSIIA) in Warnemunde (Germany).

  3. Publication: Eco-Imperialism
    In June 2006, the long-awaited German edition of Paul Driessen’s book “Eco-Imperialism: Green power – Black death” appeared on the German page of Amazon and other online book sellers. Hundreds of copies of the 220-page-book were sent to policy makers, business organizations and the media. Several political magazines published extensive reviews. Dr. Holger Thuss also presented both the English and German versions to several European audiences — including GOP Europe and Republicans Abroad Germany. Around 20 prominent blogs such as www.oekologismus.de or www.objektivist.blogspot.com discussed or reviewed the German version of “Eco-Imperialism” as well. In addition, the groundbreaking book was prominently reviewed in “Die Literarische Welt,” Germany’s biggest literary supplement of the third largest daily newspaper in the country, “Die Welt.”

  4. Information and research activities
    Both the English and German web sites of CFACT Europe (www.cfact.eu and www.cfact.de) continue to distribute facts and news concerning latest developments in the areas of environment and development, and to report the organization’s activities. In 2006, for the first time, CFACT Europe participated in a public communication of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment when it presented the findings of the CFACT Europe Research Unit on the perspectives of the Kyoto agreement for the post-2012 period. Most prominent CFACT Europe authors in 2006 were CFACT senior research fellow Paul Driessen, Dr. Gerhard Gerlich, professor for mathematical physics at the Braunschweig Carolo-Wilhelmina technical university (Germany) and climate expert Dr. Tom Victor Segalstad, Associate Professor of Resource- and Environmental Geology and Head of the Geological Museum at the University of Oslo (Norway). A lengthy study on recent developments of the EU-sustainability policy has also been recently completed.

More information about these and other CFACT Europe activities and events can be found at www.cfact.eu.