Joint press release with the German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety

Germany is global leader in exports of environmental protection products

56 billion euros in environmental protection products shipped abroad

German companies are the global leaders in the environmental protection market. With a global trade share of 16 per cent and an export volume of 56 billion euros in 2006, Germany landed first place again, ahead of the USA (15 per cent) and Japan (9 per cent). These are the results of a research project carried out by Lower Saxony’s Institute for Economic Research on behalf of the Federal Environment Agency (UBA). Worldwide demand is highest for German measurement products and control systems, e.g. heat meters. The greatest growth in exports in the last three years was in the area of renewable energies, rising by nearly 25 per cent per year.
No. 66/2008

Projections for 2007 indicate that the positive trend will continue. In 2007 export volume of potential environmental protection products made in Germany amounted to nearly 60 billion euros. This is an amount that corresponds to the export volume in the electrical engineering industry. ”Germany continues to lead in exports of environmental technology. This reflects global demand for quality in environmental and climate protection. However, competition lurks and we must steer industrial policy so as to be able to continue to assume a leadership role”, said Federal Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel.#

Potential environmental protection products-- that is, pumps, pipes, measurement and control systems and devices- can serve the purpose of environmental protection among others. The concept of potential environmental protection products dates back to a convention developed by research institutes together with the Federal Statistical Office in the 1990s and which has since been applied in studies on the technological efficiency of the German economy.

”The encouraging development in exports of environmental protection products has more than just a positive effect on international environmental protection efforts, it is beneficial to the national economy and creates jobs in Germany. This success would not be possible without demanding and progressive environmental policy”, declared Dr. Thomas Holzmann, Vice President of UBA.

A summary of results on the export of environmental protection goods is available for download as a PDF.

Dessau, 22 September 2008

 

 

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