Press | Umweltbundesamt

Subsidies amounting to some 42 billion euros for 2006 in Germany had a negative impact on health and the environment, is the conclusion reached by a Federal Environment Agency study about the adverse consequences of subsidies in Germany, Umweltschädliche Subventionen in Deutschland. The variety of negative effects ranges from acceleration of climate change and impairment of water, soil and air qu... read more

Loss of biological diversity is one of the key environmental problems we face in the 21st century. The Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) and the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) intend to work together towards a solution to this problem. More than 100 German and international experts from science and the field met at a symposium held in Bonn on 29-30 October 2008 to identify ways to sus... read more

The contest on energy-efficient city lighting that was launched in June is now presenting results from the first phase in a compilation of energy-efficient technologies, which can be accessed on the Internet starting today. The site will help initiate the next round of the contest, which is aimed specifically at municipalities. Schemes and new plans to use energy-efficient lighting in cities and t... read more

Since a short time ago, businesses have had an obligation to report on substances that pose a certain risk to mankind and the environment. The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has for the first time published a list of substances of very high concern. Reasons for inclusion are that the substnaces are: carcinogenic, mutagenic, or toxic for reproduction, and the list also includes persistent, bioacc... read more

Is there a higher incidence of heat waves and severe weather in Europe? How much are the sea levels in Europe rising? How does climate change impact man, plants, and animals? The answers to this are provided in Impacts of Europe’s changing climate - 2008 indicator based assessment report, which the European Environment Agency (EEA) issued yesterday in Copenhagen, Denmark. It confirms that the clim... read more

Protect the climate with carbon dioxide-sounds like a contradiction? It may at first seem paradoxical to want to protect the climate with a greenhouse gas, but this is not so in the case of refrigerants used in mobile air conditioning systems.  In fact, carbon dioxide (CO2) is an ecological alternative to the refrigerant tetrafluoroethane commonly used to date. CO2 harms the climate up to 1,300 ti... read more

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 Environme... read more

The Federal Environment Agency (UBA) is supporting the „klima on- s´cooltour 2008/09” campaign launched by the Lightcycle company. School-age children are competing in a project contest to develop creative solutions to climate and environmental problems. Anyone in the fifth class through to those taking A-levels can participate. These young people decide on their own whether to design their projec... read more