Press | Umweltbundesamt

Federal Environment Minister Peter Altmaier and Federal Minister of Education and Research Johanna Wanka consider the latest IPCC report on climate change to be a clear indication that climate change is advancing. Following the presentation of the IPCC report today in Stockholm Altmaier stated "the IPCC has shown the international community that ambitious climate action is crucial". Wanka also str... read more

Lamps which are launched on the market after 1 September 2013 must bear the new EU energy efficiency label. The label will help consumers to assess whether a product uses a lot or only a little electricity. Very economical LED lamps are labelled in energy efficiency classes A+ and A++. Jochen Flasbarth, President of the Federal Environment Agency, remarks, “Inefficient lighting continues to waste... read more

How has air quality improved in Germany? Which pollutants in the air have either increased or decreased? Are limits on air pollutants appropriate? These are the issues which will be discussed by 150 experts at a conference in Dessau on 16-17 September in the framework of the European Year of Air. The conference will focus on air quality in cities and in regions with high population density. Compar... read more

Land use continues to be an unsolved environmental problem in Germany. Why? Businesses and residents are leaving urban areas and new shopping centres and single-family settlements are mushrooming on greenfield sites. The consequence – especially in many small and medium-sized towns – is urban sprawl, land consumption as well as an inner-city vacancy rate and depreciation. Many experts say that a s... read more

Stuffy air in schools can have a direct impact on children’s health. Now at the beginning of the school year, after school buildings have been remediated or refurbished, is a time when contamination of school rooms may have occurred. Since schools and child care centres are croweded spaces with many people, the levels of carbon dioxide can also rise rapidly. This is why it is especially important... read more

Decentralised energy systems which satisfy their own power demand without being connected to the grid are an option for cities and municipalities in a few isolated cases only. The electricity demand of industry and commerce in particular cannot be met with this approach. This is the conclusion drawn in a study by the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) which develops a scenario of a future electricit... read more

The Federal Environment Agency (UBA) is moving into a new, especially environmentally sound office building called 'Haus 2019' in Berlin-Marienfelde today. The goal for the model green building, which will provide a workplace for 31 people, is particularly ambitious: it is a zero-energy house which will cover its entire energy needs by itself. read more

It has happened to nearly everyone at one time or another: one’s mobile phone or expensive digital camera becomes defective before the end of its predicted service life and can only be repaired, if at all, at high cost. This phenomenon of a product’s natural or artificially influenced wear is called obsolescence. Jochen Flasbarth, President of the Federal Environment Agency (UBA), remarks, “There... read more