Publications

The Global Stocktake (GST) under the Paris Agreement periodically assesses the collective progress towards achieving the long-term goals of the Agreement. A project commissioned by the German Environment Agency accompanied all phases of the first GST with analysis focused on mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and examined the GST’s implications for climate action.

The research project aimed to assess the risk of per- and polyfluorinated compounds (PFAS) for humans and the environment. As part of the project, PFAS were identified in certain waste streams, quantified and evaluated against the background of the requirements of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs).

The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) will require large companies to create transparency about their environmental and social impacts, including those in the supply chain.

With the indicator report "Data on the Environment – Environmental Monitor 2024", the German Environment Agency provides a condensed picture of the state of the environment, the causes of environmental pollution and starting points for improved policy action.

The study analyses strategies and offers recommendations for leveraging the Global Stocktake’s (GST) outcomes for national climate action, especially for Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). It emphasizes the need for coordinated efforts to ensure the results of the GST influence national political discourse.

Vascular plants, mosses and lichens react sensitively to the exposure to air pollutants and pollution from ammonia (NH₃). Critical concentration values for ammonia to protect vegetation (so-called critical levels) were defined for risk assessment in the Geneva Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP).

The report for industry and permitting authorities provides an overview of the hazardous substances that can be released into the marine environment during the installation, operation and decommissioning of offshore wind turbines, including transformer stations, converter platforms and cables. The substances relevant to operation were identified and listed.

The report for authorities and scientists provides an overview of substances that can be released into the marine environment from various offshore industries and estimates the quantities of pollutant inputs. These may be relevant as additional contaminants according to European Commission Decision (EU) 2017/848 for Descriptor 8, Criterion D8C1.

The report for industry and permitting authorities provides an overview of the best available techniques to prevent emissions of hazardous substances from the offshore wind industry into the marine environment during installation, operation and decommissioning.

The ELONTA project aimed at understanding the relationships between landscape structure, source-sink dynamics and the risk of pesticide use for Non-Target Arthropods (NTAs). It also investigated the effectiveness of introducing two landscape-based mitigation measures: grassy field boundaries and unsprayed field margins.

The project generated ecotoxicological data needed for the development of a tailored testing strategy to assess the environmental risk of pharmaceuticals (progestins and glucocorticoids).

The subject of this project was the preparation of substance reports for five substances or substance groups relevant for building products emissions. For these substances, the toxicological data basis were compiled and evaluated, and EU-LCI values were proposed. The EU-LCI values allow the harmonisation of the health assessment of building products emissions throughout Europe.