Publications | Umweltbundesamt

Chemicals, Economy | Consumption, Health

Harmonised VOC Emission Classes for Construction Products

A Tool to Achieve Healthy Buildings

This documentation summarises the presentations and the discussions of the international online conference "Limiting Health Impacts of Construction Products regarding Volatile Organic Compounds" organised by the German Environment Agency in April 2021.The conference presented the current status of harmonisation activities on the topic of construction product emissions as well as a concrete proposa...read more

Klima | Energie

Climate Impact and Risk Assessment 2021 for Germany (Summary)

This executive summary presents shortly the contents of the six sub-reports of the "Climate Impact and Risk Analysis 2021 for Germany", for which 102 climate impacts and 13 fields of action were investigated and assessed. The methodology and the basics of the projections as well as the generic adaptation capacity are addressed. The most important results for all 13 fields of action are presented....read more

Waste | Resources

Recommendations for the Revision of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive 1994/62/EG

Suggestions for Strengthening Circular Economy

Over the past 10 years, the amount of packaging generated across the EU has increased by almost 18 percent, with around 66 percent of packaging waste being recycled. The revision of the Packaging Directive should therefore primarily help to strengthen waste prevention, the recyclability of packaging and the use of recyclates and further develop information requirements. Material requirements shoul...read more

Climate | Energy

The Mexican Emission Trading System and the Electricity Market

Influence of market structures and market regulation on the carbon market

Electricity generation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in many countries. Most emissions trading systems (ETS) therefore address emissions from electricity generation. The de-sign of an ETS and the structure and regulation of the electricity sector have a large impact on the environmental effectiveness and the quality of the carbon price signal. This report analyses the potential...read more

Chemicals

Advancing REACH: Strengthening control of emerging risk

In October 2020, the European Commission launched the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability that calls to counter emerging risk with preventive action. This report aims to place this strategy in the context of the debate on the precautionary principle in the EU and to derive policy options to advance ⁠REACH⁠ in order to strengthen the control of emerging risk. The report assesses the...read more

Sustainability | Strategies | International matters

The path to greenhouse gas neutral administration

stages and guidelines

A guide of the German Environment Agency (UBA) supports public administrations being a role model of climate protection. To this end, it presents nine stages on the path to greenhouse gas neutral administration. For each stage, it describes the steps and challenges and provides practical recommendations for all relevant issues. Furthermore, the guide contains methodological, organizational and pra...read more

Economy | Consumption, Waste | Resources, Water, Soil | Land

Management of contaminated sites of the petrochemical industry

Manual

Environmental authorities globally are challenged with the complexity of problems associated with contaminated sites. For protecting human beings and the quality of the environmental media air, water and soil, the prevention and elimination of hazards as well as impact mitigation are crucial. This manual presents information and solution-oriented procedures for all stakeholders with a focus on ide...read more

Chemicals

Advancing REACH – ECHA Board of Appeal

Proposals for further development and strategies for implementation

For ⁠REACH⁠ a board of appeal (BoA) is established within the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) in order to guarantee processing of appeals for any natural or legal person affected by decisions taken by ECHA. This report summarized the status and the development of the Board of Appeal since REACH entered into force. It analyses three different policy options to enhance the efficiency...read more