Publications | Umweltbundesamt

Chemicals

Advancing REACH - REACH and substitution

Enhancing substitution of substances of concern with less hazardous alternatives will remain a key challenge for chemicals management in the coming years and is a central aim of ⁠REACH⁠. This study analyses the support of substitution, which is the use of less hazardous alternatives for substances of concern, by instruments of the REACH regulation as for example during restriction an...read more

Economy | Consumption

Voluntary offsetting: credits and allowances

Report

To date, the supply of units for the voluntary carbon market has been almost exclusively in the form of credits generated by climate protection projects elsewhere. This report analyses the merits and challenges of another possible source of supply for GHG compensation: allowances from emissions trading systems (ETSs). Yet some ETSs have market stability instruments (MSIs), such as the Market Stabi...read more

Climate | Energy

The transnational impacts of global climate change for Germany

Abridged version

Climate change will affect the frequency, intensity and regional occurrence of extreme weather events and lead to gradual climatic changes. Although climate change impacts appear locally at first, they spread beyond political borders due to the global physical and economic interconnectedness. Depending on a country’s extent of global interdependence and interaction with vulnerable countries, it ma...read more

Climate | Energy

Options for multilateral initiatives to close the global 2030 climate ambition and action gap - Policy field synthetic e-fuels

Achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement requires increased global climate action, especially towards the production and use of synthetic e-fuels. This paper focuses on aviation and maritime transport and the role of green hydrogen for indirect electrification of industry sectors. Based on a sound analysis of existing multilateral cooperation the paper proposes four potential initiatives to incr...read more

Climate | Energy

Options for multilateral initiatives to close the global 2030 climate ambition and action gap - Policy field energy transition

Achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement requires increased global climate action, especially towards the transition of the energy sector. Based on a sound analysis of existing multilateral cooperation this paper proposes five potential initiatives to increase climate ambition of the G20 countries in the respective policy field: an initiative to coordinate efforts for a green recovery, an initia...read more

Sustainability | Strategies | International matters

Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany and possible consequences for environmental policy

The COVID-19 pandemic has suddenly and fiercely changed social life around the world. Besides the diverse, in part drastic negative consequences, the crisis has also produced situations and pictures that seem utopian in “normal” times. Some of these impacts will soon fade away, others are very likely to continue in the longer term. The pandemic has thus changed the social context for environmental...read more

Waste | Resources

Chemical recycling

Chemical recycling is discussed as an alternative or addition to mechanical recycling of plastic waste, which is considered to have both the possibility of removing pollutants and the potential of using waste that is difficult to recycle or heavily contaminated. The techniques of chemical recycling are not yet established and its position within the circular economy has not yet been finally determ...read more

Sustainability | Strategies | International matters

Social Well-Being Within Planetary Boundaries: the Precautionary Post-Growth Approach

Partial Report for the “Approaches to Resource Conservation in the Context of Post-Growth Concepts” project

What relevance does economic growth have for achieving environmental policy goals? The report analyzes the arguments of various positions in this discourse and formulates an ideal-type " precautionary post-growth position". It also presents causes of economic growth and identifies social areas whose function could depend on economic growth. Furthermore, reform proposals are discussed to reduce thi...read more