Publications | Umweltbundesamt

Chemicals

Substitution of critical biocidal active substances under European law - Development of a comparative assessment concept for the environment

Authorisation of biocidal products in the European Union is a two-stage process, where the biocidal active substances are approved in a first step at the European level, and the biocidal products are authorised in a second step at member state level. If an active substance is designated as Candidate for Substitution during this process, a comparative assessment must be carried out for each biocida...read more

Air, Health

Health Effects of Ultrafine Particles

Systematic literature search and the potential transferability of the results to the German setting

Ultrafine particles represent the smallest size fractions of particles with sizes from one to about 100 nanometers in aerodynamic diameter . Thus, their specific health effects are related to their physical capacity to reach diverse organ systems. The aims of this project were to systematically review the scientific literature on the health effects of ultrafine particles, to evaluate the quality o...read more

Climate | Energy

Strategy for long-term EU greenhouse gas emissions reductions

Submission by the German Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt, UBA)

The EU’s current 80-95% emissions reduction objective for 2050 laid down in the Low-Carbon-2050 Roadmap is an outdated target range and even more problematic, EU’s legally binding 2030 climate policy framework is rated to be far from being sufficient to bring the EU on track with the long-term temperature targets of the Paris Agreement. Now, with the 1.5C-special report of IPCC (IPCC, 2018), the g...read more

Wirtschaft | Konsum

Green Public Procurement: eco-friendly and cost-saving

Each year, German contracting authorities purchase some €300 billion worth of products ranging from pencils to city buses. This massive purchasing power can potentially be used to reduce environmental pollution, improve environmental product and service portfolios, and promote more targeted market launches of innovative eco-friendly products. When it comes to public procurement, it’s often a relat...read more

Climate | Energy

What Makes an Ideal Global Stocktake? A Functional Analysis

Discussion Paper

Many hope that the Global Stocktake under the Paris Agreement can become a catalyst for increased mitigation ambition over time. Based on different theories of change, this paper outlines four governance functions for the Global Stocktake. It can contribute to the Paris Agreement as a pacemaker (stimulating and synchronizing policy processes across governance levels), by ensuring accountability of...read more

Transport

Mobility Survey of the German Environment Agency 2017

Summary Report

For the fourth time, the German Environment Agency asked its employees about their commuting behavior as well as their business travel arrangements. 68 percent of employees come to work on foot, by bike or with public transport. Biking accounts for 25 percent of all commuting trips. This is three times more than the national average. The share of public transport and the train increased slightly c...read more

Climate | Energy

Voluntary CO2 offsetting through climate protection projects

An increasing number of people are changing their way of life to make a contribution to global climate protection. Only when greenhouse gases can no longer be avoided and reduced, offsetting is the last step for an environmental-friendly footprint. This guide summarises the most important aspects in a concise form to be taken into account in voluntary offsetting. The guide will also help you under...read more

Climate | Energy

Comparative analysis of options and potential for emission abatement in industry –summary of study comparison and studyfactsheets

This report presents a comparison of several low-carbon roadmaps for the years until 2050 from major European industry associations and the European Commission, and also contrasts them to a selection of closely related research analyses. It addresses the identified abatement potentials, the assumptions made, and a first assessment on their impact on the results. The idea is to increase the general...read more