Content | Umweltbundesamt

Nitrogen. Too much of a good thing?Useful or harmful? A substance with many facetsThe element nitrogen is essential for all life on earth. In order to act as a building block of life however, it must form chemical compounds with other elements and thus be converted into its reactive state. Despite being the principle component of our atmosphere, molecular atmospheric nitrogen cannot be used di... read more

The report provides an overview of environmentally harmful subsidies in Germany and makes proposals for their reform or reduction. It focuses on subsidies that have a negative impact on the environmental goods climate, air, soil, water, biodiversity and landscape, as well as on health and the consumption of raw materials. The report analyzes subsidies and their environmental impacts in the are... read more

The “SDG Pathways” research project used the iSDG model, which was adapted to German data, to develop an assessment approach for modeling the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in ambitious climate and resource scenarios up to 2050. The results show that an ambitious climate and resource policy improves the SDG targets overall. The study highlights the differences between dyna... read more

In 2012, aviation was included in the EU ETS. In 2016, the ICAO also adopted a global measure to limit CO2 emissions from international aviation (CORSIA). The aim of the research project is to investigate the reciprocal effects between these two market-based instruments. In particular, several options how both could be optimally combined are considered. In addition, the extent to which the two... read more

Since 2016, the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) has regularly published a report on the situation regarding the use of natural resources in Germany. The UBA Resource Report examines the diverse connections between raw material consumption, raw material extraction, global trade and economic development and also takes a look at flowing resources such as wind, sun and water as well as the enviro... read more

Sustainable electricity supply calls for transition to a system using 100 percent renewable energy sources. Electricity supply based entirely on renewable energy sources is technically possible by 2050. In all ambitious expansion scenarios, electricity from wind and solar energy plays the central role. The costs of electricity generation from renewable sources have already fallen considerably ... read more

Die Untersuchung der deutschen Förderpolitik umfasst direkte Förderprogramme sowie verschiedene indirekt auf Innovationen wirkende Instrumente der Umweltpolitik, wie Abgaben oder das Ordnungsrecht. Sie wird durch eine Analyse ausländischer Best-Practice-Beispiele, unter anderem die kalifornische Klimapolitik und das japanische Top-Runner-Programm, ergänzt. read more