Publications | Umweltbundesamt

Chemicals, Air, Health, Water, Sustainability | Strategies | International matters, Soil | Land, Transport

The Zero Pollution Action Plan as a chance for a cross-regulatory approach to pollution prevention and reduction

To further prevent and reduce the pollution of air, water, and soil and to safeguard human health and well-being, the European regulatory framework needs to be improved to include a cross-regulatory approach. This scientific opinion paper presents such an approach for the systemic protection of air, water, soil and human health – the Zero Pollution Ambition Cycle developed by the German Environmen...read more

Klima | Energie

Renewable energies in Germany

Data on the development in 2020

On behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, the Working Group on Renewable Energy Statistics (AGEE-Stat) takes stock of the use of renewable energies and annually prepares an official estimate of the development of renewable energies for the previous year. This background paper describes the initial findings for the electricity, heatand transport sectors, supplemented by fig...read more

Climate | Energy

Criteria for the evaluation of climate protection scenarios

Climate protection scenarios are an important basis for long-term climate protection planning. The modelling, which is often carried out in extensive studies, is a central source of information for decision makers and stakeholders in the development of climate protection strategies. This report outlines a catalog of criteria for the systematic evaluation of long-term climate protection scenarios. ...read more

Sustainability | Strategies | International matters

Critical loads for eutrophication and acidification for European terrestrial ecosystems

The project aimed to improve the European background database used by the Coordination Centre for Effects (CCE) to calculate Critical Loads (CLs) for eutrophication and acidification for (semi-) natural European terrestrial ecosystems. The database is used when member countries do not provide their own CL data to the CCE. In this case, the missing country data are replaced by the results of the ba...read more

Water, Sustainability | Strategies | International matters

Development of concepts and methods for compilation and assessment of selected anthropogenic pressures in the context of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive

In 2008, the Marine Strategy Framework Directive entered into force, with the overall objective to achieve and/or maintain a good status of the marine environment by 2020. The good environmental status has to be defined in accordance with qualitative Descriptors specified through a Commission Decision. The project developed a first understanding and assessment concepts for descriptors 2 (non-indig...read more

Chemicals

Bioaccumulation of ionic compounds - Deriving of alternative screening criteria from experimental studies

Many chemicals for which a PBT assessment is necessary are ionized in the environment. Therefore, the project aimed to find appropriate screening criteria for ionic organic chemicals (IOCs) to estimate their bioaccumulation potential. Twenty possible parameters were examined. The partitioning coefficient between water and fish calculated with COSMOmic showed the strongest correlation with experime...read more

Economy | Consumption, Sustainability | Strategies | International matters

Shaping sustainable digitisation

A discussion paper from the German Environment Agency

Digitisation is not only transforming our society it is also having an impact on the environment: On the one hand, digitisation can improve the state of the environment for example through digitally optimised production processes. On the other hand, negative environmental rebound effects can arise, like a higher demand for internet-enabled products from which an increase in usage of resources and...read more

Climate | Energy

The European Commission’s Renovation Wave Initiative for the Building Sector

Discussion paper

In summer 2020, the European Commission launched the Renovation Wave Initiative as an important building block of the European Green Deal. The aim is to at least double the renovation rates of public and private buildings over the next ten years and to promote deeper renovations. Together with the decarbonization of heat supply, this should enable a significant reduction in direct greenhouse gas e...read more