Press

The vocational school centre in Mühldorf am Inn wins the Federal ENVIRONMENT & BUILDING 2021 Award for its innovative energy concept. The building generates more energy than it consumes and stores waste heat in an ice storage. In addition to the main prize winner, another four projects were awarded recognitions, including two in the newly created category "climate-friendly refurbishment".

The first sell-off session in the national fuel emissions trading system (German: nEHS) is expected to be on 5 October 2021, as scheduled in an agreement between the European Energy Exchange (EEX) and the German Environment Agency (UBA). The sales sessions on the European Energy Exchange (EEX) will be held twice a week (Tuesdays and Thursdays) for six hours each from 9.30 until 15.30 CET.

The federal government, the federal states and the region have agreed to cooperate closely in setting up the "National Centre for Environmental Information (umwelt.info)". This is the result of a working meeting in Merseburg today.

The concrete block manufacturer Rinn Beton- und Naturstein GmbH & Co. KG is the first company to be awarded the new ecolabel for concrete products containing recycled aggregates for outdoor flooring.

Car-free days, free public transport, e-cargo bike trials – Since its launch in 2002, more and more municipalities as well as companies, associations and educational institutions have been taking part in European Mobility Week (EMW). The German Environment Agency (UBA) is launching the first nationwide competition this year to honour this commitment.

How can the immense potential of digitalisation be tapped for the benefit of all without consuming excessive resources and energy? These and other questions were discussed by over 150 international experts with the support of the German Environment Agency (UBA) at the virtual conference of the Coalition for Digital Environmental Sustainability (CODES) on 30 June and 1 July 2021.

Germany's 1,817 stationary installations included in the European Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) emitted around 320 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO₂-eq).

If climate change continues unchecked, the risks from heat, drought and heavy rainfall throughout Germany will increase sharply in the future.

Access to all German environmental information and data via one platform – that is the goal of the new National Environmental Information Centre, which the Federal Ministry for the Environment will set up in Merseburg from the summer of 2021.

In the 2020 bathing season, the EU Commission rated 90 per cent of all German bathing water sites 'excellent'. 96% of bathing waters in lakes, rivers and on the coast complied with the quality standards of the European Bathing Water Directive.

The German Environment Agency proposes a national cap on nitrogen emissions. By 2030, no more than 1 million tonnes of nitrogen per year is to be emitted into the environment. Only then can existing protection goals for water bodies, terrestrial ecosystems and human health be achieved.

The 2020 data for nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) are available for all air monitoring stations in Germany. Six cities exceeded the air quality limit of 40 micrograms NO₂ per cubic metre of air (µg/m³) as an annual average.