Press

The court has ruled in favour of UBA in its fight against misleading greenwashing. In its ruling of 20 February 2025, the Federal Court of Justice confirmed the decision of the lower court, the Dessau-Roßlau Regional Court. The court had imposed strict controls on general and comparative advertising. Information on offers for CO₂ offsetting must be meaninful and transparent.

Air pollution control measures are proving effective. In Germany, 2024 is the first year in which all limit values set by the European Air Quality Directive have been met. This is the seventh consecutive year that particulate matter levels have remained within the prescribed limits.

The publishing house Matthes & Seitz Berlin, in cooperation with the German Environment Agency and the Art and Nature Foundation, is once again awarding the German Prize for Nature Writing, which is endowed with €10,000.

Finding reliable information about environmental issues is not an easy task. While there is an abundance of facts and data on forests, soils and water bodies, their quality can vary.

Der Trend ist positiv. Insgesamt wurden von den dualen Systemen 2023 im Vergleich zum Vorjahr mehr Verpackungen recycelt. Das gaben das Umweltbundesamt (UBA) und die Zentrale Stelle Verpackungsregister (ZSVR) am 21. Januar 2025 auf einer gemeinsamen Pressekonferenz bekannt. Die strikte Mülltrennung ist die zentrale Voraussetzung, um das Recycling weiter auszubauen.

Sustainability in supermarkets has many facets. It ranges from resource-conserving food production and environmentally friendly packaging to the avoidance of food waste.

In 2023, greenhouse gas emissions in Germany fell by 10.3 per cent compared to 2022. This is shown by the results of the calculations submitted by the German Environment Agency (UBA) to the European Commission on 15 January 2025.

Revenue from European and national emissions trading in Germany totalled around 18.5 billion euros in 2024. This means that proceeds from these two key climate protection instruments was once again slightly higher than in the previous year.

Since 2024, manufacturers of single-use plastic products such as cigarette filters, drinks cups and film packaging have had to contribute to the costs of waste disposal in parks and streets. This involves companies paying an annual levy into a fund managed by the German Environment Agency.

The German Environment Agency researches and works on drinking water as well as swimming and bathing pool water at its site in Bad Elster.

Making everyday life more sustainable and inspiring friends and family – the German Environment Agency’s (UBA) mobile game “Little Impacts” (in German) shows how this can be achieved. In five interactive chapters, players experience how the main character Leah and her cousin Mailin inspire the people around them to embrace sustainability.

Consumption of packaging in Germany fell by 675,000 tonnes to 19 million tonnes in 2022. This corresponds to a decrease of 3.4 per cent compared to the previous year.