Press

Capacity expansion must be further accelerated to meet climate and energy targets. In the heating sector, mild weather led to lower demand for heating. In the mobility sector, the use of renewable electricity in transport increased slightly.

The European Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS 1) covers emissions from energy-intensive industry, the energy sector and intra-European aviation. In 2023, the 1,725 stationary installations in Germany covered by the EU ETS 1 emitted around 289 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO₂-eq). This corresponds to a reduction of around 18 per cent compared to the previous year.

Sponge city concepts are an essential basis for adapting cities to extreme weather events such as heavy rain, heat and drought. Many local authorities are working toward that aim. However, it is becoming increasingly important to remove barriers so that towns and cities can better prepare for changing climate conditions.

The first version of the umwelt.info internet portal is available to the public at https://mvp.umwelt.info. Lilian Busse, Vice President of the German Environment Agency, commented: “The online launch of umwelt.info is an important milestone for us. We are testing the portal under real conditions for the first time and are looking forward to the feedback from users.”

The collaboration between the city of Dessau- Rosslau, Anhalt University of Applied Sciences and the German Environment Agency “Dessau- Rosslau Lives Global Openness and Diversity”, which has been running since spring 2021, has been nominated for the German Demography Award in the “Living Diversity” category.

Ein Blick zurück und ein Ausblick in die Zukunft: 75 Jahre Grundgesetz, 35 Jahre Mauerfall und 50 Jahre Umweltbundesamt (UBA). Seit seiner Gründung am 22. Juli 1974 hat das UBA maßgeblich zum Schutz der Umwelt beigetragen. Die Luft ist sauberer geworden, die Trinkwasserqualität hat sich deutlich verbessert und ebenso die Gesundheit der Menschen insgesamt. Viele Gründe, um gemeinsam zu feiern.

On World Environment Day, the German Environment Ministry (BMUV), together with the German Environment Agency (UBA), the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) and the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN), provided comprehensive information on the health risks and protective measures related to the climate crisis at the Environment Week event.

For almost eight out of ten young people in Germany, protecting the environment and the climate is an important issue. This was the result of the representative study “Future? Ask young people! 2023”, which was conducted on behalf of the German Environment Agency (UBA) and the Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMUV). This is less than in the last survey two years ago.

To protect the unique Antarctic flora and fauna, Germany is committed to a coherent and representative network of protected areas in the Antarctic. Thanks to a German-American initiative it has now been possible to expand this network. Seven islands at the north-eastern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, the so-called “Danger Islands”, were declared a protected area.

Overall, 98 percent of official German bathing waters on lakes, rivers and coasts met the minimum requirements of the EU Bathing Water Directive. In addition, over 96 percent of bathing waters were again awarded with the top marks of ‘excellent’ and ‘good’.

The federal “Blue Compass” award is the highest state honour for projects that demonstrate exemplary preparedness and adaptation strategies to the consequences of the climate crisis. More than 300 applications were received for the current round of the competition – another record number of entries.

The 2024 German Prize for Nature Writing is to be awarded to Kenah Cusanit. In addition, Fiona Sironic and Erik Wunderlich will each receive a scholarship to participate in the prominent Nature Writing Seminar of the Art and Nature Foundation in Bad Heilbrunn in autumn 2024.