Press | Umweltbundesamt

Noise continues to provide a serious source of stress on the population, a fact corroborated by a survey conducted in large congested urban areas and around roads with heavy traffic.  Constant high levels of noise can have an adverse impact on the human body, triggering among other things sleep disorders or cardiovascular problems. The Federal Environment Agency (UBA) has proven this fact through... read more

After more than a year. an art project unique among Germany’s federal authorities has come to an end at the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) in Dessau, one whose focus was the ways in which UBA works and the daily lives of children in Dessau.  The project that overarched generations and launched by the German-British artist Tino Sehgal helped to overturn hard and fast behavioural patterns and to m... read more

Are investors allowed to erect new shopping centres on greenfield land? Where may they build wind energy systems that serve to protect the climate?  When is priority to be given to nature conservation? The authorities of the federal states, cities, and municipalities take recourse to planning law in their decision-making. Planning instruments such as the German statutory code of building and const... read more

The Federal Environment Agency (UBA) in Dessau-Roߟlau was awarded EMAS registration on 10 April 2008 by the President of the Halle-Dessau Chamber of Commerce (German: IHK), Albrecht Hatton.  UBA’s offices in Dessau-Roߟlau as well as three other sites in Berlin-Grunewald, Berlin-Marienfelde and Langen near Frankfurt/Main have been acknowledged and officially registered with the Halle-Dessau Chamb... read more

Refrigeration and air conditioning systems can be found virtually everywhere: in hotels, factories, and private households.  If the systems contain more than three kilogrammes of fluorinated greenhouse gases as their coolant, they must be checked for leakage at least once a year, pursuant to Regulation (EC) Nr. 842/2006 governing certain fluorinated greenhouse gases.  In future, only certified per... read more

Some 630,000 tonnes of laundry detergent are sold in Germany every year, adding up to nearly eight kilogrammes per person per year. When cleaning and other care products are added, the per capita consumption figure doubles. The majority of laundry detergents and cleaning agents contain fragrances, and there is relatively little knowledge about their impact on human health and the environment. One... read more

The phasing out of nuclear energy use, due to be complete by 2020, will not compromise Germany’s electricity supply.  This is the core conclusion of a new study by the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) titled Atomausstieg und Versorgungssicherheit [Quitting nuclear energy and supply security]. News headlines last week depicted a situation whereby Germany would experience shortages of electricity by... read more

‘Protecting health from climate change’ is the motto of this year’s World Health Day. The effects of climate change and extreme weather events have a negative impact on human health.  The extraordinarily long hot season in August 2003 in many parts of western Europe resulted in more than 40,000 deaths than otherwise usual, with some 7,000 cases in Germany.  Those affected in large measure were the... read more