Publications

Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) demonstrates how society as a whole can be mobilized and empowered to take effective action on climate change. The implementation strategy for Germany outlines a roadmap for 2026–2030 with interconnected priorities: Laying the groundwork, building networks, institutionalizing structures, scaling up and further developing measures.

The paper proposes a post-2030 EU climate policy architecture capable of achieving the EU’s climate goals. It reviews the EU climate targets, e.g. the amended European Climate Law, which introduced a 2040 interim target. The paper assesses the current policy framework and identifies key priorities such as stronger coordination and policy coherence.

Children, adolescents, and people aged 60 and over walk more frequently than other age groups. They also make greater use of bicycles and public transport. In doing so, the youngest and the oldest generations demonstrate environmentally friendly mobility behavior. At the same time, however—as pedestrians and cyclists—they are more frequently involved in traffic accidents.

This report examines how Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) can be implemented and strengthened in Germany. Rooted in the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement, ACE emphasizes education, public awareness, participation, and access to information as key to effective climate action. International practices are reviewed, and Germany’s current status is analyzed through expert interviews and research.

The publication explores the climate mitigation potential of Blue Carbon ecosystems (BCEs) like mangroves, seagrasses, and tidal marshes. It investigates how to protect and enhance these natural carbon sinks through improved financing, accounting, and reporting mechanisms.

The German federal authorities responsible for human and environmental safety, and metrology – the German Environment Agency (UBA), the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA), the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), and the National Metrology Institute (Physikalisch-Technische Bu

Future civil supersonic aircraft (low-boom aircraft) are intended to produce significantly quieter sonic booms. The effects of these novel sonic booms on humans, especially on sleep, are still unclear. In one study, 37 people were examined in a sleep laboratory.

The report assesses nuclear energy’s role in the transformation to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. It contrasts top-down net-zero pathways from five integrated assessment models with a comprehensive bottom-up review of national programmes, including newcomer countries, and benchmarks these against the COP28/29 pledge to triple nuclear capacity.

As a Party to the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (⁠UNFCCC⁠), since 1994 Germany has been obliged to prepare, publish and regularly update national emission inventories of greenhouse gases.

The Horizon Scanning report presents nine emerging issues that could become relevant for environmental policy, environmental research and administration in the coming years. The 2022–2023 cycle aimed to identify new developments with high environmental relevance at an early stage and to provide knowledge for anticipatory environmental policymaking.

PCDD/Fs and dioxin-like PCBs (dl-PCBs) are persistent organic pollutants regulated under the EU POP Regulation. Due to their similar toxicological properties, both groups are subject to common, stricter limit values introduced in 2019. This report provides German data on their occurrence in ash from small-scale and biomass combustion plants.

This report compares three downstream policy options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the EU agrifood sector, all of which require regulated entities to cut farm-level emissions embedded in the products they handle or sell. It evaluates their design, efficiency, costs, and carbon leakage risks, highlighting key trade-offs.