Publications

Since the presentation of the Report of the UN Commission for Environment and Development (Brundtland Report) in 1987 and the United Nations Conference for Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992 the concept of "sustainable development" has dominated the environmental debate world-wide.

The fourth North Sea Conference (4NSC) held in Esbjerg in 995 and the Intermediate Ministerial Meeting on the Integration of Fisheries and Environmental Issues (IMM) held in Bergen in 1997 identified the need for particular research to support marine environmental protection and the sustainable development of fisheries.

In view of the eutrophication of surface waters including the North and Baltic Seas due to excessive inputs of nutrients, a reduction of nutrient inputs of the order of 50% between 1985 and 1995 was agreed upon at ministerial level for both maritime areas in the framework of the International Conferences on the Protection of the North Sea and the Helsinki Convention.

In 1990 the former Federal Health Office (Bundesgesundheitsamt) and the Federal Environmental Agency (Umweltbundesamt) jointly elaborated a catalogue of test requirements necessary for assessing the impact of wood preservatives on man and environment. Based on several years of experience, a revision was deemed necessary.

As a part of the scientific project “Emission inventory of the German Baltic Sea catchment area” several investigations of selected point source discharges as well as of important German Baltic rivers are performed. According of the HELCOM list of “priority harmful substances”  balances are derived for the annual pollution input into the Baltic Sea from Germany.

Spatial planning with the aim of environmental protection takes place at the federal, Länder (Federal States) and municipal planning levels and serves to prepare political resolutions and to implement parliamentary decisions.

Evaluation

Overall it can be concluded that all the labs were able to reliably identify most of the species. There were major problems with some species of Bivalvia and Polychaeta. Counting errors occurred more frequently for these groups. 

Consumer protection is now the talk of the town since the occurrence of the so-called mad-cow disease and the spreading of foot and mouth disease, after the insights into the misuse of medicines in livestock fattening and other “scandals” in food production.

In addition major accidents-information offers the chance to increase the credibility of the facility operator and the supervisory administrative bodies and other persons involved. Research shows that risk communication makes a considerable contribution to this fact.

The final seminar session included a summary of the seminar discussions by Dr. Mez, (Environmental Policy Research Unit, Berlin). Mr. Bashmakov (CENEf Moscow) delivered a co-presentation addressing major shortcomings in the field of energy efficiency and deriving recommendations for further capacity building  from an Eastern European perspective.

On the basis of the historical consumption and emission levels of the three fluorinated greenhouse gases - HFCs, PFCs and SF6 - in Germany from 1995 to 1997, emissions forecasts until 2010 are elaborated for each individual application sector, with and without additional abatement measures beyond business-as-usual.