Publications

The Global Stocktake, a key component of the Paris Agreement’s ratchet mechanism, assesses global progress every five years with the goal of informing countries’ NDC updates.

Plant protection products, human and veterinary pharmaceuticals, biocides and other chemicals can reach surface waters during their life cycles, by direct or diffuse entry routes or because they are in completely removed during waste water treatment.

The discussion paper explores several options for the political phase of the first global stocktake (GST) under the Paris Agreement, which will be concluded at the end of 2023. This phase could be organised by thematic area as defined by the GST or structured by sector.

Against the background of the new entries for plastic waste, as implemented into EU-law since 1.1.2021, this implementation guide is aimed at all companies or institutions that deal with plastic waste on a crossborder basis. In particular, this includes waste producers, waste handlers such as sorters and recyclers, transporters and enforcement and control authorities.

This report contains information that contributes to the description of plastic waste qualities in transboundary waste shipment. These support the interpretation of the new entries for plastic waste under the Basel Convention, implemented into EU-law since 1.1.2021.

On the basis of a literature review, this paper outlines the main mitigation options for agricultural activities and the broader food system on the supply and the demand side. Economic, policy/legal barriers, technical barriers, socio-cultural barriers, institutional barriers as well as biophysical or environmental barriers hinder the implementation of these options.

The European Soil Strategy for 2030 by the European Commission has set the foundations for an overarching approach to the protection of soils in Europe. In this scientific opinion paper, the German Environment Agency (UBA) lays down its key recommendations for the upcoming Soil Health Law.

Assessing the persistency of chemicals in general involves a stepwise approach. This includes cost effective and easy to conduct screening tests, that may lead to a need for more complex, lengthy and expensive tests which try to simulate conditions being more representative for the environmental compartments water, sediment and soil.

The research project explores how Germany can increase ambition by using carbon market approaches under Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement. This paper explores possible uses of Article 6.2 by Germany beyond the attainment of the EU-NDCs. The paper explores different options to use Art. 6.2 for compliance as well as voluntary purposes.

This is a EU-wide study on the detection of money laundering risks in the European Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). It is based on a survey of companies active in the Union Registry and their authorized representatives.

The repair of for energy-related products is linked to several ecological, social and economic benefits. However, defective products are hardly ever repaired in practice. The project aims to make the repairability of energy-related products assessable in order to better inform consumers about the repairability of products at the time of purchase.

The following text elaborates on the necessities of a future sustainability and climate protection policy which goes beyond solution-finding due to the current crisis in Ukraine. In a first step, the interrelationships of the Ukraine crisis and global and national sustainability policies are analysed. Policy recommendations are developed on basis of the analysis in a second step.