Publications

The protection of fertile soils is a precondition for sustainable development. In the final document of the conference of the United Nations on sustainable development in June 2012 in Rio de Janeiro (Rio+20 Conference), the international community thus agreed to strive for a “land degradation neutral world”.

This report investigates the effects of an increased exploitation of shale gas reserves around the globe and the extent to which it can serve as a low-cost GHG mitigation option. We compare a scenario of global shale gas exploitation with a scenario in which shale gas use is very limited.

The declared objective of the planned free trade agreement with the US (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership – TTIP) is to unify EU and USA standards as much as possible by regulatory cooperation.

Event organisers are probably already familiar with many of the measures presented in these Guidelines. Some organisers may have tried them out in practice themselves. However, a number of factors determine which specific measures can actually be considered (e.g. character of the proposed event, conditions at the venue, available budget).

Common questions regarding pedelecs involve their potential for sustainable mobility, and, above all, their environmental impacts. This paper provides answers to these queries.

A discussion paper on the proposal for a regulation of the european parliament and of the council on veterinary medicinal products.

To support the development of CDM Standardized Baselines, the German Environmental Agency commissioned the Wuppertal Institute and GFA Consulting Group in 2012 to investigate implications of Standardised Baselines on least developed countries and their utilization in national MRV systems.

This paper explores the effects of sectoral targets in international climate policy in a macroeconomic frame-work, their interaction with the EU emissions Trading System (EU ETS), and to which extent sectoral targets can address the concerns of competitiveness. We assume that a global binding agreement exists between the steel sector and governments.

A sustainable energy supply requires a stepped-up change to renewable sources of energy. By 2050, assuming the demand on the security of supply remains the same, at least 60 percent of the gross final consumption of energy in Germany is to be covered by renewable energy sources. A major challenge is the natural fluctuation in power output, particularly with wind and solar power.

This report contains a description and analysis of 242 air quality plans (AQPs) and action plans published in Germany up to 30.11.2012. These plans offer an extensive overview of the current situation in Germany regarding air quality, different methodologies of assessment and proposed measures to improve air quality.

Currently there are no testing and assessment strategies for environmental fate and effects taking the specific properties and behaviour of engineered nanomaterials into account.

This study analyses how sectoral approaches are evolving in existing and future mitiga-tion mechanisms, and how they can help shaping the transition period to a new climate regime most effectively. The analysis is based on an evaluation of recent UNFCCC sub-missions, a desk review of the relevant literature and databases, as well as a set of semi-structured expert interviews.