Publications

In this report we assess how ambitious emission reduction pledges of emerging economies are compared to business as usual emissions, the countries' mitigation potential and respective efforts based on different equity principles.

At the nanoscale level, the physical, chemical, and biological properties of materials differ in fundamental, and often valuable, ways from the properties of individual atoms and molecules, or bulk matter. Research and development in nanotechnology is directed towards creating im-proved materials, devices, and systems that exploit the new properties.

With this report the Federal Environment Ministry and the Federal Environment Agency present the findings of an extensive survey among German organisations concerning their usage of the European environmental management system, EMAS (Eco-Management and Audit Scheme).

The idea of establishing a National Training and Competence Centre (TCC) for the Water Sector in Croatia was born during the visit of a GWP delegation in May 2010 to Karlovac. The following written project design envisioned a two-stage introduction of the centre.

The present study aimed at determining the influence of human activities on Antarctic soil-organisms communities as well as the potential introduction of non-native species into Antarctic habitats.

The study “Update of national and international resource use indicators” contains three main parts. In the first part central resource indicators for Germany such as Domestic Material Consumption (DMC) and Total Material Requirement (TMR) were updated until 2008.

The nanoparticulate titanium dioxide NM-105 was investigated in two tests with Lumbriculus variegatus in a sediment-water system according to the OECD TG 225 [5]. The nominal test concentrations in the first test were 15; 23; 39; 63 and 100 mg/L NM-105 and 100 mg/L NM-105 in the second test.

The market relevance and presence of packagings made of biodegradable plastics has increased over the past few years. They are primarily used as alternatives for conventional plastics such as polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), and polystyrene terephthalate (PET).

Sustainable electricity supply calls for transition to a system using 100 percent renewable energy sources. Electricity supply based entirely on renewable energy sources is technically possible by 2050. In all ambitious expansion scenarios, electricity from wind and solar energy plays the central role.

The Fildes Peninsula and neighbouring Ardley Island are part of the largest ice-free areas in the maritime Antarctic region. This region is characterised by its comparatively high biodiversity. At the same time, this area is home to the highest density of scientific stations used all year round in the whole of the Antarctic.

A strengthening of environmental aspects is indispensable to the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for 2014-2020. The Agriculture Commission at the German Federal Environment Agency (KLU) is of the view that, in future, EU agricultural budget funding can only be justified if it is based on the principle of “public funds for public goods”.

Although much has been done in the area after the Bulgarian accession to the EU Bulgaria still has one of the lowest energy efficiency in the EU.5 Bulgaria has EU emissions commitment and energy efficiency is the best way to address them, but the financial mechanisms are not in place.