Publications

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.

Within the MAPESI project (FKZ 3707 64 200) deposition flux maps are determined for Germany based on a combination of observations and model results. Wet deposition is based on an interpolation scheme of observed fluxes. For the determination of dry deposition, however, we have to rely on a chemistry transport model which includes a dry deposition module.

Croatia ratified the Aarhus-Convention in the year 2007 and thus showed its commitment to public participation in environmental projects. The legislative implementation was finalized with the amendment of the Environmental Protection Act and the enactment of the special regulations on permit procedure, Environmental Impact Assessment and Strategic Environmental Assessment.

The present background paper reflects the position of the German federal authorities on the regulation of nanomaterials (NMs) under REACH. It is intended as a basis for preparing decision-making routes for political processes responses to from outsiders (e.g. Bundestag deputies or NGOs).

Due to the particular uncertainties concerning evaluation of the possible risks of nanomaterials for human health and the environment, the German Federal Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt – UBA) supports the establishment of a European register of products containing nanomaterials as a precautionary measure.

The brochure contains the essential steps for developing the waste management concept of the city Khanty-Mansiysk and the results: the concept and the educational materials that have been created in this context in order to provide scientific approaches in the field of sustainable waste management at Russian universities.

“Sustainability Research” or “Sustainability Science” has become a common term, one found in the names of research programs, research institutions and specialist journals. But just like the term “sustainability” itself, “sustainability research” is not clearly defined.

Materials that are used outdoors can be preserved by biocides to prevent disturbance by organisms, mainly colonisation by microorganisms. These applications may cause emissions of active substances into environmental compartments via leaching processes. The European Biocidal Products Directive 98/8/EC (BPD) requires an assessment of environmental risks caused by the use of biocidal products.

The effectiveness of an emissions trading system in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions is mainly due to the magnitude of the specified emission cap. Assuming sufficient control, a quantitative emission target defined in such a way is quasi automatically achieved by the limited allocation of emission allowances.

The EU Commission committed itself to include emissions from shipping into the existing EU reduction commitment if no international agreement was achieved on a global level. To this aim the EU COM considered four regional policy options in an impact assessment (2011).

In the follow-up to a training session in February 2009, a project was designed that has provided Croatia, Serbia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia with support to improve the knowledge of their public experts in the areas of safety reporting, and in particular on:

The production of notebooks induces significant environmental impacts. However, these impacts are seldom considered by consumers in their purchasing decisions. Against this background, the Federal Agency of Environment in Germany commissioned the Öko-Institut e.V. and the Fraunhofer IZM with a study to address following questions.