News

A study by the German Environment Agency looks into the scope for political and economic steering to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from bogs and forests. The analysis covers measures both at international level (UNFCCC) and EU level.

Since 27 December 2015 consumer goods may no longer exceed a very low content of eight carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). A threshold of 0.5 mg/kg applies for toys and baby items. Other rubber or plastic products such as gardening gloves or mouse pads may contain no more than 1 mg/kg.

A new OECD report discusses examples from countries like Germany, Japan and New Zealand of how transport policy can be better adapted to climate change. The report also examines the major challenges in assessing the economic damage caused by greenhouse gases.

An event to mark the end of the International Year of Soils 2015 was hosted in Berlin by the German Environment and Development ministries jointly with the German Environment Agency and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit. Under the heading “Soil – A source of life”, experts and policymakers discussed old and new soil protection tasks and challenges.

The German Environment Agency has published its Data on the Environment 2015 report. Action is needed with regard to greenhouse gases, raw material efficiency and nutrient pollution, good news in recycling and drinking water quality.

A distance-based toll makes it possible to set differentiated charges for infrastructure and other costs incurred by society as a result of road traffic. Frequent drivers pay more than occasional drivers, resulting in positive ecological and traffic steering effects. The time-based vignette is not a meaningful solution, since it amounts to a flat rate charge for frequent road users.

The Baltic Sea, a valuable and central part of our natural heritage, is under threat from nutrient inputs from agriculture. A study funded by the German Environment Agency has examined the current state of play in the introduction of nutrient accounting as a prerequisite to good agricultural practice.

Extracting more and more new raw materials is unsustainable. The future ideal is a closed-loop, circular economy which, through “urban mining”, obtains many of its raw materials from end-of-life houses, piping, cables, cars and appliances rather than from mines and quarries. An UBA study has determined the types and quantities of potential secondary raw materials available in Germany.

In September 2015 the United Nations agreed upon the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They contain targets dealing with soil quality, restoration of degraded soil and strive to achieve a land degradation-neutral world. Yet, what options actually exist to estimate soil and land degradation on global level? This has now been examined by a new report.

The aim of the research project “Resource-efficient land use – Towards a Global Sustainable Land Use Standard” was to spark a debate on the development of a standard for global sustainable land use, launch the requisite scientific process and explore and identify options for implementing a global sustainable land use.

How do pharmaceuticals get into the environment? Can residues of pharmaceuticals in water and soil harm plants, animals or even human health? What is being done to prevent this, and what can I do? The Federal Environment Agency’s background paper, which is now also available in English, sheds light on these and other questions surrounding the topic of pharmaceuticals in the environment.

Germany's Energiewende is a complex, large-scale project. The tasks and measures by which to achieve it are manifold and diverse, as reflected by the many active players in Germany. The publication "Who is who of the Energiewende in Germany – Contact Partners in Politics, Industry and Society", published by the Foreign Office in German and English, provides an overview.