We’re pleased to inform you about our latest publications addressing ongoing and upcoming discussions on European environment and climate policy.
Happy reading! For questions or more information, please get in touch at EU@uba.de.
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EU relations team German Environment Agency (UBA)
News
A post-2030 climate policy framework fit for reaching the EU climate targets
The paper proposes a post-2030 EU climate policy architecture capable of achieving the EU’s climate goals. It reviews the EU climate targets, e.g. the amended European Climate Law, which introduced a 2040 interim target. The paper assesses the current policy framework and identifies key priorities such as stronger coordination and policy coherence. It recommends reforms to major climate instruments, including the EU Emissions Trading System, the Effort Sharing Regulation, and the carbon removal framework, while addressing challenges related to energy, economic transition, sustainability, and the social and international dimensions of EU climate policy.
Climate and environmental targeting of the new EU budget for 2028–2034 overestimated
For the EU Multiannual Financial Framework 2028–34, the system of intervention areas (IA) with their climate and environmental coefficients is central to financing environmental and climate-related measures. The Commission’s proposal is analyzed for selected IA, and policy options are outlined. The analysis shows that the COM proposal overestimates positive environmental impacts by assigning excessively high coefficients to many IA. Selected IA that contribute to this overestimation—such as direct payments to farmers—are examined as examples. A targeted adjustment of the instrument could help to reflect climate and environmental objectives more realistically and achieve them more effectively.
Emerging Issues: Maritime algae farming, sustainability transition in economically difficult times, military, war and the impacts of war
The Horizon Scanning report presents nine emerging issues that could become relevant for environmental policy, environmental research and administration in the coming years. The 2022–2023 cycle aimed to identify new developments with high environmental relevance at an early stage and to provide knowledge for anticipatory environmental policymaking.
The emerging issues are: Lab-grown Future, seawater desalination, maritime algae farming, democracy, military and consequences of war, crisis society, transformation in economically uncertain times, the internet of the future, and cybersecurity and environmental protection.
The report identifies new research needs and options for action.
Comparison of downstream market-based policies to reduce agricultural emissions
This report compares three downstream policy options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the EU agrifood sector, all of which require regulated entities to cut farm-level emissions embedded in the products they handle or sell. It evaluates their design, efficiency, costs, and carbon leakage risks, highlighting key trade-offs. Retailer-level systems cover more emissions but are complex and costly, while processor-level options are either simpler to administer or more cost-efficient when trading is included. Carbon leakage is a concern across all options, though its magnitude remains uncertain. The report concludes by outlining how these policies could evolve or be sequenced over time.
Tox-free, Circular and Climate-Friendly: The Next Steps for Europe’s Buildings
People in Europe spend around 90% of their lives indoors. Yet screenings in the NonHazCity3 project show that hazardous substances such as PFAS, plasticisers and bisphenols can be found in indoor air, dust and stormwater, with construction products being a likely source. Current EU and national legislation do not yet systematically prevent these emissions or ensure a truly safe indoor environment. The NonHazCity3 project addressed this problem by providing strategic and practical solutions for all those who make decisions about the construction, renovation or purchase of buildings and facilities. Decisions taken every day in Brussels, national ministries and city halls about building rules, product requirements, chemical content and public building projects determine which materials are used and therefore what ends up in our walls, floors, indoor air and the environment. If these decisions consistently reward tox-free, circular and climate-friendly solutions, markets and practices can shift.
This policy brief translates evidence from the NonHazCity3 pilots into concrete policy recommendations for the EU level.
An option to prevent possible waste diversion from municipal waste incineration?
This exploratory study assesses whether the potential integration of landfills into the EU-ETS 1 could be a viable strategy to prevent waste streams from being diverted from municipal waste incineration (MWI) to landfills. Such a diversion could result from the potential and currently discussed inclusion of MWI in the EU-ETS 1, leading to additional methane emissions. To this end, the study…
The project aimed to identify how the EU can achieve climate neutrality by 2050. Three transformation pathways were modelled based on different assumptions. A reference scenario reflecting current policies showed that climate neutrality cannot be reached under existing measures. Two target scenarios were then developed: one relying mainly on technological solutions such as CCS, and another…
Reporting, accounting and financing of Blue Carbon measures
The publication explores the climate mitigation potential of Blue Carbon ecosystems (BCEs) like mangroves, seagrasses, and tidal marshes. It investigates how to protect and enhance these natural carbon sinks through improved financing, accounting, and reporting mechanisms. At its core, challenges and opportunities for integrating BCEs into climate strategies, particularly in terms of carbon…
Joint Perspective of the German Higher Federal Authorities on safe use and chemical safety throughout the entire material life cycle
The German federal authorities responsible for human and environmental safety, and metrology – the German Environment Agency (UBA), the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA), the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), and the National Metrology Institute (Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, PTB) -…
The report assesses nuclear energy’s role in the transformation to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. It contrasts top-down net-zero pathways from five integrated assessment models with a comprehensive bottom-up review of national programmes, including newcomer countries, and benchmarks these against the COP28/29 pledge to triple nuclear capacity. It further analyses system requirements in…
Options for their inclusion in the EU ETS 1 and Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)
This study by analyses the relevance, regulation, and potential pricing of emissions along the natural gas supply chain within the EU climate policy framework, without making definitive policy recommendations. In addition to combustion emissions, supply-chain emissions of CO₂ and methane can increase the climate footprint of natural gas by up to 35%. While emissions within the EEA are partly…
Climate Change
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Imprint
Umweltbundesamt (German Environment Agency) Presidential Office International Relations Wörlitzer Platz 1 06844 Dessau-Roßlau, Germany
Editor: EU Relations Office Nicole Adler, Stefanie Wieck, Tim Schubert, Lena Vierke Email: eu@uba.de
