climate change

Examples like the earthquake and tsunamis 2011 in Japan and the devastating hurricane Harvey 2017 in the USA, make aware that natural hazards not just cause destruction of private houses but also led to accidents at installations containing hazardous substances. They can cause releases of hazardous substances, fire, and explosions endangering people and significantly pollute the environment.

UBA President Dirk Messner on the response to the coronavirus crisis: “Over the months to come, decisions will be taken that determine our lives in the 2020s.”

RESCUE shows that until 2050 greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced by 95 to 97 percent (in comparison to 1990). Through the use of sustainable agriculture and forestry practices, even net-zero emissions can be reached. At the same time, primary raw materials consumption can be reduced by 56 to 70 percent. However, the transformation also results in additional demands for single raw materials.

The RESCUE study is based on in-house research by the German Environment Agency (UBA) as well as research carried out by external institutions. A central part of this is the following study: „Transformationsprozess zum treibhausgasneutralen und ressourcenschonenden Deutschland“ (FKZ: 3715 41 115 0). For this a combination of five quantitative models was used.

GreenSupreme (“Germany – resource efficient and greenhouse gas neutral – Minimizing future greenhouse gas emissions and raw material consumption”) examines a faster transformation path in connection with the most effective assumption from the other scenarios with the goal to minimize cumulated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and raw materials consumption.

GreenLife stands for “Germany – resource efficient and GHG neutral – lifestyle changes”. The scenario analyzes changes of lifestyle and behavior in addition to measures from GreenEe and GreenMe. Current trends as well as smaller niche developments for a more environmentally friendly behavior are examined.

GreenMe stands for “Germany – resource efficient and GHG neutral – Material efficiency”. Using GreenEe as a basis, this scenario focuses on technical options to increase materials efficiency across all sectors.

GreenLate stands for „Germany – resource efficient and GHG neutral – late transition”. This scenario if characterized by delayed action and innovation towards greenhouse gas (GHG) neutrality.