More and larger ships are sailing the world's oceans. Due to their high tonnages, ocean-going vessels can be a comparably environment-friendly means of transport. There is still considerable potential to design and construct them in such a way that they pollute the environment less. Proposals need to be developed and implemented at all levels of maritime policy..
In 2019, German consumption of raw materials totalled 1,328 million tonnes, or 16 tonnes per capita. This represents only a slight change in the trend up to 2018. In 2019, raw material consumption in Germany will fall slightly. German raw material consumption will also fall slightly in 2020 and 2021.
The German permitting procedure for activities in the Antarctic is regulated by a separate law, the Act Implementing the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (AIEP). Because of their potential impacts on the Antarctic continent, all planned activities are subject to a review and assessment.
The Antarctic Peninsula and parts of West Antarctica have a favourable climate by Antarctic standards. This is why many human research and tourist activities take place there. Together with measurable climate change these are the reasons why this region is also especially threatened by the introduction and spread of non-native species.
Germany’s farming sector uses the largest amount of land, but is at the same a lynchpin of our economy – one that provides a reliable food supply and produces sustainable raw materials. The farming sector also plays a key role when it comes to preservation and development of the man-made environment. But increasingly intensive farming brings with it a host of eco-unfriendly effects.
There’s no doubt about it: resource use is freighted with consequences. It inevitably generates emissions and other untoward environmental effects across the entire lifecycle of each and every product. Moreover, growing resource scarcity and fluctuating raw materials prices are provoking severe economic disruption and social unrest.
