As long as the Covid-19 pandemic makes face-to-face events impossible, online conferencing formats serve to inform German SAICM stakeholders and provide opportunities for exchange with each other and with BMU and UBA. A series of online workshops focuses on different topics of chemicals management throughout the first half of 2021.
How do climate change and environmental degradation affect human health? What can people in the health professions do to promote climate protection and adaptation to climate change? This and much more is covered by experts in 15 video lectures, many of which are recorded online. UBA provided support for the lecture series from the funding programme for associations (Verbändeförderung).
Measured concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in 2020 exceeded the annual mean limit of 40 µg/m³ of air at only about 3 to 4 percent of measuring stations located near road traffic, compared to 21 percent in 2019. Nitrogen dioxide pollution overall continues to decline throughout Germany.
The consequences of climate change pose economic risks for companies. A recent study by the German Environment Agency (UBA) shows that only about half of the DAX 30 companies report publicly on these risks. None of the 100 largest companies studied provides information on whether the corporate strategy is resilient to stronger climate change.
Germany emitted a total of 809.8 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents in 2019. This is around 46 million tonnes or 5.4% less than in 2018, and 35.1% less compared to 1990, according to the results of calculations submitted by the German Environment Agency (UBA) to the European Commission.
Climate change will affect the frequency, intensity and regional occurrence of extreme weather events and lead to gradual climatic changes. Although impacts appear locally at first, they spread beyond political borders due to the global physical and economic interconnectedness. A new UBA report provides an overview of the potential impact chains of global climate change on the German economy.
PMT/vPvM substances are persistent and mobile in the aquatic environment. These intrinsic substance properties allow them to spread to the sources of our drinking water. Contamination can be irreparable as these substances remain in the environment and break through filters and survive drinking water treatment. Consequently, registrants under REACH must minimise any emissions into the environment.
Germany is set to launch the national emissions trading system for fuels on 1 January 2021. The trading system is intended to help reduce CO2 emissions in the heating and transport sectors. Until 2022, petrol, diesel, heating oil, liquefied petroleum gas and natural gas will initially be part of the national emissions trading system.
Greenhouse gases, nitrogen emissions and other environmental pollution cause damage to human health and destroy ecosystems. They also lead to production losses, crop losses and damage to buildings and infrastructure. For many of these damages, there are established scientific methods to express them in monetary terms.
The share of renewable energies in gross electricity consumption will be around 46 percent for the full year 2020 – a good four percentage points higher than the figure for the full year 2019 (42%). The increase was due to an increase in electricity generation from renewable sources of about five per cent, but also to a decrease in electricity consumption in the course of the coronavirus pandemic.
Nearly three quarters of the greenhouse gas emissions in the life cycle of a product are generated as early as the production stage, says a study for the German Environment Agency (UBA) which focuses on the greenhouse gas emissions of online retail (“Greening E-Commerce”). The study reports that the share of retail and transport accounts for only one to ten percent of total emissions.
Particulate matter pollution in the early hours of New Year's Day is usually at some of the highest levels of the whole year, especially in metropolitan areas and cities – due to New Year's fireworks and emissions of particulate matter. It was previously assumed that 4,500 tonnes of particulate matter emitted by fireworks are to blame for the poor air quality.
