Topics

German Environment Agency presents basic principles of a pedestrian traffic strategy

Since the Paris Agreement invites parties to provide their low carbon development strategies by 2020, the European Union is currently preparing its respective mid-century long-term climate strategy. Within a public consultation the German Environment Agency (UBA) provided recently its submission on key priorities relevant for the new EU strategy.

The reuse of treated waste water can help to reduce water shortages. Reused water can contain pathogens and harmful substances, however. On 28 May 2018, the EU Commission proposed a regulation, on minimum requirements concerning the reuse of water. It aims to protect health and the environment. The UBA considers there to be a need for improvement.

Operators of municipal and industrial wastewater treatment facilities can apply for funding under the Environmental Innovation Programme until 15 April 2019

The EU Commission is seeking to adopt EU wide minimum quality requirements for water reuse for agricultural irrigation and groundwater recharge by the end of 2017. As the current draft falls short to set standards that are rigorous enough to protect the environment and human health, UBA has published a Scientific Opinion Paper to express its concerns and recommendations.

The environment and design experts of the German Federal Ecodesign Award announced their nominations for this year's award yesterday at the Kulturforum Berlin. The jury selected 24 projects from about 130 competing entries in the areas of building, home, interior design, communication, mobility and fashion.

The human biomonitoring initiative known as HBM4EU was launched nearly one year ago with a funding volume of 74 million euros. The project has now decided to take a closer look at nine new substances including mercury, acrylamide, glyphosate and fipronil.

The International Sustainable Chemistry Collaborative Centre (ISC3) was launched about one year ago. The guests of an anniversary event held in Bonn represented government, industry, science and civil society praising the Center’s successful start and looked ahead to the future tasks and goals of ISC3.

Pesticides may only be applied on Natura 2000 sites if the procedure has received prior approval for tolerability in accordance with an exacting authorisation procedure under EU nature conservation law. The Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) and the German Environment Agency (UBA) have produced a guide for the responsible authorities in the Länder on how to conduct this check.

The German Environment Agency (UBA) has conducted its fourth mobility survey of its staff's commuting behaviour and arrangement of business trips in the context of its in-house environmental and health-oriented mobility management. Nearly 68 percent of employees commute to work on foot, by bicycle or bus and train. The national average is only 32 percent.

Climate-ADAPT, an online knowledge platform provided by the European Environment Agency (EEA) and the European Commission since 2012, has grown into the most important place for information when it comes to adaptation to climate change in Europe. A report of the EEA informs about the experiences and effectiveness of the platform and points to ways of further improving it.

Electricity production in Germany from renewable sources of energy picked up speed in the first half of 2018. About 117 billion kilowatt hours was produced in this half-year – nearly 10 per cent more than for the same time period 2017.