Man-made climate change is a global challenge. The core task is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and offset unavoidable emissions. Timely, sustainable infrastructure investments are key to climate action success. The focus is on reducing energy demand and a complete switch of the electricity and heat supply to renewable energies, taking into account interplay with other environmental challenges. The German Environment Agency supports this process with strategies, scenarios, measures and instruments as well as monitoring activities. It also implements individual instruments, such as emissions trading, guarantees of origin for green electricity or the Blue Angel ecolabel.
A new guide from the German Environment Agency provides a well-founded and practical description of how companies can establish a climate management system to reduce their climate impacts and climate risks in a systematic, transparent and credible manner.
What do people mean when they talk about the “1.5°C goal” in the context of climate change? What is the origin of this value and how is it quantified? What happens if we exceed it – is there any way back down below a global warming of 1.5°C? In this text, we look at the emergence of the 1.5°C goal of the Paris Agreement and explain why we need to keep it within reach.
In the first half of 2026, around 57 percent of the electricity consumed in Germany came from renewable energy sources. This is shown by new data from the Working Group on Renewable Energy Statistics (AGEE-Stat). According to the figures, around six per cent more electricity was generated from wind, hydro, solar and bioenergy than in the same period the previous year.
New findings from the Federal Environment Agency’s (UBA) “Future? Ask Young People!” survey series show that environmental and climate protection is continuing to lose importance among 14- to 22-year-olds in Germany. Only around a third now consider the issue to be “very important”. In 2021, this figure was still half of those surveyed.
Im Jahr 2025 haben die 1.794 stationären Industrie- und Energieanlagen in Deutschland im Europäischen Emissionshandel 1 (EU-ETS 1) etwa 264 Millionen Tonnen CO2-Äquivalente ausgestoßen.
The German Environment Agency (UBA) has published its scientific opinion on the EU's climate policy ambition — outlining what it will take to achieve the EU climate targets and make Europe's path to climate neutrality credible, coherent, and fair.
The decline in climate-harming emissions in Germany has slowed. This is shown by the emissions data published by the German Environment Agency (UBA) for 2025. According to these figures, Germany emitted around 649 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents last year.
For 10 years, the Blauer Kompass Award of the federal government has regularly given recognition to innovative projects for climate preparedness and for adapting to the impacts of climate change. The new round of the competition has started, and for the first time, it also includes a dedicated application category for schools. The application deadline is 20 March 2026.
Revenue from the European and the national emissions trading systems in Germany totaled €21.4 billion in 2025. Revenues from these two central market-based climate policy instruments were thus well above the previous year’s result (€18.5 billion). This was reported by the German Emissions Trading Authority (DEHSt) at the German Environment Agency (UBA).
Climate change is accelerating and threatens the foundations of our lives – but there is still time to act. Solar power plays a crucial role in this transition. A new analysis by the German Environment Agency (UBA) shows that if land for solar installations is chosen wisely, solar capacity can be expanded rapidly while safeguarding areas of high ecological and agricultural value.
Many homeowners remain hesitant when it comes to replacing heating systems in existing properties.
Germany’s gross electricity generation from renewable energy is expected to reach 292 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2025, about 2 percent higher than last year’s output.
