Climate | Energy | Umweltbundesamt

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. read more

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. read more

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. read more

Stimulus packages amounting to billions of euros have been and are being launched worldwide to mitigate the economic and social impacts of the coronavirus crisis. The Federal Environment Ministry (BMU) and the German Environment Agency (UBA) consider these programmes an opportunity to set the course towards a more sustainable society by planning a resilient and viable economic recovery. read more

A resilient climate change forest, urban green as a cool oasis in the middle of a hot city, climate-friendly building materials made from natural resources, and a coaching programme to assist municipalities in adapting to climate change – these are the winners of this year’s Blauer Kompass award. The projects were honoured during an online conference on climate resilience. read more

The German Environment Agency (UBA) believes it is possible to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the EU by at least 60 percent below 1990 levels by 2030. A key element in this is a rapid reform of EU emissions trading. read more

The German Environment Agency (UBA) reports positive environmental performance 30 years after German reunification. Air, water and soil much cleaner – climate change remains greatest challenge. read more

Renewable energies strengthened their position in the German electricity mix significantly in the first half of 2020 compared to the same period last year. In total, around 138 billion kilowatt hours of renewable electricity were generated in the first six months of 2020, around eight percent more than in the first half of 2019 (+ approximately 10 billion kWh). read more