Sustainability and environmental problems usually have a wide range of causes, and they are often global. Solutions must therefore be found at international level. International cooperation in environmental protection has gradually become a more important issue over the last two decades. UBA's most important target groups are EU and UN institutions, the OECD and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The German National Sustainability Strategy is particularly relevant for German sustainability policies. UBA exercises foresight to develop strategies to influence developments in the long term and with due regard for processes and resources.
The availability of raw materials is determined by more than technical-geological, economic and political factors alone: the environmental risks of mining also has an impact.
The agencies from nearly 20 EU countries responsible for the enforcement of the European WEEE Directive have formed a network. UBA initiated the constitutional meeting on 7-8 September 2017. The representatives from all participating EU-countries agreed to cooperate more closely in the future in order to prosecute non-compliant producers who trade across borders more effectively.
UBA is engaged in transboundary efforts to improve the protection of man and the environment, for example in the case of fires at industrial facilities or oil spills. In September 2017 UBA launched a joint emergency exercise with the German and Polish fire brigade and organised a seminar on how to prevent transboundary pollution by contaminated fire-water.
The Advisory Assistance Programme of UBA has been supporting the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States for many years in the development of effective waste management structures. Seminars and workshops held in May and June 2017 provided targeted information and training for stakeholders from government, industry and non-governmental organizations.
Two years after two historic global agreements – the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change – the World Resources Forum Association invites leaders from government, business, research and NGOs to Geneva to talk about how to accelerate the Resource Revolution. How should we manage, coordinate, finance, track progress, and communicate about it?
Emission reduction credits (ERCs) from high-quality international climate change mitigation projects will continue to compensate the official travel by German federal employees. The Federal Government plans to purchase more than 235,000 ERCs which will then be cancelled. ERCs for emissions in 2015 were purchased earlier this year. The next compensation procedure for 2016 emissions will now follow.
German Environment Agency calls for improving the durability of products
Plastic waste is a major threat to the marine environment. But how to tackle this problem? The EU Plastics Strategy that is being discussed in the upcoming months can help reduce the input of plastics to the environment if it follows seven recommendations of the European environment agencies.
The “Recommendation on sewage sludge handling” as part of the Helsinki Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area entered into force in March 2017. It defines the principles for the sustainable handling of sewage sludge in the Baltic Sea region.
The ISC3 is located in the UN-city of Bonn and will be the driving force enabling emerging economies and developing countries to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Representative survey on environmental awareness by the Federal Ministry of Environment and UBA: 91 per cent said that life would be better if they did not have to depend on a car for mobility.
The service life of most electrical appliances and equipment is becoming ever shorter – at the expense of the environment. The production of new models requires the consumption of valuable precious metals and energy which are not compensated by innovations such as lower energy use. UBA has drafted policy recommendations that will be fed into the European debate about the Circular Economy Package.
