Sustainability | Strategies | International matters

Although the Antarctic does not "belong" to anyone as such, anybody travelling to the territory covered by the Antarctic Treaty must comply with certain rules during their stay. Any German national planning an activity in the Antarctic or organising a journey which originates in Germany must be granted approval from the German Federal Environment Agency.

Roald Amundsen said, “We must not cease to remember with gratitude and admiration the first seafarers who navigated their ships through storms and fog to augment our knowledge of the land of ice in the south”. Since discovery of the Antarctic our knowledge of it has grown steadily, and so has our responsibility for this fragile ecosystem.

The German Aerospace Center (DLR) has begun an advisory assistance project managed by UBA, entitled “Environmental monitoring using satellite remote sensing methods based on the example of spring flooding in the Republic of Bashkortostan/Russia”.

Efficiency increase oftentimes reduces product or service costs, which can in turn ramp up consumption (due to reduced prices), thus partly canceling out the original savings. This is known as the rebound effect.

Commercial ocean fertilization activities are now subject to an international ban, although certain research activities will be permitted. This was the decision taken by the Parties to the London Protocol on 18 October 2013 and which has now been publicised.

Poor air quality can have serious impacts on our health and the environment. How is Europe’s air quality? What are the main sources of air pollutants? How do they affect our health and the environment? What does Europe do to improve air quality?

Urban transport in the EU is undergoing a change. This is the outcome of the latest Transport and Environmental Reporting Mechanism (TERM) Report by the European Environment Agency (EEA).

The Agriculture Commission at the German Federal Environment Agency (KLU) assessed the outcome for a reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union.

Since the year 2000 the Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMU) runs the Advisory Assistance Programme (AAP) to support projects aiming for environmental protection in the countries covered by the programme. The target regions of the programme are the states of Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasian countries and Central Asia.