Sustainability | Strategies | International matters

The environmental administration in Germany is deeply rooted in the German tradition of federalism. Due to this specific tradition, German environmental administration might seem rather complex from an outside view. Therefore the German Environment Agency has developed a guide in English to provide a concise introduction to the German environmental administration for an international readership.

Population expects more environmental and climate protection from all stakeholders

According to the IPCC, global warming must be limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius in order to mitigate the risks. An UBA position paper outlines how the EU climate policy could be aligned with this goal. Already by 2020, the parties to the Paris Agreement are to submit their updated national climate contribution to limit global warming. Up to now, far less has been promised than would be necessary.

Climate protection and better air quality are important issues in cities in both Poland and Germany. In an advisory assistance project of the German Federal Environment Ministry and the UBA, the exchange of experiences and collaboration between municipalities in Germany and Poland as well as other key stakeholders was intensified for the transition to a low-emissions economy.

The Commission for Sustainable Building (KNBau) at the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) has issued a plea to the federal government, the Länder governments and local authorities to establish greener standards in the campaign to create new housing.

The German Federal Ecodesign Award 2019 has been announced, and once again, businesses of all sizes and sectors, designers and students can enter their products or services in the contest for the highest national prize for ecodesign. Deadline for submission of entries is 8 April.

Software has a significant impact on the resource efficiency of IT hardware and on how long it is used. Programs which execute the same functions can have very different levels of energy consumption depending on how they are programmed. The German Environment Agency (UBA) has developed criteria to assess the environmental impact of software products.

December 11th is the designated International Mountain Day. The day was designated by the UN to show the important role of mountain regions for sustainable development. In line with this, UBA has published a background paper describing the Alpine region on its way to becoming a model region for green economy.

The city and the countryside are closely interlinked, for example through daily flows of traffic and goods. In everyday practice, however, problems are common. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is now launching the “Stadt-Land-Plus” funding measure and already providing support for twelve collaborative projects between science and practice across Germany to implement new ideas.

The Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMU) and the German Environment Agency (UBA) awarded the Blue Angel ecolabel to the Bioblos children's construction blocks from Austria at a ceremony in Berlin today. It is the second toy to be awarded the Blue Angel.

One tonne of CO2 emissions causes damage worth 180 euros.

Keeping materials in circulation and preventing them from becoming waste is only possible if the design of a product is adapted accordingly. The possibilities offered by ecodesign were the topic of the Circular Design Forum in Berlin. Here, the results of the project “EcoDesign Circle” were presented, in which the UBA plays the leading role. Documentation and additional materials are now online.