Welcome to the new issue of "The Latest from UBA"!
Back then it was a milestone: the Paris Agreement, adopted in 2015 at the 21st United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris. Where do we stand today, 10 years on, in implementing the Agreement? Are the goals still achievable? And if so, how? On this tenth anniversary we are taking stock, speaking to people who were in Paris and helped shape the Agreement. More on this and also on the recently concluded 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference in Brazil, in this newsletter. We also cover the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), designed to prevent the relocation of industrial production outside Europe, as well as how Germany could meet European water protection objectives by giving its streams and rivers more space again.
We hope you find it an interesting read
Your UBA Press and Public Relations team
10 years of the Paris Agreement: Where do we stand?
Jubel am 12. Dezember 2015 auf der Weltklimakonferenz in Paris
Quelle: Hajü Staudt / UN Climate Change
In December 2015, all countries worldwide unanimously agreed to the Paris Agreement at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris, a milestone that made history. That was 10 years ago now. All the more reason to take stock, especially after another UN Climate Change Conference that ended in disappointment in Brazil in November 2025: Once again, the international community failed to agree on a roadmap to phase out coal, oil and gas, even though this is a basic prerequisite for achieving the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
This central goal seems to be slipping out of reach: in 2024, the global average temperature exceeded this threshold for the first time, and based on the climate action plans submitted by countries to date, is on track to rise to 2.6 degrees Celsius by 2100. So what do the tough and time-consuming international negotiations achieve? Not enough, but still a lot! International negotiations are essential to solving the global problem of climate change, after all, greenhouse gases know no borders. And they have already delivered notable progress: If all countries implement their currently submitted Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), global greenhouse gas emissions would decline by about 12 percent by 2035 compared with 2019. That is not enough. However, before the adoption of the Paris Agreement, emissions were expected to increase by 20 to 48 percent by 2035. And in 2015, the expected level of global warming was also estimated to be one degree Celsius higher than it is today: 3.4 instead of around 2.4 degrees Celsius by 2100. This is a huge difference when it comes to keeping as many regions of our planet habitable and minimising suffering and damage from heat waves, droughts, floods and other climate impacts. So,let's keep negotiating, even if it is hard.
Read the in-depth review of 10 years of the Paris Agreement, as well as video interviews with representatives from science, business, politics and civil society who were in Paris, including UBA President Dirk Messner, on our (German-language) anniversary page.
Die Ergebnisse der Weltklimakonferenz im brasilianischen Belém (COP30) sind enttäuschend und spiegeln die komplexe geopolitische Situation wider, die substanzielle Fortschritte verhinderte. Der angedachte Fahrplan für den vollständigen Ausstieg aus Kohle, Öl und Gas scheiterte an starken Widerständen. Trotz der immensen Differenzen konnten viele Detail-Beschlüsse und kleine Erfolge erzielt werden.
2026 werden die Emissionszertifikate im nationalen Emissionshandel (nEHS) erstmals versteigert. Die Versteigerungen im Preiskorridor markieren den Übergang in den neuen europäischen Emissionshandel für Brennstoffe (EU-ETS 2), der bis 2027 eingeführt wird. Mit der Durchführung dieser Versteigerungen im nEHS hat das Umweltbundesamt (UBA) die Energiebörse European Energy Exchange (EEX) beauftragt.
As part of the research project FKZ 3722 42 510 0 ‘Climate protection measures in coastal regions and waters’
Blue Carbon ecosystems, such as mangroves, salt marshes, and seagrass meadows, play a vital role in climate mitigation by storing atmospheric CO₂ in their soils.
This paper highlights the critical need to distinguish between autochthonous (locally fixed) and allochthonous (externally sourced) carbon to ensure accurate carbon accounting. It states, that the inclusion of allochthonous carbon may…
Assessment and operationalisation of relevant criteria
The CBAM scope includes selected imported goods to ensure a level playing field with EU production covered by the EU ETS 1. While 573 mainly basic materials and products are covered, expanding the scope to downstream goods must be assessed. The paper identifies five criteria for prioritisation: share of CBAM inputs, emissions relevance, carbon-leakage risk, administrative burden, and avoidance of…
Two types of large-scale models with different modelling philosophies are used to quantify socioeconomic effects in scenarios in which the EU moves forward in climate policy and applies different design options under the EU emissions trading system (ETS) combined with a Carbon Border Adjustment (CBAM).
One model, GEM-E3, is a computable general equilibrium model that follows neoclassical theory…
In Article 2.1 (c) of the Paris Agreement, the international community sets itself the goal of ensuring that global financial flows are consistent with the objectives of the Agreement. But how can we determine whether this goal is being achieved? The German Federal Environment Agency has commissioned a research project to develop an assessment approach to this question.
The aim of this report is to analyse the (economic) impacts of the extension of the EU ETS 1 to maritime transport on the sector and the interlinkages with other policies considering the overall climate impacts. The report contains a market analysis for maritime transport services, which was carried out for maritime and inland shipping. The report also analyses the qualitative effects and…
In this data research project, quantitative data from available sources of information relating to two core topics will be researched and compiled in a uniform data format:
1. product-related material flows, energy consumption and (direct and indirect) greenhouse gas emissions within the scope of the EU-ETS 1, with a focus on the steel, cement, aluminium, refinery and basic chemicals industries.
Substance profiles and proposed EU-LCI values for 4-hydroxy-4-methylpentan-2-one, 1,4-butanediol, acetophenone, n- and isopropyl acetate and isobutyl acetate
The subject of this project was the preparation of substance reports for five substances relevant for building products emissions. For these substances, the toxicological data basis was compiled and evaluated, and EU-LCI values were proposed. The EU-LCI values allow the harmonisation of the health assessment of building products emissions throughout Europe. The EU-LCI Working Group is currently…
Der Europäische CO₂-Grenzausgleich (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, kurz CBAM) wird deutlich vereinfacht. Der Mechanismus für Carbon Leakage-Schutz und damit gegen eine Verlagerung industrieller Produktion außerhalb Europas wird auf große Importmengen relevanter Grundstoffe begrenzt, die außerhalb der EU hergestellt werden.
Bundesumweltministerium und UBA haben die Gewinner des Bundespreises Ecodesign 2025 prämiert. Die Arbeiten zeigen, wie breit das Spektrum nachhaltiger Gestaltung heute ist. Ob Recycling, biobasierte Materialien wie Hanf und Myzel, KI-gestützte Anwendungen oder modulare Produkte – Gestaltung wird hier zum Hebel für Ressourcenschonung, innovative Geschäftsmodelle und gesellschaftlichen Wandel.
Das UBA lädt am 11.–12. März 2026 zur Abschlusskonferenz des EU-Projektes „NiCE“ an seinen Hauptsitz in Dessau-Roßlau ein. Gemeinsam mit Städten, Regionen, Netzwerken, NGOs und Initiativen wollen wir Wege zur Förderung nachhaltiger Konsumstrukturen in Stadtzentren diskutieren.
Obwohl sich viele Deutsche nachhaltiges Reisen wünschen, lässt sich dieser Wunsch bislang kaum im tatsächlichen Reiseverhalten erkennen. Das geht aus dem aktuellen Nachfragemonitor „Nachhaltigkeit bei Urlaubsreisen“ hervor, den die Forschungsgemeinschaft Urlaub und Reisen (FUR) gemeinsam mit dem Umweltbundesamt (UBA) veröffentlicht hat. Besonders deutlich wird der Widerspruch beim Flugverhalten.
In the environmental risk assessment of plant protection products, the risk of spray drift losses to the off-field can be reduced by adding drift reduction measures. The question is how the combination of several measures affects the overall risk and, in particular, the associated uncertainty. Various statistical methods have been used to quantify both the overall risk and its uncertainty, in…
The report presents a study on the environmental behaviour of melamine (CAS: 108-78-1), investigated in adsorption and desorption experiments with five different soils.
As part of the study, the organic carbon-normalized adsorption coefficients (Koc values) were determined. Koc describes the relative distribution of a substance between soil and water, normalized to the fraction of organic carbon in…
For 1H-benzotriazole (CAS: 95-14-7), 4-methyl- (CAS: 29878-31-7) and 5-methyl-benzotriazole (CAS: 136-85-6)
The report presents a study on the environmental behaviour of three benzotriazoles – 1H-benzotriazole (CAS 95-14-7), 4-methylbenzotriazole (CAS 29878-31-7), and 5-methylbenzotriazole (CAS 136-85-6) – investigated in adsorption and desorption experiments with five different soils.
As part of the study, the organic carbon-normalized adsorption coefficients (Koc values) were determined. Koc describes…
Wie gut ist die Luft, die wir atmen? Der neue Luftqualitätsindex des Umweltbundesamtes (UBA) liefert künftig Antworten auf Basis aktueller wissenschaftlicher Erkenntnisse. Zudem wurden die UBA-App „Luftqualität“ und das Luftdaten-Portal modernisiert – für präzisere Informationen, verständliche Verhaltenstipps und eine noch nutzerfreundlichere Darstellung der aktuellen Luftqualität in Deutschland.
Anthropogenic activities to a great extent influence and alter the natural nitrogen cycle. The existing guidance document offers detailed description to inventory human influenced nitrogen fluxes on a national level. In eight chapters, the eight technical annexes are described to implement a national nitrogen budget. A National nitrogen budget serves as a tool of the Geneva Convention on long…
Deutschland kann viele der europäischen Gewässerschutzziele erreichen, wenn Bächen und Flüssen zwei Prozent der Fläche des Landes zurückgegeben werden, so Berechnungen im Auftrag des Umweltbundesamtes. Demnach fehlen den deutschen Gewässern gegenwärtig etwa 7.000 Quadratkilometer Fläche, unter anderem für eine naturnahe Auenentwicklung, mehr Biodiversität und besseren Hochwasserschutz.
Contribution to the CONMAR Project (CONcepts for conventional MArine munition Remediation in the German North and Baltic Sea)
The German Environment Agency has conducted tests to determine the ecotoxicity of TNT and its metabolites 2-ADNT and 4-ADNT, as well as other munition compounds (1,3-DNB and 2,6-DNT) by using two marine diatom species (Phaeodactylum tricornutum and Skeletonema marinoi) in accordance with DIN EN ISO 10253 (2016) and derived effect concentrations on this basis.
