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Public authorities

As Germany’s main environmental agency, we provide government employees with a full range of job related information and resources such as Web content, brochures, and conferences. We also offer concrete recommendations and guidelines on matters such as drinking water quality and indoor air quality. And if you’d like to see the government agency you work for aid the cause of environmental protection and use eco-friendly products and green electricity, then you should have a look at our helpful hints, as well as our specimen RFPs.

Only ten percent of Germany’s water ecologically intact, despite progress made

Currently, only slightly less than ten percent of rivers, lakes and coastal waters are in good ecological condition. Although this is a slight improvement over 2015, Germany still faces major challenges. According to the EU Water Framework Directive, water bodies should be "good" in terms of chemistry, ecology and – in the case of groundwater – also in terms of available quantity by 2027. read more

Oder fish die-off: Salt discharges caused mass proliferation of toxic alga

According to the German expert group report published on September 30, 2022, the most probable cause of the fish die-off in the River Oder is the rapid rise in salinity, which together with other factors led to the mass proliferation of a brackish water alga that is poisonous to fish. read more

International TES Academy kicks off at UBA

teamwork with people of different countries

The new International Academy Transformation for Environment and Sustainability (TES Academy) has been launched in a pilot phase at UBA. The kick-off to the project is a virtual discussion series about the implications of Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine on the sustainability transformation and how to respond to the situation. read more

OECD-Guideline: Determination of particle size of nanomaterials

On 30th June 2022, the OECD published the Test Guideline No. 125, which harmonises the determination of particle size distribution specifically for nanomaterials. It is an important building block for the implementation of nano-specific requirements within the framework of legislation on chemical safety, for example for the REACH Regulation. read more

"Blauer Kompass" federal award: Nomination of 20 climate change adaptation projects

The competition for the federal "Blauer Kompass" award for exemplary climate change adaptation projects has set a new record number of participants this year. Of the 240 entries received by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) and German Environment Agency (UBA), 20 outstanding projects have now been nominated for the award. read more

Corporate Sustainability Reporting faces major changes

skyscrapers with glass facades, in which trees reflect

About 500 German undertakings are obliged to include sustainability-related information in their annual reports. According to the plans of the EU Commission more undertakings shall report in the future and apply uniform reporting standards. A study on behalf of UBA recommends precise requirements for reporting on targets, actions and performance indicators and corporate greenhouse gas neutrality. read more

Guide for greenhouse gas-neutral administrations published

Four-storey office building with a façade made of wood and colourful glass elements; a photovoltaic system stands on the green roof

“Public administrations must pioneer and be a role model in climate protection”, said Dirk Messner, President of the German Environment Agency (UBA) at an online meeting of the Network of Heads of European Environmental Administrations (EPA Network) on November 25th. He presented UBA’s guide on greenhouse gas neutral administrations, now also available in English. read more

Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) design

A research project for the German Environment Agency developed a method for the systematic analysis of the design of nationally determined contributions (NDCs) of Parties to the Paris Agreement. As part of this project, the design of 20 NDCs were analysed with this method. read more