Working to achieve greenhouse gas neutrality at the German Environment Agency | Umweltbundesamt

Eleven of Germany’s federal states and the Federal Government have committed to achieving greenhouse gas-neutral administration, and some have formulated concrete goals for this purpose. UBA’s updated environmental statement formulates clear requirements and recommendations for climate change mitigation at public agencies. The statements refer to video conferences, the integration of mobile working, electronic workflow management, flexible workspace management and more.

Obstacles to taking more climate action sometimes have to do with operational issues, organization, technical conditions or even legal framework. For example, responsibility for building management may in part be outsourced, which prolongs the decision-making process when it comes to adopting climate action measures in buildings. Current tax law governing travel expenditure makes no solid case to give automatic preference to train travel versus a less environmentally friendly mode of transport. Furthermore, an adjustment in budgetary law would be meaningful that allows public authorities to offset CO2 emissions from the operation of their buildings or events with climate action projects.

In order to achieve the ambitious goals of greenhouse neutrality, the German Environment Agency has an environmental management system in place certified according to EMAS, the EU Eco-Management and Audit System. EMAS sets the most demanding requirements for environmental management worldwide as well as for the annual environmental statement. An accredited independent environmental verifier must validate every year whether these requirements are being met.