Press | Umweltbundesamt

Anyone returning deposit bottles is doing his bit for the environment. The same goes for reusable as well as one-way bottles and packaging. These are the findings of a study done by bifa environmental institute GmbH on behalf of the Federal Environment Agency, according to which the compulsory deposit on one-way packaging does indeed amount to less litter on streets and in public areas. Furthermor... read more

Have human and environmental exposure to lead been reduced since the ban on leaded petrol? Why has there been no sustainable decline in the PCB count in fish in the lower course of the Rhine? What to make of the concentrations of mercury in young shoots of spruce, seagull eggs, and bream? The federal Environmental Specimen Bank (ESB), Germany’s archive documenting environmental quality, provides e... read more

The Federal Government IT Commissioner, State Secretary Cornelia Rogall-Grothe, awarded the Leuchtturm-Projekt Green-IT 2010 prize to the Federal Environment Agency’s GreenIT RZ Benchmarking project. This first-time prize recognises outstanding projects that help to improve the energy efficiency of information and communication technology (ICT) in the federal administration. read more

On 13 April 2010 the administrative court of Berlin threw out the suits filed against the Federal Environment by three energy supply utilities. The utilities did not succeed in gaining a retraction of the implementation of the Allocation Act 2012 (ZuG 2012) which foresees a cut in allowances and application of a single coal benchmark, as well as non-application of allocation regulations pursuant t... read more

The Federal Environment Agency (UBA) has now gone online with its schedule of planned projects for the 2010 Environmental Research Plan (UFOPLAN 2010) of the German Federal Ministry for Environment (BMU). read more

Operators subject to emissions trading in Germany emitted a total volume of 428.2 million tonnes of climate-damaging carbon dioxide (CO2) in 2009. As compared to the previous year, emissions sank by 44.3 million tonnes CO2, or 9.4 percent, which is the lowest level since introduction of emissions trading in Europe in 2005. The installations engaged in emissions trading were thus responsible again... read more

The signatories to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) have come one important step closer to a global agreement on biopiracy. Delegates from the 194 states met in Cali, Colombia, and agreed on a common basis for negotiation of an international regime on access and benefit sharing of genetic resources. Its purpose is to create a global legal framework that regulates both access to gene... read more

Federal President Horst Köhler has awarded Dr. Andreas Troge, former President of the Federal Environment Agency (UBA), with the Order of Merit 1st Class of the Federal Republic of Germany. Federal Minister for Environment Dr. Norbert Röttgen presented Troge with the order of merit in Berlin today.  “The focus of all Andreas Troge’s actions was always to protect our natural means of livelihood, to... read more