Press | Umweltbundesamt

Batteries and accumulators are part of our everyday lives, their absence in MP3 players, laptops and mobile phones, torches, hearing aids or cars unimaginable. On 1 December 2009 the Act Concerning the Placing on the Market, Collection and Environmentally Compatible Waste Management of Batteries and Accumulators (Batteriegesetz - BattG) will enter into force and replace the Batteries Ordinance. It... read more

More than half of the aviation sector participants in emissions trading in Germany have now submitted the required monitoring schemes for recording their annual CO2 emissions and transport data to the German Emissions Trading Authority. Establishing contact with aircraft operators- whether large air carriers or the amateur or business flyer- often proved difficult initially, especially since the s... read more

The sun is a cheap and environmentally friendly source of energy. Using solar energy amounts to savings of the Earth’s natural resources and in one’s own purse. The products range from watches, pocket  calculators, milk frothers or various lamps: solar-powered products with the Blue Angel that run without batteries or a plug are proof of the practical application of solar technology in the househo... read more

The European Commission has given the EMAS prize 2009 for environmental management to the Federal Environment Agency (UBA). UBA has received first prize for its green public procurement. The jury was won over by the fact that since 2001, UBA has complied with high standards in its procurement of goods and services as well as in awarding contracts to suppliers, and places environmental protection a... read more

Berlin, 20 November 2009. Shortly before the start of the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, the voices of the Federal government’s key climate and policy consultants are pressing for a successful outcome to the conference. The effects of climate change have been more tangible than predicted just a few years ago. Mankind needs an ambitious follow-up treaty to Kyoto that defines clear and... read more

A new Internet site for municipalities provides immediate and completely free access to a test of how far along they are in matters of climate protection. The web site www.benchmark-kommunaler-klimaschutz.net allows municipalities to enter their key data on energy, mobility and waste and see where their strengths and weaknesses lie in the fight against the greenhouse effect. Fully automatically a... read more

After tough international negotiations substantial progress towards an international agreement against biopiracy was achieved in Montreal, Canada on 15 November 2009. The goal of the envisaged agreement is to ensure a more equitable distribution of the economic benefits arising from the use of genetic resources. "I am happy about this breakthrough in the negotiations. It cannot be that industriali... read more

Detecting and avoiding waste of power is the purpose of the Energiesparkiste (energy savings kit), which the Federal Environment Agency developed in 2007 together with the Aktion No-Energy for use at schools. The newly updated kit is now available. read more