Publications

This paper examines the technical challenges and safety aspects on board the ship when using alternative fuels in maritime transport and compares their use in fuel cells and combustion engines. It also looks at GHG and pollutant emissions as well as costs and possible necessary adaptations during operation.

This paper presents various fuel options in maritime transport, examines their production processes, sustainability aspects, infrastructure requirements, production costs and looks at the energy required for production.

Each year, German contracting authorities purchase around €300 billion worth of products ranging from pencils to city buses. This massive purchasing power can potentially be used to reduce environmental pollution, improve the range of environmental products and services, and promote more targeted market launches of innovative eco-friendly products.

The International Cooperative Programme on Modelling and Mapping of Critical Levels and Loads and Air Pollution Effects, Risks and Trends (ICP Modelling and Mapping) develops and uses critical loads to recommend science-based emission reductions to policy makers within the UN Air Convention (CLRTAP).

The new European Commission should pursue ambitious policies aimed at reducing both greenhouse gas emissions and pollution, even as priorities shift to security and defense. Here are recommendations by the German Environment Agency (UBA) and the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) for giving impetus to climate, environmental and biodiversity policy.

The Global Stocktake (GST) under the Paris Agreement periodically assesses the collective progress towards achieving the long-term goals of the Agreement. A project commissioned by the German Environment Agency accompanied all phases of the first GST with analysis focused on mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and examined the GST’s implications for climate action.

The research project aimed to assess the risk of per- and polyfluorinated compounds (PFAS) for humans and the environment. As part of the project, PFAS were identified in certain waste streams, quantified and evaluated against the background of the requirements of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs).

The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) will require large companies to create transparency about their environmental and social impacts, including those in the supply chain.

With the indicator report "Data on the Environment – Environmental Monitor 2024", the German Environment Agency provides a condensed picture of the state of the environment, the causes of environmental pollution and starting points for improved policy action.

At the end of September 2023, the World Conference on Chemicals (ICCM5) decided on the follow-up framework for SAICM by adopting the Global Framework on Chemicals (GFC). The GFC aims to ensure the sustainable use of chemicals worldwide throughout their entire life cycle, including the products and waste produced from them.

The existing award criteria for the Blue Angel eco-label for textiles (DE-UZ 154) have been reviewed as part of a revision and, in addition to expanding and further specifying the scope, have been specifically further developed in individual requirement areas.

Solar radiation modification is highly controversial. The implementation of invasive geoengineering technologies would entail serious and largely unforeseeable ecological, and geopolitical risks. Considerable scientific disagreement exists around the extent of the risks, how they relate to increased risks of climate change, and whether uncertainties could be resolved.