Publications | Umweltbundesamt

Climate | Energy, Transport, Noise, Soil | Land, Water, Sustainability | Strategies | International matters

Internal Development in Urban Growth Regions

Opportunities and Challenges for Technical Infrastructures

Cities in growth regions face major urban development challenges in meeting the demand for housing within the city. At the same time, capacity limits of urban technical infrastructures may arise and counteract the guiding principle of compact and thus land-saving inner development. The project therefore investigated the potentials for inner-city development using model cities as examples to examin...read more

Climate | Energy, Economy | Consumption

Effective and socially acceptable design of CO2 pricing in the building and transport sectors

Ambitious CO2 pricing via emissions trading is a key lever for achieving the statutory climate targets in the building and transport sectors. This makes climate protection measures economical, ensures target achievement through a binding upper limit on emissions and helps to keep the economic costs of climate protection low. However, it must be ensured that no social hardship arises. This study by...read more

Climate | Energy, Transport, Sustainability | Strategies | International matters

Sustainable mobility concept EURO 2024

The study "Sustainable mobility concept EURO 2024" deals with the promotion of sustainable mobility in the context of the European Football Championship 2024 (EURO 2024) in Germany.  The transportation sector is one of the main sources of greenhouse gas emissions. For that reason, it is crucial to promote sustainable mobility as part of the fight against climate change. For major sports events suc...read more

Climate | Energy

Introduction of a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) in the EU

The EU will introduce a carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) on October 1, 2023. The main idea is to apply the same carbon price to imported emission-intensive goods as if they had been produced under EU carbon pricing rules (EU ETS). This is intended to prevent the relocation of domestic industry, which has to bear rising CO2 costs within the EU ETS, to countries without comparable carbon pr...read more

Economy | Consumption, Waste | Resources

Ensuring a secure AND sustainable supply of critical raw materials

Recommendations on how to take forward the EU Commission's proposal for a Critical Raw Materials Act

With the overall objective of ensuring a secure and sustainable supply of critical raw materials, the European Commission has proposed a new regulation, the Critical Raw Materials Act. This scientific opinion paper provides recommendations to EU policy makers on how to further develop this proposal from an environmental perspective.read more

Climate | Energy, Waste | Resources, Health, Transport, Soil | Land, Sustainability | Strategies | International matters

Protecting the Environment and Climate – Creating Living Space – Improving Quality of Life

We are facing an enormous challenge: the climate crisis and scarcity of resources require a consistent paradigm shift in housing construction and urban development. Quality of life, health and aesthetics must be combined with environmental, resource and climate protection. This position paper of the German Environment Agency and the Commission for Sustainable Building (KNBau) at the German Environ...read more

Air

Satellite-based Emission Verification

Pilot study

Satellites that measure the chemical composition of the atmosphere are becoming more accurate and numerous, providing a unique opportunity to independently monitor emissions for large geographical regions in a consistent way. This report elaborates the development of a software tool which is able to process satellite observation data and estimate NOx emissions from it for a pre-defined area. The t...read more

Climate | Energy

Commission Proposal for an EU Carbon Removal Certification Framework - Is the proposed delegation of power in line with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU?

In November 2022, the European Commission put forward a proposal for a regulation for a Carbon Removal Certification Framework (CRCF).This proposal includes various provisions that would empower the Commission to adopt delegated acts. Delegated acts are intended to specify a number of provisions of the regulation.This report examines whether the proposed provisions on delegation are in line with A...read more