Publications | Umweltbundesamt

Wirtschaft | Konsum

Environmental Due Diligence in EU Law

Considerations for Designing EU (Secondary) Legislation

The debate on sustainability related corporate due diligence obligations in global value chains has recently gained considerable momentum, in particular at EU level. However, so far, it has been dominated by the focus on human rights due diligence. By contrast, relatively little attention has been paid to the specifics of a stand-alone environmental due diligence obligation. This paper examines ho...read more

Water

Assessment of communication masking in Antarctic marine mammals by underwater sound from airguns

Marine mammals depend largely on their sense of hearing. Underwater noise can lead to acoustic masking of biologically important sounds. Marine airguns used for scientific studies of the seabed produce this type of sound. In this project, models were developed to assess the masking potential of airguns on blue whale, fin whale, killer whale and Weddell seal communication. The results of the models...read more

Chemicals

Advancing REACH: Interplay of the REACH Processes

The report aims at identifying deficits in the interplay of the ⁠REACH⁠ processes registration, evaluation, authorisation and restriction and points out potential obstacles in meeting the regulation’s goal of achieving a high level of protection in an efficient way. The interfaces between the processes registration, dossier evaluation, substance evaluation, authorisation and restrict...read more

Climate | Energy, Water

Environmental Impacts of Exhaust Gas Cleaning Systems for Reduction of SOx on Ships – Analysis of status quo

Report compiled within the framework of the project ImpEx

The interim report covers the status quo on the use of scrubbers (Exhaust Gas Cleaning Systems, EGCS) for sulphur reduction in seagoing ships. Based on a literature study, it includes technical aspects, a market analysis, legal framework and the status of research activities. The focus is on discharge water. Prior research studies demonstrated an acidic pH and the presence of several pollutants su...read more

Climate | Energy, Economy | Consumption

China’s Pilot Emissions Trading Systems and Electricity Markets (Hubei and Shenzhen)

Influence of market structures and market regulations on the carbon market

Electricity generation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in many countries. Most emissions trading systems (ETS) therefore address emissions from electricity generation. The de-sign of an ETS and the structure and regulation of the electricity sector have a large impact on the environmental effectiveness and the quality of the carbon price signal. This report analyses the interacti...read more

Chemicals, Agriculture

Environmental risks of pesticides between forecast and reality: How reliable are results of the environmental risk assessment for individual products in the light of agricultural practice (tank mixtures, spray series)?

In our fields, several plant protection products (PPPs) are often applied at the same time and/or in sequence. In the current authorisation, however, PPPs are only evaluated individually. As a result, effects from typical PPP applications often remain undetected and represent a problematic and alarming gap in the authorisation of PPPs.The authors of the present study evaluated almost 900 PPP spray...read more

Sustainability | Strategies | International matters

Migration, environment and climate change

The linkages between climate change, environmental degradation, and migration are complex and multidimensional, with environmental change affecting human mobility in multiple ways. This final report provides an overview of key findings and identified gaps in data and knowledge, national climate policies and strategies, project planning and funding, regional responses, and international policy proc...read more

Climate | Energy

Submission under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol 2021

National Inventory Report for the German Greenhouse Gas Inventory 1990 – 2019

As a Party to the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (⁠UNFCCC⁠), since 1994 Germany has been obliged to prepare, publish and regularly update national emission inventories of greenhouse gases. Pursuant to Decision 24/CP.19, all Parties listed in ANNEX I of the UNFCCC are required to prepare and submit annual National Inventory Reports (NIRs) containing detailed and complete information on...read more