Publications | Umweltbundesamt

Climate | Energy, Economy | Consumption

Emissions trading in pursuit of electricity decarbonisation - market structures and regulations matter

Synthesis report

This report assesses the role of emissions trading systems (ETS) in electricity sector decarbonization through analyses  of carbon market designs and interactions with electricity market regulations, market structures and additional  policies. It provides a synthesis of five case studies in EU, California, South Korea, China and Mexico. The authors investigate four carbon price quality criteria (v...read more

Climate | Energy, Economy | Consumption

The Korea Emissions Trading System and electricity market

Influence of market structures and market regulation 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

Agriculture

Limited environmental impact and high costs

Findings and recommendations from the project “An Evaluation of the Common Agricultural Policy from the Perspective of Environmental Protection II”

The paper summarizes the most important results of the scientific project "Evaluation of the Common Agricultural Policy II". Land use data sets were used to in order to analyse how the 2013 reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has affected the environment. The results show that none of the greening measures included in the CAP (maintenance of permanent grassland, ecological priority area...read more

Chemicals

NoCheRo-Guidance for the Evaluation of Rodent Traps

Part A Break back/Snap traps

This guidance describes methods and criteria to evaluate rodent break back/snap traps regarding their animal welfare impact and efficacy. The assessment follows a tiered approach starting with the tests of the mechanical properties, followed by a semi-field trial testing the animal welfare impact and basic efficacy, and optionally supplemented by the extended efficacy test in the field. The latter...read more

Chemicals

Persistent degradation products of halogenated refrigerants and blowing agents in the environment: type, environmental concentrations, and fate with particular regard to new halogenated substitutes with low global warming potential

Climate-impacting refrigerants and blowing agents are often replaced by halogenated substances which, despite their low global warming potential, are not unproblematic for the environment. The study examines quantities used and emissions today and in the future as well as degradation pathways and products. An environmentally relevant degradation product is the persistent trifluoroacetic acid (TFA)...read more

Climate | Energy

The Challenges of Assessing “Collective Progress”

Design Options for an effective Global Stocktake process under the UNFCCC

The Paris Agreement combines collective goals with individual countries’ contributions. This hybrid approach does not guarantee that the individual contributions add up to what is required to meet the collective goals. The Paris Agreement therefore established the Global Stocktake. Its task is to “assess collective progress” towards achieving the long-term goals of the agreement as of 2023 and eve...read more

Air

Air quality 2020

Preliminary evaluation

The publication describes the preliminary status of German air quality in 2020. Regarding PM (particulate matter) the reduction of pollution has continued. Consistently to this development, there are hardly any exceedances of the EU annul limit value for nitrogen dioxide (NO2). And there was less ozone pollution than in both previous years. The second part of the reports deals with the influence o...read more

Chemicals

Advancing REACH – The Restriction Procedure

The restriction process is a central instrument of ⁠REACH⁠ to regulate risks of substances by means of a restriction or prohibition for certain concentration ranges and uses. This project analysed the current implementation of the process based on a literature review and case studies with a focus on the workload for authorities, the duration of the procedure and the role oft he commi...read more