Publications

Transport is not only an indispensable part of our daily lives, but also one of the major sources of greenhouse gases in Germany. What can be done to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transport in the short- and mid-term? How can transport become greenhouse gas-neutral in the long term? Are Germany’s climate targets in the transport sector sufficiently ambitious?

PFOS (Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid) is a persistent organic pollutant. Its use has been strictly restricted by the Stockholm Convention and EU POP Regulation. In the EU, the use of PFOS is still permitted for “non-decorative hard chromium (VI) plating in closed loop systems” in the plating industry, as a specific exemption.

The procurement of low-noise and low-emission construction machines is to result in a reduction of the noise, exhaust gas and particle emissions.

The study analyses the country background, emissions trends, ongoing activities and barriers relating to the implementation of the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) of Viet Nam under the UNFCCC. A special emphasis is laid on further mitigation potentials.

The study analyses the country background, emissions trends, ongoing activities and barriers relating to the implementation of the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) of Indonesia under the UNFCCC. A special emphasis is laid on further mitigation potentials.

This Scientific Opinion Paper reports about current plans of the European Commission to issue a delegated act on communication of emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC) from construction products in form of “VOC classes”.

Beyond area-based land footprint indicators, additional information is needed to assess the sustainability of land use. This report discusses extensions of area-based land footprints with meaningful impact-oriented indicators for the assessment of the effects of different consumption patterns on the ecosystems and sustainability of land use.

Footprint analysis reveals the appropriation of land resources from a consumer’s perspective. This report presents a novel hybrid land-flow accounting method for the calculation of land footprints, employing a globally consistent top-down approach and combining physical with environmental-economic accounting.

This report provides an in-depth review of the current state of the art in measuring land footprints. It identifies differences in available accounting methods and indicates their shortcomings. It offers options and gives clear recommendations for the further development of actual and virtual global biomass and land flow accounting methods.

With our demand for food, feed, energetic and material use of biomass extensive land use is associated, both at home and abroad. This entails considerable environmental effects. Therefore, land use should be measured more in detail. In this research project, area based land footprint indicators of biomass consumption were further developed and calculated based on global data sets.

In December 2015 Parties adopted the Paris Agreement at the 21st session of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). In its Article 2 governments agreed to limit global warming to “well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels” and to pursue to limit it to 1.5°C (UNFCCC 2015).

Since 2016, there are new legal requirements for the assessment for nutrients and substances of the waters in Germany. New assessment procedures for hydromorphology were developed. These assessment instruments are described in the brochure "Waters in Germany: Status and Assessment". The results of the assessment clarify the still open problems in water protection.