Publications

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.

Reliable data regarding the amounts of leisure boasts and number of berths in marinas are needed for the EU biocidal products regulation of antifouling products. Since for Germany such data are lacking, a national survey was initiated by the German Federal Environmental Agency.

The joint UBA-GIZ brochure „Reverse Innovation – Rethinking Urban Transport through Global Learning“ looks into the potential of “reverse innovation” in the urban transport sector. Ten interesting innovations from developing- and emerging countries were selected, that offer relevant impulses for cities and towns in Germany.

The Pool-Cleaning-Robot PIWI (Pool-Intelligent-Water-Inspector) PIWI 3.14 keeps his pool clean and ship-shape and is quite happy. However his friend, Wilma the cat, confuses the issue when she tells him what the next stream looks like. The two of them get on their way to sort things out.

In the National Implementation Plan, Germany describes the measures taken to implement the obligations under the Stockholm Convention.

To enable the ISC3 a quick start in its substantive work, the customers (UBA/BMUB) have commis-sioned the drafting of three studies. The objective of this study was to identify to identify priority top-ics, i.e. technical solutions, concepts, business models etc., in the field of Sustainable Chemistry.

To allow the ISC3 a quick start to its substantive work, the clients (UBA/BMUB) have commissioned the drafting of three studies. The objective of this study was to create a knowledge base by mapping the most relevant initiatives/approaches in the field of sustainable chemistry.