Publications

Man has used land for agriculture for thousands of years. Now as before far more than one million people work in agriculture in Germany. Agriculture serves, first of all, to feed the population - either directly by cultivating food or indirectly by producing fodder for livestock. Lately agriculture has also become an energy supplier producing energy plants for use in biomass power stations.

By signing the Göteborg protocol in 1999 and by adopting the NEC directive 2001/81/EC of the European Parliament and the Council in 2001, Germany accepted the obligation to adhere to a national limit of 550 kt per year for the emissions of ammonia (NH3) and not to exceed this limit as of the year 2010.

For many years, the German public have regarded environmental protection as one of the most important problems in Germany. People attach great importance to the quality of environmental assets – such as climate, water, soil or air.

Waste management measures make a major contribution to cost-effective reduction of greenhouse gases. The necessary steps for restructuring towards a “climate-friendly waste management sector” are known, and reliable recycling and waste treatment techniques are available.

Currently there are no standard methods for studies on the degradation behaviour of substances in manure. Such methods are of great importance for the authorisation process for biocides and veterinary medicinal products. Presently, information on the variability of the composition of different types of manure with regard to species and production type is not available.

In assessing the impact of biocides on the environment, specific risk mitigation measures (RMM) may be required to reduce the risks for the environment.

Emissions trading systems have been or are being established in many countries and regions around the world to curb climate-damaging emissions of greenhouse gases. Most of these systems include measures to safeguard the competitiveness of industries under an emissions cap.

Beschreibung

By ratifying the Kyoto Protocol, Germany undertook to make annual reports to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) about Germany’s emissions of greenhouse gases. This is done in the National Inventory Report (NIR), which under the Common Reporting Format (CRF) is required to observe a specific organisation.

The present report shall describe the activities carried out in the frame of the project „Concept development for an environmental impact assessment for off-shore wind parks in the Baltic States “ from November 2007 till October 2009.

In a new waste hierarchy the amended EU Waste Framework Directive (WFD) (2008/98/EG) confirmed the prevention of waste as a priority measure to protect the environment with regard to the production and handling of waste. Amongst others the Member States are requested to promote waste prevention. According to article 29 par.

Even if we succeed in achieving the EU target of reducing global warming to 2°C, it will be absolutely essential to adapt to changing climatic conditions. The greenhouse gases cur-rently present in the atmosphere will influence the climate in coming decades.