News

Kindergartens where children spend most of their time in nature shall soon become an officially accepted form of kindergarten in the Czech Republic. To help defining the requirements the UBA brought together German and Czech forest kindergartens and their advocates in the framework of a project of the Advisory Assistance Programme.

Two English-language technical guides are now available to countries where modernisation of facilities for waste water treatment and sewage sludge management is imminent, e.g. to comply with EU requirements.

In 2013 the disturbed soil of peatlands and forests caused emissions with climate impact of about 45 million tonnes CO2 in Germany alone. The drainage of peatland exposes plant material to the air which was previously preserved in airtight conditions and then releases carbon and nitrous oxide. An UBA study develops incentives how to reduce peatland emissions worldwide.

Which pollutants are people exposed to nowadays and which have diminished as a result of environmental legislation? This was one of the topics more than 300 experts from 33 countries discussed on the 2nd International Conference on Human Biomonitoring in April 2016 in Berlin. The presentations, the conference proceeding and impressions from the conference are found on the conference website.

Until now, with few exceptions, there are no specific provisions for nanomaterials within the substance legislations. As a result, specific environmental risks cannot be described and assessed adequately. Therefore, the main aim of this paper is to outline the necessary further development of chemi¬cals regulations for nanomaterials with regard to the environment from UBA´s perspective.

After Dresden, Moscow, Ottawa, Foz do Iguaçu and Durban, the IUPAC Green Chemistry Conferences Series moves to Italy; the Sixth Event will be held in Venice on 4th-8th September 2016.

A study by the German Environment Agency looks into the scope for political and economic steering to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from bogs and forests. The analysis covers measures both at international level (UNFCCC) and EU level.

Since 27 December 2015 consumer goods may no longer exceed a very low content of eight carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). A threshold of 0.5 mg/kg applies for toys and baby items. Other rubber or plastic products such as gardening gloves or mouse pads may contain no more than 1 mg/kg.

A new OECD report discusses examples from countries like Germany, Japan and New Zealand of how transport policy can be better adapted to climate change. The report also examines the major challenges in assessing the economic damage caused by greenhouse gases.

An event to mark the end of the International Year of Soils 2015 was hosted in Berlin by the German Environment and Development ministries jointly with the German Environment Agency and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit. Under the heading “Soil – A source of life”, experts and policymakers discussed old and new soil protection tasks and challenges.

The German Environment Agency has published its Data on the Environment 2015 report. Action is needed with regard to greenhouse gases, raw material efficiency and nutrient pollution, good news in recycling and drinking water quality.

A distance-based toll makes it possible to set differentiated charges for infrastructure and other costs incurred by society as a result of road traffic. Frequent drivers pay more than occasional drivers, resulting in positive ecological and traffic steering effects. The time-based vignette is not a meaningful solution, since it amounts to a flat rate charge for frequent road users.