Mission Statement | Umweltbundesamt

I. The UBA (overarching vision)

Foreword   

The German Environment Agency (UBA) is one of the largest environment agencies in Europe. As a higher-level federal authority, UBA falls under the jurisdiction of the Federal Environment Ministry.

The UBA offers advice to the Federal Government and to many European and international organisations on the basis of its own research. It is also responsible for implementing a large number of environmental laws.

Outstanding professional and scientific work as well as its integration into a network of national, European and global partners are the foundation upon which UBA provides policy and implementation advice.

Its work focuses on transforming society and the economy in a way that ensures a sustainable livelihood for all.

Theme

For our environment: We develop solutions for a healthy planet, a good quality of life for everyone and a sustainable world.

Guiding principle

According to the responsibilities stipulated in Art. 2 of the Act on the establishment of a Federal Environment Agency, we play a central part in shaping the necessary fundamental transformation towards sustainability and a healthy environment in Germany, Europe and all over the world.

What we do

We believe that a healthy planet and a sustainable world require intact ecosystems and ambitious protection of the climate and resources.

A central goal of environmental policy is to achieve a good quality of life that is equally just at all levels of society and for all generations. Apart from living in an intact environment, quality of life also means free and secure access for everyone to basic public goods such as freedom, security, political, economic, social and cultural participation as well as the protection and promotion of good health and the implementation of consumer protection laws.

This requires sustainable production and consumption patterns and infrastructures which take account of the stress limits of the planet. The UBA develops solutions which can lead this social and ecological transformation towards sustainability.

In this process, we combine a broad spectrum of environmental knowledge, a great level of detailed expertise in individual environment-related topics and an understanding of complex ecological, economic and social interdependencies with process competence when it comes to implementing the necessary steps. This is our important contribution to shaping sustainability transformations in the central systems of society.

We use state-of-the-art digital methods to analyse our own environmental data and data from third parties. This lays the foundation for research and implementation, not only within the UBA, but also within the larger division in the Federal Ministry and in the environmental administrations of the Länder. We offer and provide access to an extensive data service with information for policy-makers and the general public alike, as well as science-based policy and implementation advice. Our special focus here is on making creative use of new trends like digital technologies and artificial intelligence.

How we do it

We bring together research, policy and implementation advice, enforcement of environmental and consumer protection laws and public dialogue. Another aspect of our work is active participation in national and international networks.

We think ahead to identify problems and possible solutions early on. We believe that comprehensive protection of the environment, of resources, health and ecosystems and an attractive, just future for our society are all part of the same approach.

Therefore we are committed to implementing and maintaining an environmental management system according to the EMAS scheme. It is a structured and detailed tool for measuring, evaluating and improving our own environmental performance with the help of our specialist experts from a broad range of different fields.

Our approach to finding solutions is based on learning and opinion-forming processes which take all relevant technical aspects into account and look at a system as a whole. We make our decisions transparent, listen to criticism and consider it an opportunity to further develop our positions.

Commitment and an ability to cooperate are central to the work of all members of the UBA team. Their many years of experience in all manner of different areas and our intensive research activity are also important factors. We are aware of our responsibility and are highly motivated in our work together. We use flexible and cooperative working methods that allow for a lively exchange across disciplines. Continuous professional development plays an important part in our agency.

We create a motivating and creative work atmosphere and ensure a team spirit, diversity and equal treatment of and opportunities for all genders. We employ gender mainstreaming by taking differences in life situations and in the impact of measures taken on the different sexes into account throughout.

II. Research dimension

Theme

Application-oriented and independent research – for our environment.

Guiding principle

We create knowledge for a sustainable planet and a healthy environment.

What we do

We create knowledge for the transformation towards sustainability and to make our societies and ecosystems fit for the future. The profound change necessary in this decade requires an accelerated provision of knowledge about systems, solutions and implementation processes. Our research is oriented towards practical application and based on the precautionary principle.

High-performing departmental research on behalf of the Federal Environment Ministry is the foundation for our policy advice and also for technical discussions on a national, European and international level as well as for our dialogue with society. It is also the basis for the implementation, creation and development of policy instruments and measures.

How we do it

Our research is application oriented, open as far as the outcome is concerned and performed by independent scientists. It takes place in the context of providing support and scientific advice to the Federal Environment Ministry and other departments of the Federal Government. Our research brings together technical, medical, natural and social-science perspectives as well as economic and legal aspects in an interdisciplinary approach.

We use a well-stacked toolbox of methods from various disciplines, ranging from laboratory research to scientific, theory-based and empirical studies and up to testing under real-life conditions in living labs.

We obtain our results through our own scientific work in a high-performing research infrastructure, using a solid database. We are also further expanding our cooperation with national and international networks.

Additionally, we design and support research projects which we outsource to third parties. Open science and open data ensure unimpeded access to our work and data.

For further information see the UBA’s Research Programme (available only in German: Forschungsprogramm des Umweltbundesamtes).

III. Policy and implementation advice dimension

Theme

We provide science-based advice and help with implementing sustainability policies into practice – for our environment.

Guiding principle

We develop ambitious environmental and sustainability policies and offer useful advice.

What we do

Our science-based policy and implementation advice focuses on both the gradual shift in the individual fields of environmental policy and on basic questions of change and transformation. This is what makes our work effective.

We identify new environmental policy challenges that are coming up on the horizon. We develop forward looking solutions, change pathways and instruments. We combine them effectively and introduce them into policy advice and societal discourse in a proactive, reflected and persistent way.

On this basis we support the Federal Environment Ministry, other ministries and institutions in further developing existing policy approaches and specific legislation, placing the focus on the relevant political levels – local, regional and national – for each topic. We take part in their practical implementation making responsible use of the special access we as a departmental research institution have to politics.

We share knowledge about successful policies, for example, in the course of international collaborations and funding programmes. We learn from the experience of everyone involved and initiate transformation partnerships to support faster change towards sustainability.

This means we are bringing together the broad and far-reaching perspective of transformation with concrete policy steps on a detailed level.

How we do it

To achieve the necessary acceleration of environmental and sustainability policy measures we work together with actors from science, civil society, politics and industry.

We also cooperate with national, European and international networks, including with pioneers of the transformation, and reflect our ideas and proposals critically.

We consistently work towards bringing together different perspectives and ideas and solving conflicts constructively.

IV. Enforcement dimension

Theme

Applying and enforcing environmental laws effectively – for our environment.

Guiding principle

We take a leading role and promote science-based enforcement, developing and improving it further through environmental laws on the national, European and international level.

What we do

We protect the environment, people and their health through legally sound implementation of enforcement activities and their further development by means of environmental legislation. We take care that the existing rules are applied in a way that is efficient, appropriate and feasible. In our work we take a target-group and service-oriented approach.

We use state-of-the-art digital systems to analyse the data collected during enforcement activities, thus laying new foundations for research, information of the public and science-based policy advice.

We are also continuously developing our internal enforcement expertise. Thanks to our effective and efficient enforcement activities UBA stands for effectively enforced, ambitious environmental law that is implemented without delays.

We use the technical and scientific expertise in our networks to provide information to the public and advice to the decision-makers.

How we do it

As Germany’s central environment agency and departmental research institution we link specialist scientific expertise with implementation targets. We enforce environmental law ourselves in important areas, contributing to better environmental legislation for issues such as climate protection, renewable energies, chemicals regulation, air, soil and water legislation, waste management, resources and transport, by further developing and improving enforcement.

We stand for effective enforcement which looks to reduce unnecessary and time-consuming bureaucracy, whilst at the same time involving the public and complying with high environmental standards.

We rely on frequent exchange of experience on a national and European level, with the Länder and the communities as well as society as a whole, especially with citizens, industry and non-governmental organisations. We also join networks with other European enforcement agencies to learn from each other’s experience.

We make concrete suggestions and take a stand in Germany when it comes to improving compliance with environmental laws.

V. Environmental information and dialogue dimension

Theme

We inform, advise, convince and enable – for our environment.

Guiding principle

We disseminate knowledge for a healthy environment and more quality of life in a sustainable and more just world.

What we do

We provide understandable, target-group and gender appropriate information about our results and solutions as well as our responsibilities and ways of working. Our target groups include citizens, science, the media, decision-makers in society, politics and industry. We are in close dialogue with the various different target groups, taking on board important inputs from them.

As a scientific agency we publish all our research outcomes, science-based conclusions and solution-oriented recommendations for action.

Based on the responsibilities stipulated in Art. 2 of the Act on the establishment of a Federal Environment Agency, we cooperate closely with a great number of different players from science, other environment agencies, civil society and industry. Through this cooperation we continue to establish UBA as an increasingly indispensable environment agency and source of knowledge in national and international debates about sustainability and the environment.

We use the breadth of available information formats. For example, we communicate directly with multipliers in personal discussions. We use conventional print and audiovisual media as well as digital channels on our website and data services, but also blogs, interactive formats and direct dialogues with citizens in both real-life and electronic social networks. We enable unimpeded access to information.

We ensure compliance with state reporting duties and obligations to inform arising from collaborations with other countries in the European and international context.

How we do it

We aim to provide science-based, data-based, application-oriented, independent and non-partisan information and education.

We use various different offers and services to issue sound scientific data, analyses of problems from various angles and recommendations for politics and society. Our approach is quick, solution-oriented and customised. We communicate in ways that can be easily understood by all our target groups.