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The Federal Ministry for the Environment and the German Environment Agency are celebrating the winners of the German Ecodesign Award 2025 in Berlin. The award-winning projects demonstrate the broad spectrum of sustainable design today. Whether it’s bio-based materials or AI-enabled applications, design here becomes a lever for resource conservation, innovative business models and societal change.

The results of COP30 are disappointing and reflect the complex geopolitical situation that prevented substantial progress. The proposed roadmap for a global phase-out of coal, oil and gas failed due to a strong opposition. Despite immense differences, many smaller decisions and successes were achieved.

How good is the air we breathe? The German Environment Agency’s new Air Quality Index will provide answers based on the latest scientific findings. The index assesses concentrations of air pollutants, evaluates the associated health risks, and offers guidance for the general public as well as vulnerable groups.

Starting on November 10th — 10 years after the Paris Agreement—the international community will once again negotiate the future of global climate action. This time, the talks will take place on the banks of the Amazon in Belém, Brazil, a symbolic location. The focus will be on new national climate action contributions and the measurability of adaptation progress.

Restoring just two percent of land to rivers and streams could help Germany achieve many of the European water protection goals.This is the result of calculations carried out on behalf of the German Environment Agency (UBA). According to these findings, water bodies in Germany are currently lacking about 7,000 square kilometres of land.

Many Germans desire to travel sustainably, but this wish is hardly reflected in their actual travel behaviour up to now. This is shown by the new report from the demand monitor “Sustainability in Holiday Travel” by the Research Association for Holidays and Travel (FUR) together with the German Environment Agency (UBA).

In 2026, emission allowances in the German national emissions trading system (nETS) will be auctioned for the first time. The auctions, conducted within a set price corridor, mark the transition to the new European Emissions Trading System for fuels (EU ETS 2). The German Environment Agency commissioned the Leipzig-based energy exchange, European Energy Exchange (EEX), to conduct the auctions.

Digitalisation is changing consumption: More and more people are researching online and shopping on the internet. However, sustainable products and alternatives to new purchases often remain invisible here. Although there is an awareness of sustainability, price, convenience, and rapid availability still generally determine purchasing decisions.

In 2025, the German Ecodesign Award will once again impressively demonstrate how ecological design positively impacts the environment and our everyday culture, and the contribution it makes to transformation. Around 380 submissions from business, research, and universities across Europe reflect the growing commitment to ecological design in all areas of life.

Urban and rural areas are often perceived as opposites. In reality, however, they are closely interwoven. While cities are struggling with rising rents and space scarcites, many rural regions are facing an ageing population and a shortage of skilled workers.

Organic products are not only tasty and healthy, but their cultivation also helps the environment. Organic farming is particularly resource-efficient and based on the principle of sustainability.

The German Environment Agency (UBA) has taken action against unfair business practices by the sales platform CopeCart. In a decision dated 4 June 2025, it prohibited the company from offering distance learning courses to consumers in Austria that are not properly approved.