In September 2015 the United Nations agreed upon the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They contain targets dealing with soil quality, restoration of degraded soil and strive to achieve a land degradation-neutral world. Yet, what options actually exist to estimate soil and land degradation on global level? This has now been examined by a new report.
The pace of environmental protection in the agriculture sector over the past 30 years has clearly been too slow. Many known problems such as high nitrogen inputs to soil and air remain unsolved despite improvements.
Whilst global demand for food and renewable raw materials is rising, the very basis for producing these – healthy, fertile soil – is under threat. It is estimated that 1.5 billion people are already affected by the consequences of this development. A coordinated global approach to protecting the vital resource ‘soil’ is therefore urgently necessary.
The aim of the research project “Resource-efficient land use – Towards a Global Sustainable Land Use Standard” was to spark a debate on the development of a standard for global sustainable land use, launch the requisite scientific process and explore and identify options for implementing a global sustainable land use.
The prize will be awarded this year to businesses which have demonstrated extraordinary commitment to protecting the environment and climate.
UBA: Focus more attention on large-size plastic litter
New EU regulations make heating units and water heaters more sustainable and provide guidelines for new purchases. The regulations specify a gradual establishment of limit values for energy efficiency and emissions and introduce energy labelling requirements.
Chemicals enter the environment every day, but there is hardly a substance group that is used with more purpose and in such large amounts than plant protection products.
Whether it is car sharing or shared housing – lending, exchange or shared usage is in fashion.
How do pharmaceuticals get into the environment? Can residues of pharmaceuticals in water and soil harm plants, animals or even human health? What is being done to prevent this, and what can I do? The Federal Environment Agency’s background paper, which is now also available in English, sheds light on these and other questions surrounding the topic of pharmaceuticals in the environment.
Significantly more court decisions taken on exports of waste to Africa and Eastern Europe
Germany's Energiewende is a complex, large-scale project. The tasks and measures by which to achieve it are manifold and diverse, as reflected by the many active players in Germany. The publication "Who is who of the Energiewende in Germany – Contact Partners in Politics, Industry and Society", published by the Foreign Office in German and English, provides an overview.
