Draft: The German government’s Environmental Report 2019 (Environmental Status Report pursuant to Section 11 of the Environmental Information Act) Environment and nature – the basis of social cohesion 1 von 301 | www.bmu.de Table of contents Table of contents ...................................................................................................................... 2 Introduction: The integrity of nature and the environment as a basis for freedom, democracy and social cohesion .................................................................................................................. 5 A. Protecting the natural resources that sustain life ............................................................ 21 A.1 Water ....................................................................................................................... 21 A.1.1 Management of inland and coastal waters ....................................................... 21 A.1.2 Living by water – flood control .......................................................................... 29 A.1.3 Fracking ............................................................................................................ 31 A.1.4 Marine conservation and fisheries .................................................................... 32 A.1.5 International cooperation and global water protection policy ............................ 37 A.2 Soil ........................................................................................................................... 41 A.2.1 Soil protection and contaminated sites ............................................................. 41 A.2.2 Use of undeveloped land for settlement and transport – land take .................. 47 A.3 Air ............................................................................................................................. 53 A.4 Biodiversity ............................................................................................................... 61 A.4.1 Protecting species, habitats and genetic resources ......................................... 66 A.4.2 Sustainable use ................................................................................................ 74 A.4.3 International biodiversity policy ......................................................................... 87 B. Climate change, climate action and the energy transition .............................................. 90 B.1 Climate change ........................................................................................................ 90 B.1.1 Climate – a life-sustaining natural resource ...................................................... 90 B.1.2 The current status of global climate change ..................................................... 90 B.2 Climate action .......................................................................................................... 91 B.2.1 Emissions trends in Germany ........................................................................... 92 B.2.2 Measures implemented at federal level ............................................................ 95 2 von 301 | www.bmu.de B.2.3 European and international climate policy ...................................................... 113 B.3 Climate change adaptation .................................................................................... 120 B.3.1 Climatic changes and impacts ........................................................................ 120 B.3.2 The German Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change (DAS) .................... 124 B.3.3 From research to implementation – the German government’s measures for adaptation to the impacts of climate change ................................................................. 126 C. The environment and the economy .............................................................................. 131 C.1 The green economy – towards a sustainable financial and economic system ...... 131 C.2 Resource-efficient business practices ................................................................... 141 C.3 Sustainable production and consumption .............................................................. 151 C.4 The circular economy ............................................................................................. 162 C.5 Sustainable urban development ............................................................................ 180 C.6 Leisure, tourism and sport ..................................................................................... 194 D. The environment and transport .................................................................................... 198 D.1 Rethinking and reorganising mobility ..................................................................... 201 D.2 Reducing energy consumption and emissions ...................................................... 214 D.3 Renewable energies in transport and alternative drives ........................................ 223 E. Environmental quality and health ................................................................................. 228 E.1 Environmental quality, safety and health ............................................................... 228 E.2 Sustainable chemistry and SAICM ........................................................................ 247 F. Legal foundations for environmental protection and international agreements, treaties and alliances ........................................................................................................................ 251 F.1 Legal instruments for environmental protection ..................................................... 251 F.2 European and international initiatives and alliances .............................................. 255 G. The environment and the public ................................................................................... 271 G.1 Citizen participation and public dialogue ................................................................ 271 G.2 Environmental education and communication ....................................................... 281 G.3 Environmental and sustainability research – a sound scientific foundation for environmental protection .................................................................................................. 291 H. Outlook: Environment and nature – the basis of social cohesion ................................. 294 3 von 301 | www.bmu.de I. List of abbreviations ...................................................................................................... 298 4 von 301 | www.bmu.de Introduction: The integrity of nature and the environment as a basis for freedom, democracy and social cohesion If we are to tackle poverty and enable people to live in peace, freedom, democracy and dignity, we must ensure that the integrity of nature and the environment is maintained and that the natural resources that sustain life and underpin sustainable development are safeguarded. Environmental policy is committed to implementation of the 2030 Agenda and has the task of preserving the Earth’s natural resources for present and future generations. The carrying capacity of our planet and its ecosystems is the absolute boundary within which our policy objectives must be realised. This task encompasses, among other things, the protection of water, soil, air, nature and the climate, as well as issues such as noise control, and is an essential element of the process of transformation and restructuring which the international community has pledged to undertake by adopting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In its environmental policy, the German government takes an integrated approach: that is, it is aware of its responsibility to consider how policies impact on society and the economy and actively uses this awareness. In this integrated approach, environmental policy: • ensures people’s wellbeing with regard to health, food security and safeguarding the scope to organise social relations and cohesion, • identifies the costs arising from human action and consumption that the community incurs in the form of climate change, loss of biodiversity, land take, soil acidification, air pollution or overuse of water and, in dialogue with the key social stakeholders, devises ways of avoiding these costs, • promotes the development of technical and social innovations to tackle the environmental problems and steer the transformation, • provides opportunities for dialogue and participation. Processes of social change pose a major challenge for everyone involved. Active engagement with the different points of view and invitations to participate in the dialogue can help in identifying new solutions and new ways of advancing the necessary transformation process. Germany is pursuing this path against the backdrop of the remarkable success of its environmental policy. Action to protect the environment commenced in the early 1970s, when the problems that needed addressing included summer and winter smog and polluted soil and water. Since then, high levels of protection have been achieved in many areas in 5 von 301 | www.bmu.de relation to both the environment and health. Then as now, a high level of environmental awareness in Germany has been an important factor. The public is broadly supportive of ambitious environmental policies with effective environmental legislation and duly authorised administrative bodies. However, what has been achieved so far gives no grounds for complacency