Expert papers, studies and research documents
Find information on all questions of economy and society that are reflected in the sustainability goals. Make your articles, studies, podcasts or videos available beyond the mainstream.
21 professional article found
How to save energy, emissions and money in the building sector
The TAB report on energy-saving effects in the building sector shows what property owners can do to save resources and money and how the state can help them. Policy brief TAB-Fokus is available in English.Buildings account for around 35 % of Germany's total final energy consumption. Residential buildings account for the largest share of buildings' energy consumption for heating, hot water, ...
On the way to a digitally integrated agriculture?
In two newly published reports TAB sheds light on development trends in digital agricultural technologies and analyses the opportunities and risks of a systemically integrated agriculture. The corresponding Policy Briefs are now available in English.Agriculture is a highly technical economic sector whose production processes are based on the use of natural resources and the keeping of animals. How ...
EU should focus on carbon pricing to achieve 2030 climate targets
The Kopernikus project Ariadne, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, has now analysed and evaluated the three core scenarios of the EU Commission on climate policy. This is related to the tightening of the climate target for the year 2030, which is to be adopted by the EU summit tomorrow: the target is a 55 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to 1990, ...
Legal Tech – potentials and applications of technology based legal consulting
Since there is currently a high level of dynamism with regard to the development of new business models and the establishment of legal tech companies with a focus on legal advice and legal services, the TAB has published a study on their potential and applications.TAB's policy brief in English TAB-Fokus no. 24 PDF [2,58 MB] provides an overview of Legal Tech services and ...
Less meat is nearly always better than sustainable meat, to reduce your carbon footprint
Our World in Data presents the empirical evidence on global development in entries dedicated to specific topics.This blog post draws on data and research discussed in our entries on Environmental impacts of food production and CO2 and Greenhouse Gas Emissions.What is the best way to reduce the carbon footprint of our diet?I have shown previously that what we choose to eat has the largest impact, ...
Reinventing Prosperity
The biggest challenges facing the rich world today are persistent unemployment, widening income inequality, and accelerating climate change. Until now, most of the solutions to these problems have been politically unacceptable, in a world marked by short-termism and a desire for continuous economic growth.In Reinventing Prosperity, Graeme Maxton and Jorgen Randers take a radically different ...
Stewarding Sustainability Transformations
In the context of the world’s pressing sustainability challenges, this new Report to the Club of Rome presents a novel approach to navigating collaborative change in partnerships between governments, research institutions, corporations and civil society activists.With reference to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and the Planetary Boundaries it introduces the theory and practice of ...
The Club of Rome Climate Emergency Plan
Climate change is the most pressing global challenge, constituting an existential threat to humanity. The Club of Rome – Climate Emergency Plan sets out 10 priority actions for all sectors and governments, and is an urgent wake up call. The recent IPCC report emphasises that climate-related risks are significantly more dangerous to human life and to the systems that ...
Raw material consumption increases once again – to 16.1 tonnes per capita and year
The German Environment Agency (UBA) is urging a reform of European regulations on value added tax (VAT) to promote a reduction of raw material consumption. UBA's President Maria Krautzberger says: "Whatever conserves resources must be made cheaper. The member states need more possibilities to promote efficient products through a reduced VAT rate. The EU has already approved this practice for ...
High costs when environmental protection is neglected
Excessive amounts of greenhouse gases, air pollutants and other environmental pollutants harm human health, destroy ecosystems and foster the extinction of animals and plants. Another result: economic losses including loss of production, crop losses or damage to buildings and infrastructure. There are established scientific methods which express this damage in monetary terms. The German ...
Transformation is Feasable
The dual adoption of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) together with the Paris Climate Agreement, both in 2015, represents a global turning point. We have never before had such a universal development plan for people and planet. For the first time in human history the world has agreed on a democratically adopted roadmap for humanity’s future, which aims at attaining socially inclusive ...
Just & In-Time Climate Policy: Four Initiatives for a Fair Transformation
Limiting global warming to well below 2°C requires the rapid decarbonization of the global economy. If this enterprise fails, we will jeopardize the life-support systems of future generations. The longer the transformation towards climate compatibility is delayed, the more severe the risks and damage will be for a growing number of people. The transformation requirements and the damage caused by ...
keeping an eye on your carbon balance
What is new in the Carbon Calculator?Climate protection is important. And the goal for Germany is clear: From over 11 tonnes of CO2-equivalent to less than 1 tonne of CO2-equivalent per person and year. This is the position of the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) in line with the international community of states. We still have a lot to do in order to achieve this goal. And ultimately we'll only ...
Flipping the switch: making use of carbon price dollars for health and education
While health systems, clean water and education are a plain given in many parts of the world, millions of people still do not have sufficient access to these basic public goods. In fact, carbon prices could make substantial financial resources available for succeeding with the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations, a team of scientists now finds. At the same time, ...
Economic inequality by gender
In this entry we present data and research on economic inequalities between men and women. Here is an overview of some of the points we cover below: - All over the world men tend to earn more than women. - Women are often underrepresented in senior positions within firms, while at the same time they tend to be overrepresented in low-paying jobs. - In many countries men are more likely to own land ...
CO₂ and other Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a gas essential for life—animals exhale it, plants sequester it. It exists in Earth's atmosphere in comparably small concentrations, but is vital for sustaining life. CO2 is also known as a greenhouse gas (GHG)—a gas that absorbs and emits thermal radiation, creating the 'greenhouse effect'. Along with other greenhouse gases, such as nitrous oxide and methane, CO2 is ...
Inequality Persists Over Generations
Your great-grandparents’ socio-economic status still predicts your status today, according to research by Sebastian Braun from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy and Jan Stuhler from the University Madrid. Their study of educational and occupational status over four generations in twentieth century Germany reveals that inequalities do not disappear quickly but can be transmitted across ...
Beware of the "Temperature Debt"
Artificial cooling of the atmosphere with aerosols carries a long-term riskThe Paris climate agreement obliges the international community to limit global warming to two degrees. However, man-made greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase instead of decreasing. Is climate engineering a solution to slow global warming? In the current issue of the journal Nature, Professor Andreas Oschlies from ...
New Urban Agenda: Implementation Demands Concerted Effort Now
The New Urban Agenda (NUA) adopted in 2016 at the Habitat III Conference (the third United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development) is to serve as a framework for global urban development over the next twenty years. The conference offered the first chance to transfer these sustainability and legally- binding climatemitigation goals to the level of the cities. The NUA deals ...
Humanity on the move: Unlocking the transformative power of cities
The momentum of urbanization and its impacts are so massive that we must face up to this trend. What kind of homes should people live in? Where can they settle? How close may their neighbours encroach on them? These questions are as old as our civilization, but in the 21st century they are being asked in a new way. Because this century is characterized by a contradiction dynamic that eclipses ...