Climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing mankind today. Although we have seen a tremendous increase in scientific findings on the pending risks and knowledge of potential options for action over the past decades, global greenhouse gas emissions which are the reason for man-made climate change still continue to rise alarmingly.
Der Klimawandel ist eine der größten Herausforderungen, vor denen die Menschheit heute steht. Obwohl der wissenschaftliche Kenntnisstand zu den drohenden Gefahren und das Wissen über mögliche Handlungsoptionen in den vergangenen Jahrzehnten beachtlich gestiegen sind, nehmen die globalen Emissionen der Treibhausgase - die Ursache für den vom Menschen gemachten Klimawandel - noch immer bedenklich zu.
The European Green Deal, published as one major work stream of the new European Commission at the end of 2019, represents a new and ambitious approach to put environment and sustainability more at the heart of European policy. The announcements there must now be brought to life through various strategies and implementation measures. This study analyses the European Green Deal from the perspective of the German Environment Agency and places it in the context of the global challenge of achieving the United Nations' sustainable development goals. To this end, the individual thematic areas of the European Green Deal and their measures are analysed and we discuss what further measures may be necessary to achieve the self-imposed EU goals, but also the United Nations goals and other long-term goals such as the Paris Climate Agreement. In addition to necessary measures in the fields of human well-being, sustainable economic activity, sustainable food systems, climate and energy, urban development and digitalization, the paper also clearly states that structural adjustments are needed as key levers to achieve the desired goals. New approaches are needed in the governance of sustainability policy, in the economic and financial sector, in civil society involvement, and in science and innovation. The study concludes that the European Green Deal is an important step forward, but that further efforts beyond those described there are still needed in order to achieve a sustainable Europe.