Germany - Russia: ecology without borders. Environmental protection in Germany German environmental organizations

Voluntary environmental year in Germany is the name of the state volunteer program, according to which young people participate in the implementation of environmental projects. This is a kind of youth environmental camp, where people from all over the world come to communicate in German and bring their own contribution to the defense environment .

The program runs from September 1 to August 31 of the following year, but in some cases it is extended to one and a half years (maximum) or reduced to 6 months (minimum). You need to start looking for a job already in the winter. Under the program, participants work 38.5 hours a week, which equates to an eight-hour work day. In addition to regular work, the volunteer is required to take part in mandatory seminars. Time spent in seminars is counted as working time. Participants are provided with free transportation to the seminar venue, free accommodation and meals, and participation in the cultural program.

Select region of Germany and nature of work according to the program you can independently. It could be:

• work with minors who need environmental education
• care of ecosystems, work with maps and measuring equipment
• work in the reserve, care for animals and plants
• Agriculture
• forestry
• work in administrative organizations
• laboratories
• atmosphere protection
• free ethical sale of goods, etc.

What is required to become a volunteer?

• interest in nature and environmental protection
• willingness to implement new ideas
• collaborative communication
• diligence

Participants are provided with:

• pocket money in the amount of 180 euros per month
• free accommodation or compensation for housing if the host organization is not able to provide participants with them
• free food
• paid insurance: medical, pension, unemployment and accident
• 26 working days paid vacation
• uniforms, tools, equipment, materials
• allowances for orphans and members large families(provided in most cases).

Conditions for participation in the program:

• knowledge of the German language basic level. Before getting a job, the applicant undergoes an interview, as a result of which the employer is convinced that you are interested in the job and can communicate normally in German
• general secondary education
• age range 16-27 years

If you are not sure that you can demonstrate sufficient knowledge of the German language, this is not a reason to refuse to participate. The program provides for places of work in which German can be known at an elementary level. It is only important to be able to correctly write a letter to your future employer and maintain correspondence with him.

Our services:

IN currently We do not provide services under this program.
This article is purely informative.

The land (in our opinion - the region) North Rhine - Westphalia has an area half that of Bashkiria, but two large European rivers flow through it - the Rhine and the Ruhr, and this region is the main part of the famous Ruhr coal deposit. Duisburg is a city of steelmakers (1/3 of the world's steel production) and coal miners, the birthplace of Gerhard Mercator (16th century), the compiler of the first maps of the world and the creator of a system of geographical coordinates.

The metropolis covers an area of ​​320 square kilometers, of which 47 are covered by parks, 21 square kilometers. km are occupied by 165 rivers, canals and harbors and 589 hectares by lakes. Duisport is the largest river port in the world, and its international logistics center for transshipment of goods operates on an area of ​​200 hectares between the port and the railway.

Analysis of cartographic material and the results of the inspection of the city with different points, including from the upper platform of the coke oven battery 75 meters high, showed that the city is developing steadily according to the optimal urban plan, the main task of which is to create comfortable conditions for people to live and work. Surprisingly, there are no traffic jams familiar to the Russian eye, although the roads are 1-2 lanes, and two cars can barely drive along the narrow streets. This phenomenon is explained simply: in the city it is not customary to build “sleeping” microdistricts with “Chinese walls” of high-rise buildings (there is no influx of private cars during peak hours), very green residential areas of 2-3-story buildings are separated by parks and squares. The road network has a clear traffic light regulation, mandatory bright white markings and optimal interchanges and overpasses. At the same time, sidewalk curbs are very low, and the pedestrian sidewalks themselves have cycle paths lined with red paving stones. By the way, a bicycle, as a means of transportation, is very fashionable among residents, and you can rent an iron horse on a muscular traction right at street parking lots by paying the rent on the Internet. And one more noteworthy thing - “silent” asphalt laid using a special technology on the roads and massively used anti-noise screens on highways make it possible to protect roadside service facilities and residential buildings from noise and vibrations.

Gas stations are located at a distance of even 20 meters from residential buildings. The cost of gasoline, of course, is twice as high as in Russia, but, apparently, the quality of motor fuel is tightly controlled by the state, and, as a rule, there are no complaints from residents about the dangerous neighborhood and the smell of hydrocarbons. Public electric transport is well developed, and the presence of a network of river channels allows you to have your own yacht near the house to move around the city.

Our joint 8-kilometer canoe trip with yachtsmen along the city channels showed the relative purity of the river water, the complete absence of household waste on the well-maintained banks. We even managed to visually communicate with a heron, a pair of white swans and wild ducks, which are not hindered by the intensive movement of barges and bulk carriers along the canals and the abundance of brightly colored bridges over them.

The central street of Duisburg with fountains, cafes and shopping centers is a local broadway, generally prohibited for the movement of vehicles, which, coupled with the above, allows us not to feel the usual gassed atmosphere.

It cannot be said that the courtyards in residential areas are spacious, but they are very comfortable, well-maintained and everything you need, from cafes and shops to a pharmacy and a hairdresser, is literally within walking distance.

By the way, we also noticed a nostalgic picture, as it were, from our Soviet past: right in the center of the city along railway small suburban areas with temporary residential buildings are buried in flowers, of which there are a great many in our country in the protected zones of railway lines.

And from the window of our hotel you can see the roof of the neighboring business center, on which there is a parking lot and a bright green lawn for staff relaxation. In general, the city is intensively built up with modern buildings made of glass, metal and concrete, but taking into account the observance of the rights of citizens to a favorable environment and the creation of comfortable working and living conditions for them.

These are the living conditions of the venerable burghers in an industrial German city.

Green revolution - how it was

From public activism to environmental policy in 40 years.

This is how we can briefly formulate the evolution of ecological consciousness among all sectors of society in Germany. It is for 40 years that we, Russians, lag behind this advanced European country in terms of the comfort of life (which includes the state of the environment), and it is precisely its path that we have to go at an accelerated pace, because our civilization has no time left to build up and this , I think, will be confirmed by the forthcoming world conference on sustainable development in Rio-Janeiro.

In the 70s, German burghers, who made good money in steel mills, suddenly thought about the problems of their own health, an overly urbanized environment, land and water polluted beyond measure, and deforestation. In the mid-70s of the last century, for example, the fish in the Rhine completely disappeared and in the river water, the burgomaster accompanying us gloomily joked, it was possible to develop photographic film, the water was so pro-chemical. And then the population began to create public environmental organizations, which, through mass actions, through the press, through their deputies, began to raise ecological problems and demand their decision. Since already at that time democratic institutions in German society were successfully operating, public opinion was transformed in 10-15 years into political and legal decisions, and then into specific programs for improving the environment, which continue to this day. So, by 1995, a policy of "cleaner production" had emerged in Germany. And even the local multimillionaires were imbued with this ideology, showing not only a patriotic desire to pay tribute to nature, but also supporting civil environmental initiatives.

Strict conditions were set for industrial companies: either you comply with the requirements of environmental protection and public health, or you pay huge fines and become uncompetitive, up to closure. For example, in the mid-90s, one of the large metallurgical enterprises of the ThyssenKrupp company was sold by the owner to the state for 1 German mark, followed by the reorganization of the territory, and a few years later the second steel plant - for 1 euro and in its place is now the largest logistics port . And on the site of a modern large IKEA supermarket, a coke production was previously located. The land on the territory of the enterprises was saturated with heavy metals and other harmful substances, sometimes up to 3 meters, and this layer of soil had to be removed and buried on a waterproof basis, followed by reclamation from above with clean soil, grassing and planting trees. We observed such man-made mounds even on the banks of the Rhine.

The program with the lyrical name "Green and Blue" (forest and water) has become one of the main programs of the city authorities.

Nature protection at the initiative of the population is a priority in the policy of the municipality, the authorities of the region and the federal center, and the level of public environmental control of citizens has not decreased to this day, since ecology has become a prestigious activity, and the symptoms of climate change in Europe are already evident.

Such public organizations like "NABU", "BUND", "Greenpeace" and many other organizations and initiative groups, whose activities are largely supported by the state. It is the public that influences the environmental image of firms and companies, the deprivation of which for "dirty" industries means one hundred percent bankruptcy in the short term.

One of the important tools for interaction between the public and authorities are public environmental councils and commissions created either under party organizations and relevant parliamentary factions, or under the mayor, environmental departments, and even under the federal chancellor.

Control over enterprises "from below" from the population, complements the control of the authorities "from above", is stimulated by pressure on the national government from the European Union.

This is probably why about 10% of the population is involved in the ecological sector of the country's economy, and the profession of an ecologist is prestigious. So, a young specialist who came to work in the environmental service has a salary of about 3,000 Euros.

Environmental control in action

Unlike Russia, Germany retains three-level environmental control from the vertical of power. These are municipal, regional and federal levels. The municipal service for environmental protection has about 100 specialists, functionally divided into several departments. In addition to monitoring the state of waters, forests, wildlife, sanitary control, environmental monitoring, food safety control, the municipal department issues permits for nature use, coordinates sanitary protection zones, manages the movement of low-hazard industrial waste, provides environmental information to the population, organizes public discussion of problems and projects. There is also the main document - the ecological passport of the city, in accordance with which urban planning decisions are made.

We didn't see a single shore release. Wastewater(including storm drains), which led to the conclusion that there are only bottom dissipating outlets. All discharges are coordinated and strictly controlled by analytical services, as are the sanitary protection zones of drinking water intakes. Visually, the water in canals and rivers has neither a surface oil film nor floating debris, and its transparency is approximately 1 m. By the way, the flow rate of water in the Rhine is twice as high as in our White River and swimming in the main riverbed is strictly prohibited , and the intense shipping on the Rhine makes it a very dangerous pastime. It is because of the speed of the current that silt deposits are carried in the main channel in suspension to neighboring Holland.

The Regional Ministry of the Environment of the Land "North Rhine-Westphalia", which kindly presented our delegation with a boat for a trip along the Rhine (with a demonstration of sampling bottom silt), also provided the results of an analysis of samples of river water and bottom sediments, showing the retrospective annual dynamics of reducing the degree of pollution of this transboundary European watercourse. However, background concentrations for individual ingredients are still high. Thus, recent analyzes showed the content of titanium - 8 mg/l, vanadium - 1.1 mg/l, cyclohexane - 5 mg/l, sodium - 27 mg/l. Regional ecologists in last years worries about the growth in the river and silt of the content of medications used by the population and not captured at the treatment plant. The effect of these substances, especially during their chemical interaction, on the human body is very poorly understood. So, the latest indicators in river water for metapropol are -0.11 mg / l. In general, about 300 types of substances and compounds are covered by the analytical control of the aquatic environment.

The warning system for emergency discharges of harmful substances into the Rhine basin is a separate song, very quickly performed by all components of this system. If an unauthorized discharge is detected, a citizen (and this is not considered denunciation, encouraged by all means) immediately calls the water police and within a few minutes specialists go to the indicated place, conduct an express analysis of the water sample and, if confirmed, immediately inform all interested services along the entire length of the river downstream, accompanying the pollution spot and trying to localize and neutralize it. Similarly - when establishing extreme pollution by state analytical services. The culprit of the discharge as a result receives serious penalties, up to the suspension of production.

Gray smoky skies of the Ruhr region - in the past

Our group could not help but include a visit to a modern steel plant in the program, and we spent almost a full day at the coke plants and blast furnaces of the ThyssenKrupp company, which has occupied 9 square meters for 400 years. km of Rhine coastline in the city center of Duisburg and now producing 12 million steel per year. The chief specialists of the plant took us around the whole territory, demonstrated the entire technological process of coke preparation and steelmaking, and answered all our questions. A sore point - emissions of the enterprise into the atmosphere, was resolved in 2003 by the introduction of an expensive new coke preparation technology, which made it possible to reduce emissions by 90%. All stationary sources of emissions are equipped with sensors-analyzers that transmit information on-line to the dispatching municipal service, which can quickly respond in case of emergency. Under unfavorable weather conditions (calm weather) or emergencies, an emission limitation regime is introduced and this is controlled by the internal environmental service with a staff of 20 specialists and a video surveillance system at the enterprise. By the way, the city has 9 automatic stations for environmental monitoring of atmospheric air, as well as 114 points for automatic measurement of dust content in the urban atmosphere.

Of course, there are still residential buildings in the enterprise's sanction zone and the enterprise has a program to relocate 5,000 residents to new apartments within 10 years.

The plant has a closed water supply system and the water circulation system needs only recharge. The treatment of wastewater before being discharged into the Rhine, according to the assurances of the experts accompanying us, allows this water to be reused.

Production waste is used in construction, for backfilling road foundations and for the production of mineral fertilizers.

The view that opened up to us from a height of 75 meters of the coke oven battery impressed us with the complete absence of emissions from the chimneys of the plant. Steam release was observed only from cooling towers and during a single loading of prepared coke into a blast furnace. Automation of coke production allows periodically servicing several dozen coke ovens at the same time, and in automatic mode. By the way, we asked about the education and salary of a coke oven operator, who controls the production process mainly through a computer. Refresher courses for basic secondary education and 2.5 thousand euros per month. Not bad for a specialist of this level.

The high level of production culture is confirmed by the bold, thoughtful and bright design of technological installations, buildings and the surrounding area. The multi-colored walls of workshops and pipes are well combined with green lawns, flower beds and alleys of trees, carefully fortified with supplies from a strong wind. And even the factory canteen looks more like a restaurant.

However, the beautiful picture of the plant’s environmental activities that we drew seemed too glamorous in places, which we had to verify a few hours later, when we saw from the side that a pair of ThyssenKrupp chimneys that were inactive during our visit lightly lit up with a light haze. Well, this is a normal desire to show Russian journalists only the best that the company has.

And although there are many industrial enterprises in the residential area of ​​the city, the sky of the Ruhr cannot be compared in color and depth with the atmosphere over our cities of Ufa, Sterlitamak, Salavat, Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk and many other industrial centers, most of the year having a smog cap .

Landscape technopark – a combination of opposites

The problem of eliminating the accumulated environmental damage is very acute in Russia, but we are only approaching its resolution with small checkers. In Germany, this issue has been gradually resolved for two decades. As noted above, a number of large plants were completely demolished with the cleansing of the liberated territory. Some enterprises are partially finalized at minimum capacity, and parks and attractions have been laid out on the sanitized territory. At the same time, part of the factory walls is often left as a symbol of industrialization and painted with bizarre color drawings in the style of "graffiti". So, a cozy cafe "At the goat" on a yellow-sand beach with a park and a small herd of wooden sheep, whose evening guests we had to become, was erected on the former river pier of a steel-rolling plant.

But the most amazing of what he saw was a unique industrial park spread over an area of ​​200 hectares, previously occupied by a steel plant. This is an example of not just reorganization of the territory, but also its successful commercial use. The entire infrastructure of the plant, up to the coke ovens and steel-smelting furnaces, has been left unchanged, but adapted ... for the rest of the townspeople, in fact, turned into a recreational zone.

Thus, a huge blast furnace is equipped with metal stairs and viewing platforms, and is used not only to contemplate the beautiful urban landscape, but also as a practical guide for groups of students. Bunkers for storing coal with walls and concrete towers 10 meters high are equipped for 3,000 climbing routes with appropriate devices, for flower beds of bright and diverse colors (there is even a Queen of Flowers Hall), for projecting slides and videos about nature onto a concrete wall.

There are even children's slides, sandboxes with stainless steel manual excavators, sports grounds.

The roof was insulated in the premises of the former pump house (where large units were left), chairs for 800 seats were installed in an amphitheater, unique computer lighting was installed, and here, in the former production workshop with concrete walls and excellent acoustics, concerts of famous musicians and performances of touring and local theaters are held. In the spacious foyers of this theater, next to the generators stopped forever, there are bar counters and these rooms are used by the city authorities even for official receptions.

A large steel fuel tank with a volume of 5000 cubic meters is equipped with ... a pool, at the bottom of which is the skeleton of a helicopter and a small boat. The pool is used for training rescuers and sports divers.

The steel-rolling shop has a length of 180 meters and this hall for 4.5 thousand seats is intended for holding party congresses, car exhibitions, and even the famous illusionist D. Copperfield performed in it.

Sports grounds and the green zone of the landscape technopark are used for other mass cultural and sports events of the citizens. By the way, 1800 species of animals live on its territory, about 300 people discuss all this and the annual budget of the park is 5 million Euros.

Waste - into income

The municipal service of Duisburg is engaged in the repair of roads and road infrastructure, lighting, maintenance of sewer networks, maintenance of bridges, but its most basic function is the management of solid household waste. 28 branches of this enterprise accept various types of waste from the population. Thus, mercury lamps and appliances, waste of household chemicals, batteries are brought and handed over by the conscious population free of charge, but residents have to pay for the acceptance of asbestos-containing household waste (slate, pipes, cords, gaskets) (270 Euro per ton), since the use of asbestos in Germany is prohibited and such carcinogenic waste is stored in a special container.

By the way, for a fee (in excess of one set of 5 tires from 1 resident), worn-out tires are also rented out, which, after processing, are used in cement production.

Three types of containers (for different colors of glass) are provided for waste glass and glass containers, which, in the amount of 320 pieces installed in microdistricts, are periodically unloaded into special vehicles. This is one of two sorted household waste (the other is paper and cardboard), for which special transport and special containers are provided.

Everything else is necessarily sorted mainly at the collection stage. The city has 102,000 containers for general waste and 32,000 for paper. In the offices of large companies - large containers with electronic recording of waste types.

The economic incentive mechanism works effectively.

Citizens pay a monthly garbage tax. In addition, the stores have vending machines for glass containers, batteries, plastic PET bottles and aluminum cans. For example, the cost of a returned bottle is 25 cents, and this amount can be deducted from the cost of a purchase made in a store. Glass returnable containers can be used no more than 25 times, after which they are recycled.

Of course, all this does not solve the problem of complete waste sorting, which is carried out at sorting stations mainly in automatic mode.

Special procedure for collecting mercury-containing products. Any pharmacy accepts mercury thermometers free of charge, and special eco-cars are regularly assembled in residential areas for lamps. Mercury sensors are installed at all sorting complexes, and in practice there have been cases of automatic stop of conveyors at sorting stations due to the detection of mercury vapor in the garbage, followed by demercurization of the premises.

Thus, approximately 50% of incoming household waste is used as secondary raw materials, the rest goes to incineration plants with modern purification of emissions from dioxins and furans (their cost is 20% of the main production) and energy generation from combustion. But, as a rule, there is not enough domestic waste to fully load the factories and it has to be imported from neighboring countries (Italy). At the same time, paper and cardboard waste (sorted from each other) is transported by truck trailers to neighboring Holland for recycling, and this is considered profitable. By the way, the monthly salary of scavengers: 1500 -2000 Euros. The annual waste turnover of the municipal enterprise is 216 million Euros and up to 10 thousand types of waste are in circulation. The profit brought by the recycling of waste by 400 employees of the enterprise employed in this area is up to 70 million Euros per year

Until the 70s, Duisburg had the problem of numerous unauthorized waste dumps, but now this is a rarity, as residents or video cameras instantly signal control authorities and the culprit is quickly found and punished. And what is interesting is that if the residents took unsorted garbage to the container site, then the communal workers simply do not take it away. And when moving to new apartment all unnecessary household rubbish is taken by the public utility free of charge with its own transport.

Less and less surrounding nature, more and more environment

Alas, but in some ways I feel sorry for the residents of Duisburg. If in Russia it is still possible to go to the river bank, go fishing for free, make a fire and relax in the wild, then in European countries this is impossible, since the population density is high and every piece of land has its own owner.

Familiarization with the functioning of a specially protected area (such as our reserve) on the bend of the Rhine proved this to us. Of course, car traffic is prohibited on its territory and you can only walk or ride a bicycle there. Of the representatives of the animal world, we came across only a dozen hares (and maybe rabbits), and stuffed nutria, an owl and a kingfisher were demonstrated.

The flora is represented, in addition to forest belts, very poorly, which is not surprising, since most of the fields are used for haymaking. The protection of the reserve is carried out under an agreement with the city administration ... a farmer whose extensive farm, including horses and sheep, occupies a significant part of this territory. However, alas, this organic farming seems to be in a financial dead end.

By the way, the supervisory authorities of the Land of North Rhine-Westphalia banned the consumption of the liver of wild animals due to the presence of a dangerous amount of harmful substances in it, and dioxins were found in the milk and eggs of farms.

Such an urbanized nature, of course, cannot be called real, and the townspeople, unfortunately, do not have the opportunity to spend a day off in primitive environmentally friendly conditions, but they have the opportunity to go for a couple of days, for example, to the North Sea coast to Holland or to fly to the Caribbean.

New technologies - a breakthrough into the future

Europe's largest institute for environmental and energy-saving technologies is located just in Duisburg and, of course, we could not miss visiting it. The Institute has a solid research and production base, 150 full-time employees and 10 million Euros in annual turnover. Among its main tasks is the development and implementation of environmentally friendly effective technologies to minimize harm to the environment industrial enterprises. For example, flue gas cleaning using nanomaterials, disposal of pharmaceutical industry waste in wastewater, waste treatment, desalination and water purification, regeneration of used activated carbons, bench tests and filter certification, etc. Express - familiarization with the developments of the Institute led to the conclusion about the need for cooperation with this institution. Our delegation was especially interested in the technology of recycling liquid-crystal TV screens with the extraction of rare-earth metal - indium.

Very promising in Russia are also the geothermal water heating technologies demonstrated to us at the Center for Efficiency, electronic systems control of lighting and movement in offices, construction and operation of energy-saving "smart houses". By the way, Germany has become a world leader in "green building" and already has entire villages with wind turbines and solar panels that do not need external energy sources.

Stairway to heaven as a symbol of striving for the heights of progress

The yellow metal staircase, 50 meters high, reaching into the sky of Duisburg above its main street, symbolizes the city's desire to achieve the impossible, and much of this dream has become a reality. We, the Russians, have seen what our industrial cities should become in the near future, if, of course, we make every effort to make the most of the experience of environmental work in Germany and other advanced European countries. To do this, the brands of our cities must contain concern for the person, and not the presence of a certain industry (for example, Ufa, the city of petrochemistry. The optimal compromise between the economy and the environment is possible, as the example of Duisburg showed, and Germany has a lot to learn.

In practical terms, the result of this trip for me was not only gaining knowledge, but also the opportunity to continue cooperation with the city for in-depth familiarization of our entrepreneurs with the city's waste management system, and our municipal employees with the system of local environmental control and management. Preliminary agreements have been reached with the city administration on this, and with the Institute of Ecological Technologies - on the creation of an engineering center in Ufa.

Alexander Veselov,
Chairman of the Union of Ecologists of the Republic of Bashkortostan

Ufa-Dusseldorf-Duisburg

Despite the post-war devastation, Germany quickly rebuilt its economic and industrial strength. But this led to severe pollution of lakes, rivers, air. Also, due to the rapidly developing construction, the natural landscape was spoiled. The locals were extremely dissatisfied with this environmental situation and insisted on carrying out the necessary measures to clean up the environment, and restore natural resources.

Thus, in Germany, since the seventies of the last century, active work has been carried out to restore and preserve the flora, fauna and resources of the earth.

At the beginning of 1971, a program was adopted in Germany, according to which the country is protecting the environment. According to certain points of the program, the state bears full responsibility in this matter.

In 1994, the main goals of the country were fixed in the main law, which were to protect the environment. The law read: “The government of the country is obliged to take care of the conservation and enhancement of natural resources, by implementing the legislative framework through the executive judiciary, which must act in the interests of complying with the law. These actions are necessary to provide a legacy for future generations.”

At first, the policy of the German government in relation to the protection of the environment was conditional. That is, for the protection and restoration of natural resources, treatment facilities were used, which, supposedly, were supposed to ensure clean air and water resources countries. Of course, such a fictitious approach did not give the expected results. Therefore, decades later, another, more effective program for environmental protection.

Today, Germany is fighting for the preservation of natural conditions through four principles. Firstly, the originator of pollution compensates the state for the entire amount of damage caused by paying certain amounts. Secondly, active prevention is being carried out, which consists in regular meetings at which acute issues of environmental conservation are raised. Thirdly, the state tries to involve as many members of the public as possible in solving problems related to environmental theme. And, fourthly, all political levels, one way or another, are involved in the implementation of the previous three principles.

Thus, complex and constant work is ensured to protect, protect and increase natural resources.

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Energetic environmental protection is vital. The growing number of natural disasters has sharpened the understanding that only sustainable lifestyles and farming have a future. Therefore, the protection of the natural foundations of life is enshrined in the Basic Law as the goal public policy. At the same time, according to Article 20 of the constitution, we are talking about "responsibility to future generations." Thus, an active policy for the future means that industry, agriculture, urban planning and transport must so carefully manage limited natural resources, such as energy, raw materials, land and water, so that future generations also have a stable climate, diverse nature, fertile soils and enough fresh water.

Achieving this requires not only action on the part of the state, but also a sense of responsibility on the part of enterprises and consumers. Through environmental tax reform, the phase-out of nuclear energy, the shift to greater use of renewable energy sources, an ambitious program to reduce carbon emissions and the development of a circular economy, Germany has sent a signal in recent years that has also resonated internationally.

At the federal level, nature protection is the responsibility of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. The Federal Office for the Environment, the Federal Office for Nature Conservation and the Federal Office for Radiation Protection are subordinate to it. There are also ministries for environmental protection in a number of lands. Important tasks in the field of ecology are also solved at their level by cities, districts and communities.

One of the main elements of environmental policy is climate protection. The federal government will fulfill its international obligations under the Kyoto Protocol to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It provides for a 21 percent reduction in emissions. between 1990 and 2008-2012 By 2002, they had already managed to reduce them by more than 19 percent. In this case, we are talking about all sources of gases that cause the greenhouse effect, primarily sources of carbon dioxide. Along with energy producers, these are enterprises, buildings, private households and transport. The goal of environmental tax reform is to create incentives for all polluters to use energy more economically by phasing up energy prices. At the same time, subsidies should be eliminated as part of environmental financial reform and environmentally harmful rules should be changed accordingly.

The use of renewable energy sources and the expansion of combined heat and power generation are strongly encouraged. electrical energy, resulting in a reduction of 10 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions by 2005. With regard to private use of energy and households, thanks to the regulation on energy saving, the need for new buildings in it will be reduced by another 30 percent. compared to previous standards. For this purpose, the federation allocates until 2005 additional budgetary funds in the amount of 1 billion euros. Another important point is transport, which encourages (through tax incentives and additional funds from the federation's budget) the use, first of all, of rail transport and economical cars.

Waste.

More than 20 years ago, many in Germany feared being buried under their own waste. Garbage dumps were almost overcrowded, and there were few incinerators. Thanks to various civic initiatives, the authorities began to issue regulations on how to deal with various types waste, drastically limit emissions from incinerators and set parameters for landfills. Billions have been invested in sustainable waste management.

It soon became clear that reliable disposal of waste was not enough, it was also necessary to use it for recycling. Moreover, the main commandment should be the prevention of waste. It is best to make sure that the manufacturer is responsible for their waste. In 1991, the Federal Ministry for the Environment developed the "Packaging Ordinance". Thanks to him, for the first time, the obligation of producers and distributors of packaging to take it back for recycling was fixed by law. Subsequently, in 1992, the "Dual System" ("Green Sign") was created, thanks to which over 36 million tons of packaging were separately collected and processed during this time.

The current policy in Germany is to avoid waste, recycle and dispose of it in an environmentally friendly manner. The law on circular production and waste adopted in 1996 made it possible to put this into practice in relation to all industrial and consumer products. It establishes the manufacturer's responsibility for their product and gives the highest priority to waste prevention. If waste cannot be avoided, then the top priority is given to its processing in order to obtain materials or energy. Only those wastes that cannot be recycled are subject to liquidation, taking into account environmental requirements.

As of January 1, 2003, the regulation on the collection of a deposit for single-use beverage packages came into force. As a result, a deposit of 25 cents is required for mineral water, beer, carbonated soft drinks in disposable containers made of glass, tin and plastic, which is refundable after the return of the empty package. For packages over 1.5 liters, the deposit is 50 cents. For juices, wine, champagne, spirits and milk, no deposit is required. The introduction of collateral is designed to strengthen reusable systems, to create an opportunity for more advanced processing of valuable raw materials.

By analogy with the rules on the responsibility of the manufacturer for their product, regulations have already been issued for the disposal of batteries, old cars and used technical oil. This should also include voluntary obligations of enterprises, for example, in relation to waste paper or building materials waste.

Water protection.

Thanks to far-reaching regulations governing the discharge of industrial and waste water, the quality of German waters has been noticeably improved in recent years. Thus, the norms for the content of harmful and nutrient substances in wastewater were limited for almost 50 industries. In addition, fees are levied for the discharge of wastewater, which are then used to protect the waters. These regulations have led to the construction of new sewage treatment plants and the introduction of production technologies in industry with little or no wastewater discharge, which has markedly improved the quality of water in rivers such as the Rhine, Main or Elbe and increased the diversity of species living in them. In the course of recent research in 1996-2000. 63 species of fish were again found in the Rhine. From 1951 to 1975 there were only 23 of them. The main emphasis in the protection of waters is today on the further reduction of pollution due to substances in a diffuse state, the source of which is, first of all, agriculture, as well as the improvement of water morphology. This serves primarily to implement the EU Water Framework Directive.

Nuclear power.

Due to the high risk and the unresolved issue of waste disposal, the federal government has decided to end the use of nuclear energy. It has agreed with the energy companies to phase out the use of nuclear power plants without any demands for compensation from them (see p. 306). For the final disposal of radioactive waste until 2030, a single repository in deep geological formations should be created. Firms operating nuclear power plants should, in principle, establish intermediate storage facilities at the nuclear power plant itself or nearby.

The international cooperation.

Harmful substances do not know state borders. Therefore, international cooperation is essential for environmental protection. Germany actively supports the process of international cooperation in the field of environment and development, initiated in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, which in September 2002 in Johannesburg led to modest but tangible progress towards the harmonization of national environmental goals and to global commitments of about 190 states. Therefore, Germany is also in favor of an institutional strengthening of environmental protection at the UN level, as well as a stronger integration of environmental aspects into the world trading system. With many countries, primarily with European neighbors, detailed agreements have been reached in the field of ecology. The eastward enlargement of the EU opens up the possibility of exporting the EU's stricter environmental standards to large neighboring areas and thereby reducing pollution from that side. As a result, a growing number of countries are considering the principle sustainable development as a political goal.

Federal Ministry for the Environment

One of the thirteen ministries in Germany is the "Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Security nuclear reactors(hereinafter referred to as the Ministry). It supervises industrial projects relating to the environment, performs educational function contributes to the protection of wild animals, plants and their habitats. To solve such problems, the German Bundestag allocated 769 million euros to the Ministry in 2005 (this amount is 0.3% of the entire federal budget).

There are three departments subordinate to the Ministry of the Environment: the Nuclear Safety Authority, the Nature Conservation Authority and the Environmental Authority (UBA). The latter of them most closely interact with the social environmental movement. Any organization that plans a non-scientific dissemination event environmental information and education, may apply for financial support from the Ministry. Of course, provided that the project meets the goals of the department and is of federal importance. In addition, there are a number of programs to promote scientific or reference, in the sense of environmental protection, economic projects.

Since 2005, UBA has also been responsible for trading greenhouse gas emission allowances in the light of the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol.

tax incentives

In addition to direct financial support for environmental projects, German organizations can use the system of so-called "public benefit societies". Any non-profit "verain" (society organized by special laws, which exists independently and can be legal entity) can receive the status of "public benefit" if its activities meet two requirements: the verain sets itself the goal of public benefit and any citizen can become a member of the "verine". These public goals include, first of all, social and environmental ones.

The advantage of the status of a “publicly beneficial society” is that people who donate money to such a verain have the right to reduce their income (taxable base) by the same amount, thus reducing the amount of tax deductions. Thus, the state supports the social and environmental actions of citizens.

Promoting organic farming

Both the EU commission and the German government recognize the benefits of organic farming. This way of producing food conserves resources and creates jobs in rural areas. But the transition of the usual way of farming to ecological methods is difficult and expensive: only after two or three years from the date of the transition to ecological production can one consider that truly ecologically safe products have been obtained. While the manufacturer is getting back on his feet after switching to a new production method, he can count on financial assistance from the European Union and the German Ministry of Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture. In addition, not only the introduction but also the maintenance of ecological farming is supported. In 2003, this kind of support amounted to about 110 million euros. On the legal plane, organic farmers are afraid of the relaxation of the law on genetically modified products. On this moment only it holds back the development of the industry, since it implies responsibility for the distribution of such products.

An important factor for the economic success of organic production is public awareness. In 2001, the European Union "Bio Seal" was introduced to identify products that are produced according to European organic farming rules. This "seal" has already gained popularity in Germany.

German Federal Environment Foundation (DBU)

As part of the state environmental program, it is worth mentioning the "German Federal Fund for the Environment" - the largest environmental fund in Europe. It provides grant support to environmental projects. Since its inception in 1991, over €1 billion has been awarded in grants. In addition to grants, the DBU awards a "German Environment Prize" of 500,000 euros each year.

In Germany, there are a huge number of environmental unions and public organizations. Among them are well-known national environmental organizations: BUND (Germany's Environment and Nature Conservation Union) and NABU (Germany's Nature Conservation Union).

These organizations have a significant impact on the adoption of environmentally friendly significant decisions in Germany, as they operate at a high scientific level throughout the country. The stories of BUND and NABU are similar: their conservation work has covered many regions and lands for about 20-30 years; they deal with issues ranging from local events to globalization and climate change.

As a result of the anti-nuclear movement of 1968 and the pacifist movement of the 70-80s, social movement, the object of criticism of which is the widespread point of view about the priority of the economy over the environment. Supporters of this movement, as a rule, make up the majority of environmental unions. The unions themselves are considered open for entry: everyone, by virtue of their skills, knowledge and skills, can become a member of the union at the local or national level. This kind of, most often unpaid, participation in Germany is called Ehrenamt - "debt of honor."

To become a member of the environmental union, it is not necessary to be very active. A significant part of the members is limited to paying dues and reading the corporate newspaper. Nevertheless, it is these membership fees that make up about a third of the organization's financial income. When comparing BUND and NABU in terms of funding sources, it should be noted that NABU is more open to cooperation and financial support for commercial companies. At the same time, about 45 percent of the unions' budget comes from donations. Both unions also receive money from projects of the Ministry.

German law provides non-governmental environmental organizations with the opportunity to participate in the decision-making process. Such solutions include, for example, projects for new streets, railways, airports, etc. Agencies can use the knowledge of NGO experts to realistically represent and assess the situation. Laws in Germany are designed to balance the interests of several parties, as decision makers are usually under pressure from stakeholders who intend to benefit from the planned project.

Until 2002, the possibilities of environmental organizations were limited mainly to the fact that they could receive information on projects from the department, express their criticism of the projects and propose any changes. But the department was not at all obliged to respond to this criticism and make the proposed changes to the project. Although in fact, the wishes of environmental organizations were often taken into account. After all, everyone understood that environmental organizations simply had no other leverage to put pressure on them.

In 2002, a new law appeared, which expanded the possibilities of environmental public organizations - the “lawsuit of societies”. Thanks to him, public organizations have the opportunity to file lawsuits in case of violations of environmental legislation. Previously, lawsuits were accepted only from private individuals, since usually the cause was a violation of the individual's rights to health or property. Now environmental public organizations can safely act as "nature's advocates".

But in reality, the law does not work so clearly. On the one hand, the Bundestag repeatedly adopted so-called "acceleration laws" that limited the participation of organizations in planning processes, especially in transport projects. On the other hand, since 2003 there has been a directive of the European Parliament on public participation and the Aarhus Convention, which provide for broad public information rights and provide more opportunities for complaints and claims. Officially, this directive came into direct effect only on June 25, 2005. Now both national laws and European regulations are in force at the same time. And the new government coalition, obviously, does not intend to continue implementing civil participation in the planning and decision-making process.

What will the new power of ecology bring?

The Green Party is a partner in the government coalition, but still not a member of the German government, as before. Therefore, it is not yet clear whether the environmental policy that has been implemented in recent years will continue. But the coalition agreement of the new ruling parties in Germany provides for the preservation of the main achievements of previous governments in ecology. The CDU acknowledges that the nuclear phase-out plan remains on the agenda and insists that it be open to discussion.