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Global Reporting Initiative - Analyse der Nachhaltigkeitsberichterstattung von Unternehmen

Seit mehreren Jahrzehnten ist die Umweltberichterstattung ein wichtiges Instrument für Unternehmen, um über die Auswirkungen ihres Handelns zu informieren. Die Entwicklung der letzten Jahre hat dazu geführt, dass die Umweltberichterstattung zu einem integrativen Bestandteil der Nachhaltigkeitsberichterstattung geworden ist. Ein wichtiger Schritt in dieser Entwicklung war die Gründung der Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), die seit 2000 Richtlinien zur Nachhaltigkeitsberichterstattung für herausgibt. Gleichzeitig greifen eine Vielzahl von Unternehmen auf die GRI-Richtlinien zurück, was diese zu einem der besten Standards in diesem Bereich werden lässt. Nach den GRI-Richtlinien veröffentlichte Berichte sind in einer speziellen Datenbank des corporate register gesammelt. Vor diesem Hintergrund untersucht das Projekt im Allgemeinen den Stand der Berichterstattung nach GRI-Richtlinien, mit einem Schwerpunkt auf die Umweltleistung der Unternehmen. Im Besonderen wird der Umfang der Berichterstattung im Vergleich zu den von der GRI vorgeschlagenen Indikatoren (In welchem Umfang berichten die Unternehmen die vorgeschlagenen Indikatoren?) sowie deren Erfüllungsgrad betrachtet (In welchem Maße halten sich berichtende Unternehmen an die Vorgaben zur Berichterstattung der einzelnen Indikatoren?).

FP6-SUSTDEV, Integration of European Wetland research in a sustainable management of water cycle (EUROWET)

The final goal of the EUROWET project is to integrate the substantial multidisciplinary European research in wetlands to help attain the sustainable management of the water cycle. This will be achieved by the translation of state-of-the art science developed at both national and European levels, into practical guidance for end-users. This will be achieved by a comprehensive review, expert assessment and a focussed dissemination strategy. There is considerable scientific knowledge and technical experience gained in diverse aspects of wetland science and management including hydrology, biogeochemistry, ecology restoration, socio-economic and policy analysis. However the results of research and management experience are still too fragmentary and not sufficiently orientated to problem-solving or simply inadequately framed to be effectively transferred to, or used by, stakeholders and policy-makers. Simultaneously the general outcome of the scientific research has been increased awareness of the significance of wetlands in delivering goods and services important for human welfare including quality of life, biodiversity conservation and maintenance or enhancement of environment quality. Despite this wetlands continue to be degraded and lost throughout Europe without adequate consideration of the wider benefits to be achieved from this management. The new Water Framework Directive (WFD) promotes a unique opportunity to redress this problem by means of the holistic, integrated approach to water management. There is currently in preparation horizontal guidance on Wetlands as part of the Common Implementation Strategy (CIS) process. There is however work still to be done on providing more specific scientific and technical guidance on the effective implementation of the Directive with respect to wetlands. This is particularly the case in relation to Integrated River Management, the CIS cluster within which wetlands are being considered in the WFD.

e:ToP - Verbundprojekt: Combiomics - Analyse von Kombinationseffekten von Pestiziden in vitro, Teilprojekt C

Von den Triazol-Fungiziden und dem Imidazol-Fungizid Prochloraz ist bekannt, dass sie in Ratten u.a. hepatotoxisch wirken. Am Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung wird zurzeit untersucht, inwieweit die Behandlung von Ratten mit Fungizid-Gemischen, bestehend aus den o.g. Verbindungen, zu einer additiven bzw. synergistischen hepatotoxischen Wirkung führen kann. Die im Rahmen dieses Projektes geplanten Experimente sollen zeigen, ob die Kombination der o.g. Fungizide additive oder synergistische Veränderungen im Transkriptom, Proteom und/oder Metabolom der Humanleberzelllinie HepaRG hervorrufen kann und ob die Zellen die Auswirkungen in Ratten richtig widerspiegeln. 1) Die HepaRG-Zellen mit Triazolen und Prochloraz einzeln und kombiniert in verschiedenen nicht-zytotoxischen Konzentrationen inkubieren; 2) nach jeder Inkubation RNA und Proteine aus den Zellen für die weiterführenden Analysen isolieren; 3) in Kooperation mit dem Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung quantitative RT-PCR- sowie low-density-PCR-Array-Analysen durchführen; 4) in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Center for Biotechnology der Universität Bielefeld das Transkriptom, Proteom und Metabolom der behandelten Zellen analysieren.

FP6-POLICIES, Safe Management of Mining Waste and Waste Facilities (SAFEMANMIN)

The project aims at supporting the implementation of the proposed Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the management of waste from the extractive industries 2003/0107. The Directive was prepared following several major accidents with a serious impact on the environment, and it has the purpose of ensuring a safer management of the mining waste facilities, so that such accidents will not occur in the future. This project addresses particularly Article 9, which provides for the classification of waste facilities with respect to the possible consequences of an accident, and respectively the Annex II: Characterisation of mining waste and Annex III: Criteria for the classification of waste facilities. The activities of the project are divided into four major work packages as follows: - Preparation of a Methodology for the Characterisation of Mining Waste - Elaboration of a Risk Assessment Methodology for the Classification of Mining Waste Facilities, including Old/Abandoned Mining Waste Facilities - Review of Techniques for the Prevention and Abatement of Pollution Generated by Mining Wastes - Development of a Decision Support Tool for Minimising the Impact of the Mining Industry on the Environment. The Consortium co-ordinated by BIUTEC, Austria, includes universities, research institutes, NGOs and implementing authorities from 8 European countries, both Members of the EU and accession countries. The experts team is highly qualified and has many years of experience and research in this area, so that the best outputs can be obtained. The project will build on the results of other projects carried out in this field, and will relate closely to on-going projects, so that there is no overlap in our activities. In order to provide an effective tool for the potential beneficiaries, the project team will consult with representatives of the stakeholders before the final versions of the outputs are publicly made available on the project web-site.

FP6-POLICIES, Horizontal Standards on Hygienic parameters for Implementation of EU Directives on Sludge, Soil and Treated Bio-waste (HORIZONTAL-HYG)

The working documents on revision of the Sewage Sludge Directive (86/278/EEC) on Biowaste and the Soil Protection Communication call for standards on sampling and analysis of sludge, treated biowastes and soils. The European Directives are intended to prevent unacceptable release of contaminants, impairment of soil function, or exposure to pathogens, and to protect crops, human and animal health, the quality of water and the wider environment when sludges and treated biowastes are used on land. The EU animal by-product regulations are fixing microbiological threshold values, for which microbiological methods of analysis are needed. The European Commission wishes to cite European (CEN) standards in order that there is harmonised application of the directives and that reports from Member States (MS) can be compared. This project to develop standards for hygienic parameters in sludge, soil and biowaste, presented under the name 'HORIZONTAL-HYG', will be carried out under the umbrella of the main project HORIZONTAL 'Development of horizontal standards for soil, sludge and biowaste'. This ensures full integration in the CEN system through BT Task Force 151 specially set up in support of this project as well as direct supervision by DG ENV and MS, which form the Steering Committee of HORIZONTAL. Preparation of HORIZONTAL-HYG was taken in a full agreement with the DG ENV, DG JRC and the MS already contributing to HORIZONTAL. HORIZONTAL-HYG's objective is to produce standardised methods for sampling and hygienic microbiological parameters, as Salmonella spp, Escherichia coli, Clostridium perfringens, Ascaris ova in sludges, treated biowastes and soils written in CEN format. Validation of the methods is an essential part of the development as it quantifies performance in terms of repeatability and reproducibility. The consortium is well connected in CEN and ISO and thus provides an excellent basis for implementation of the deliverables. Prime Contractor: Energieonderzoek Centrum Nederland; Petten, Netherlands.

Towards the Derivation of Quality Standards for Priority Substances in the Context of the Water Framework Directive - Identification of Quality Standards for Priority Substances in the Field of Water Policy

Article 16 of the Water Framework Directive (WFD, Directive 2000/60/EC) lays down the Community Strategy for the establishment of harmonised quality standards and emission controls for the priority substances and other substances posing a significant risk to, or via, the aquatic environment. In order to achieve the protection objectives of the WFD, the Commission shall (i) submit proposals for quality standards applicable to the concentrations of the priority substances in surface water, sediment or biota, and (ii) identify the appropriate cost-effective and proportionate level and combination of product and process controls for both point and diffuse sources. Proposals for environmental quality standards and emission controls for point sources shall be submitted within 2 years of the inclusion of the substance concerned on the list of priority substances (European Parliament and Council Decision No. 2455/2001/EC), i.e. in December 2003. This study is part of the preparatory work of the Commission and its overall objectives are: - The development and description of a concept which enables the European Commission to submit proposals for quality standards applicable to the concentrations of the priority substances of the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) and those substances not on the priority list but regulated in the 'daughter directives' of Directive 76/464/EEC (on pollution caused by certain dangerous substances discharged into the aquatic environment of the Community) in water, sediment and biota, as required by Articles 16(7) and 16(10) of the Water Framework Directive. - Elaboration of proposals for quality standards for the priority substances of the Water Framework Directive and recommended values for other substances of concern (see footnote 1) with regard to surface water, sediment, biota, and human health as objectives of protection. Conclusions: The elaboration of quality standards with the developed methodological framework clearly showed that the proposed approach is applicable for the derivation of specific quality standards addressing the particular objectives of protection as well as for the identification of the overall quality standard that finally may be imposed to safeguard the entire set of objectives of protection. Also, with regard to the effort required to work with the concept, it can be considered as economic. This is attributable to the fact that despite the comprehensive consideration of all relevant routes of exposure and objectives of protection the different quality standards for the specific objectives are normally only derived if certain pre-defined trigger values are exceeded. This avoids the assessment of irrelevant exposure routes and the calculation of unnecessary standards. Problems encountered during the elaboration of the standards were in general not attributable to the suggested methodological framework but mostly to the limited availability of data or to the limitations of the available data.

Teilprojekt B^e:ToP - Verbundprojekt: Combiomics - Analyse von Kombinationseffekten von Pestiziden in vitro^Teilprojekt C, Teilprojekt A

Verbraucher/Innen sind über die Nahrung gegenüber Mischungen verschiedener Pflanzenschutzmittel bzw. deren Rückständen exponiert. Da die toxikologische Prüfung im Rahmen regulatorischer Verfahren meist nur für Einzelsubstanzen erfolgt, ist die Datenlage hinsichtlich der von mehreren Substanzen möglicherweise ausgehenden Kombinationseffekte begrenzt. Die Entwicklung von geeigneten in vitro Methoden zur Untersuchung von Kombinationswirkungen stellt daher eine große Herausforderung für die am vorbeugenden gesundheitlichen Verbraucherschutz orientierte toxikologische Wissenschaft dar. In diesem Projekt sollen mögliche Kombinationswirkungen beispielhaft anhand einer Gruppe von Fungiziden (Triazole) mit gut charakterisierten toxikologischen Eigenschaften in vitro untersucht werden. Da bekannt ist, dass Triazole hepatotoxische und endokrin disruptive Eigenschaften besitzen, wird eine Auswahl an humanen Zelllinen der Leber und endokriner Organe herangezogen, um die molekularen Effekte der Triazole in einem systembiologischem Ansatz mittels multi-level-omics und prädiktiver mathematischer Modellierung zu untersuchen. Ausgehend von den Ergebnissen der Omics-Analysen der Behandlung mit Einzelsubstanzen soll ein Prädiktionsmodell für Substanzkombinationen erstellt werden, dessen Eignung anhand der Ergebnisse der Omics-Analysen zu Triazol-Mischungen überprüft bzw. verbessert und abschließend anhand weiterer Substanzen validiert werden soll. Um eine umfassende Bewertung von Kombinationseffekten in vitro zu ermöglichen, soll das zu entwickelnde Prädiktionsmodell auf Pestizide anderer Stoffgruppen bzw. weitere Substanzklassen ausgedehnt werden. Dies würde ermöglichen, die von der neuen Europäischen Pestizidverordnung vorgesehene Bewertung von Kombinationseffekten weitgehend ohne zusätzliche Tierversuche vorzunehmen. Ergebnisse zu den molekularen Grundlagen der Triazolwirkung und zur Modellierung von Kombinationseffekten sollen in internationalen Fachzeitschriften publiziert werden.

Ausarbeitung der umweltrelevanten Teile der Draft Assessment Reports im Rahmen der EU-Wirkstoffprüfung

Förderung im Rahmen der Richtlinien zur Mittelstandsförderung 'Verbesserung der unternehmerischen Leistungsfähigkeit' - Schaffung eines Kooperationsnetzwerkes zur Gewinnung, Anwendung und Vermarktung des Energieträgers Erdwärme

Als übergeordnetes Ziel des Projektes war die Initiierung bzw. Belebung eines Geschäftsfeldes 'Geothermie' geplant, das gemeinsam von den beteiligten Einrichtungen entwickelt und nur über ein Netzwerk nachhaltig umgesetzt werden konnte. Durchgeführte Maßnahmen: - Formierung eines sächsischen Netzwerkes aus neun Partnern - Marktrecherche und Bedarfserfassung - Unterstützung der Ausrichtung des 'Sächsischen Geothermietages' - Bearbeitung einer Machbarkeitsstudie zur konzeptionellen Darstellung der Versorgung eines geplanten Gewerbegebietes mit Kälte und Wärme in Freiberg unter Beachtung von Lösungen zur Steigerung der Energieeffizienz - Bildung von Kooperationen auf regionalem und überregionalem Gebiet Das Ziel konnte zur Gänze erreicht und übertroffen werden, da die Maßnahmen sich sinnvoll mit laufenden Aktivitäten aus dem Umfeld des Netzwerkmanagements ausweiten ließen.

FP6-POLICIES, Science-policy inferfacing in support of the Water Framework Directive implementation (SPI-WATER)

Many current water-related RTD projects have already established operational links with practitioners, in several catchments / river basins, which allow the needs of policymakers to be taken into account. However, experience has shown that this interrelationship is not as efficient as it could / should be. Often, RTD results are not easily available to policy oriented implementer (policymakers) and, vice versa, research scientists may lack insight in the needs of policymakers. This project proposes a number of concrete actions to bridge these gaps in communication by developing and implementing a science-policy interface, focusing on setting up a mechanism to enhance the use of RTD results in the Water Framework Directive (WFD) implementation. As a first action, existing science-policy links will be investigated. RTD and LIFE projects that are of direct relevance for the implementation of the WFD will be identified and analysed. The results of these projects will be extracted, translated and synthesised in a way that can efficiently feed the WFD implementation. Secondly, an information system (WISE-RTD Web Portal) will be further developed to cater for an efficient and easy to use tool for dissemination as well as retrieval of RTD results. The Web Portal will be tested in 4 selected river basins to better tune the product to the needs of WFD stakeholders, policymakers and scientists. In parallel, the Web Portal will be disseminated to WFD stakeholders. This dissemination will focus on how to better access and use the RTD results and practical experiences. As third action, this science-policy interfacing of WFD related topics will be extended to non-EU countries taking into account their specific needs. An assessment of recent practices and needs of non-EU countries, together with an in-depth analysis of the operational needs in two Mediterranean pilot river basins, will allow to prepare recommendations for an efficient transfer of knowledge. Prime Contactor; Hydroscan NV; Leuven; Belgium.

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