Ecosystem - UBA President on Climate Protection: The Majority Appreciate the Need for Action
The ongoing severe flooding predominantly in southern Germany, as mentioned by the head of the Federal Environment Agency (UBA), Dirk Messner, shows how crucial adaptations related to climate action are. "The majority of people in Germany seem to realize that something is seriously amiss and we need to follow an alternative route", he stated in a conversation with the German Press Agency.
Messner believes that such intense events are leading to this mentality gaining traction. "Although transforming long-term strategies is challenging as our systems are centered on short-term thinking."
A significant role of the UBA, among others, is to provide guidance and evaluate politics on environmental protection issues and to assess the effectiveness of these measures. In Messner's opinion, we need to accelerate our efforts to safeguard the climate to fulfill our objectives by 2050. "It's essential to step up the pace by six times. Whether we can achieve this is questionable - to put it mildly." Increased speeds are necessary, like in the growth of renewable sources or the switch to electric transportation.
Headquartered in Dessau-Roßlau, Saxony-Anhalt, the UBA has approximately 1,800 employees.
