Katharina Istel from NABU and Prof. Dr. Mario Schmidt from Pforzheim University / Institute for Industrial Ecology (INEC) were once again elected as Chairpersons of the Environmental Label Jury for the new term of office. The members of the Environmental Label Jury met in this constellation for its summer meeting in Mainz – the state capital of Rhineland-Palatinate – in June.
The members of the Environmental Label Jury for the current term of office are:
Tim Bagner (Association of German Cities)
Phillip Blümke (Pforzheim University)
Henrik Fork-Weigel (vzbv)
Katharina Istel (NABU)
Dr. Axel Neisser (Stiftung Warentest)
Jelena Nikolic (HDE)
Dr. Martin Peters (ZDH – German Confederation of Skilled Crafts/ Chambers of Commerce and Industry Berlin)
Environmental Label Jury
The Environmental Label Jury is the independent decision-making body for the ecolabel of the German federal government. It decides which groups of products and services should be awarded the Blue Angel. In addition, it discusses and approves the relevant Basic Award Criteria that are developed by the German Environment Agency. The members of the Jury act independently and autonomously and membership is voluntary. The Jury consists of 14 natural persons who are appointed by the Federal Minister for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.
Consultation on shared mobility: Revision of the car sharing criteria
At its first meeting, the new Jury revised the Basic Award Criteria for the Blue Angel ecolabel for Car-Sharing (DE-UZ 100). The Jury raised the level of ambition in various areas as part of this revision of the Basic Award Criteria:
The limits for emissions that are harmful to health during the operation of the vehicle, especially nitrogen oxide (Nox) and particulate matter, have been tightened. The aim is to reduce the emission of air pollutants that are harmful to health. In order to promote e-mobility, the Jury increased the existing requirement for the minimum proportion of purely electric-drive vehicles in the fleet. The proportions will also be increased further on an annual basis.
The requirements on the size of the vehicles in the car sharing fleet have been amended to ensure that the fleet mainly comprises smaller and lighter vehicles that enable people to satisfy their mobility needs while consuming the lowest possible amount of energy and resources. New requirements were also added to the Basic Award Criteria:
- A maximum limit for the permissible carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions during operation has been defined for each type of vehicle.
- The criteria now also include a reporting obligation whereby every car sharing operator has to measure and document the traffic-reducing effect of their car sharing scheme and use the resulting data to optimise it even further.
The Environmental Label Jury usually meets twice a year for scheduled meetings. The next meeting is planned for the end of 2025.