Until 1986 environmental matters were dealt with by three different ministries within the Federal Government: the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Health. On 6 June 1986 the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety was established. Since then it has been responsible within the Federal Government for (lead-managing) national environmental policy.

The Ministry, which under a resolution of the German Bundestag has its principal office in Bonn, has some 830 employees in six departments there and at its second office in Berlin.

The Federal Environment Ministry´s sphere of responsibility also embraces three federal agencies with a combined total of more than 1,880 employees: the Federal Environmental Agency (Umweltbundesamt), the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (Bundesamt für Naturschutz) and the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (Bundesamt für Strahlenschutz). The ministry also receives advice in the form of statements and expert opinions from several independent expert bodies. The principal advisory bodies are the Council of Environmental Advisors (Rat von Sachverständigen für Umweltfragen) and the Advisory Council on Global Change (Wissenschaftlicher Beirat Globale Umweltveränderungen).