Report on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development German Voluntary National Review to the HLPF 2021 1 German Voluntary National Review to the HLPF 2021 All states are called upon to take swifter and more ambitious action to implement the Agenda. With the update to the German Sustainable Development Strategy [adopted in March 2021], the German Government therefore aims to pick up the pace on the path to greater sustainability, both at home and in international cooperation. [...] If we are to achieve the goals of the German Sustainable Development Strategy and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, we must embark on a truly demanding transformation of key areas such as energy, the circular economy, housing, transport, food and agriculture. In Germany we plan to advance the transformation process by updating our German Sustainable Development Strategy and by harnessing education, research and innovation. (Federal Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel in her foreword to the updated German Sustainable Development Strategy) German Voluntary National Review to the HLPF 2021 3 4 Content 1. Key messages 7 1.1 The twofold challenge: Pandemic response and the transition to sustainable development for a better and green recovery 8 1.2 Main areas of transition, unhalted by the pandemic response, within the leitmotifs of the 2030 Agenda: People, planet, prosperity, peace and partnership 9 1.3 Joint action; global responsibility; peace and security 14 2. Institutional and procedural aspects 17 3. Important changes 23 4. Pursuit of the 17 SDGs in, by and in partnership with Germany 27 SDG 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere 30 SDG 2 End hunger, achieve food security and im proved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture 34 SDG 3 Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages 40 SDG 4 Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all 46 SDG 5 Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls 52 SDG 6 Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all 58 SDG 7 Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all 62 SDG 8 Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all 66 SDG 9 Build resilient infra structure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation 74 SDG 10 Reduce inequality within and among countries 78 SDG 11 Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable 84 SDG 12 Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns 90 SDG 13 Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts 96 SDG 14 Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development 100 SDG 15 Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, and halt biodiversity loss 104 SDG 16 Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels 110 SDG 17 Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development 116 5. Outlook 123 Annex: Position papers of major German stakeholders 127 German Voluntary National Review to the HLPF 2021 5 6 German Voluntary National Review to the HLPF 2021 1. Key messages German Voluntary National Review to the HLPF 2021 7 Key messages 1.1 The twofold challenge: Pandemic response and the transition to sustainable development for a better and green recovery With its 17 Sustainable Development Goals With its European Green Deal, the European (SDGs), the 2030 Agenda is a guiding principle of Union has set itself demanding objectives for German Government policy. In September 2019, sustainable economic activity and more climate the heads of state and government attending the action: the EU is to cut its greenhouse gas emis- SDG Summit in New York determined that those sions by at least 55% compared with 1990 levels by goals shared by the international community 2030 and become climate neutral by 2050. A could not be achieved by 2030 if the current socio-environmental transition to sustainable trends continued. development requires corresponding efforts, not only with a view to protecting the climate, in the The 2020-2030 Decade of Action declared by the key areas of transition set out below. United Nations must live up to its name and ensure greater sustainability, thereby also enhanc- The pressure to act on this has intensified around ing climate action and intergenerational as well as the world in the face of the COVID 19 pandemic. interregional justice. Simultaneously, however, this difficult time has brought the growing realisation that global Action to date falls far short of what is needed to challenges can be overcome only by global efforts start on a sustainable development route that and that unsustainable activity makes us strikingly truly does justice to the interests of future genera- vulnerable. tions. In its latest order on climate legislation in Germany, the Federal Constitutional Court Worldwide, in Europe and in Germany, therefore, highlighted the importance of intergenerational it has been and remains strategically important for equity. This is what lies at the heart of sustainable recovery programmes during and after the development: the necessity of maintaining scope pandemic to set the course for a more sustainable for action and for decisions to pass on to younger and thus more future-proof society – in other and future generations, as raised by the Brundt- words, to pursue a better and green recovery. At land Commission back in 1987. Its report says that the national, European and international levels, development is sustainable if it meets the needs of policies and programmes in response to the the present without compromising the ability of COVID 19 crisis must be aligned with the 2030 future generations to meet their own needs and Agenda and its SDGs and guided at all times by the choose their own lifestyles. In the same order, the Agenda’s principle of leaving no one behind. Court also underlined the global dimension of climate action and obliged the state to act with an Like the updated German Sustainable Develop- international focus to protect the climate on a ment Strategy that the German Government global scale. adopted in March 2021, the present report in- cludes federal action responding to the pandemic and simultaneously consolidating the necessary preconditions for a sustainable future in Germany, in Europe and around the world. 8 German Voluntary National Review to the HLPF 2021 Key messages 1.2 Main areas of transition, unhalt- ed by the pandemic response, with- in the leitmotifs of the 2030 Agenda: People, planet, prosperity, peace and partnership Progress in the following six areas of transition is pivotal to implementation of the 2030 Agenda in, with and by Germany. 1 The human well-being and capabilities; social The German Government is pursuing 25 national justice transition area links SDGs 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9 and and international human rights priorities using 10. The present and future well-being of all people the framework of its 2021-2022 Action Plan for is at the heart of sustainable development. More Human Rights. These correlate in large part with than any that have gone before, the current the 17 SGDs, which are covered in this report. generation has the knowledge and the means to shape the future in a sustainable manner. The task Not just the COVID 19 pandemic demonstrates is to secure each person’s fundamental rights and how crucial good health and well-being are to basic needs, protect them from existential threats, survival. Germany is actively committed to foster their prosperity and enable them to live ensuring that the lessons of COVID 19 are taken sustainably. It is a task to be tackled across a large into account in future efforts to reshape the global number of policy areas. health architecture. Interdisciplinary perspectives that place human health in the broader context of To facilitate human well-being around the world, animal and environmental health are becoming human rights must be upheld, work paid appro- increasingly important. That is why the German priately, social security generated, gender-specific Government promotes the One Health approach inequalities tackled and social structures changed at the national, regional and international levels that prevent marginalised sections of society and and champions protecting the health of farm and minorities living a self-determined life. The wild animals as well as biodiversity and natural objective is to ensure that global value chains habitats. An important element of healthcare is respect these aspects from start to finish, a task for upholding and ensuring access to sexual and which states and businesses are equally responsi- reproductive healthcare and rights, which the ble. Another key challenge is to reduce inequalities German Government campaigns for across the in order to open up prospects of economic and globe. In this context, education, science and social development to all and to stabilise the research form the basis of a self-determined, effectiveness of democracies around the world. responsible life while paving the way for the achievement of all sustainability targets. German Voluntary National Review to the HLPF 2021 9 Key messages 2 The transition area focused on climate action and accordance with this trajectory, electricity supply energy transition (SDGs 13 and 7) demands an will be overwhelmingly decarbonised in the 2030s. integrated approach based on climate protection Furthermore, a crucial precondition of achieving that transcends the boundaries of different policy the climate goals is to save energy and use it more areas and SDGs. On the basis of decisions from the efficiently. Research and innovation will play an EU and in consideration of the latest order issued important role in driving progress towards that by the Federal Constitutional Court, the German objective.