German – 18th electoral term – 1 – Printed paper 18/12511

German Bundestag Printed paper 18/12511

18th electoral term 26 May 2017

Notification by the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development

Report from the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development (Activity report for the 18th electoral term)

Contents

Page

I. Basis of the reporting obligation 2 II. Mission, working methods and organisational structure 4 III. Proposal for enshrinement of the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development in the Rules of Procedure of the German Bundestag 5 IV. Activities 5 1. Parliamentary monitoring and support of the National Sustainability Strategy 5 (a) Opinion of the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development on the report of the 2013 Peer Review, entitled Sustainability – Made in , of the National Sustainability Strategy 6 (b) 2014 indicator report on the state of the National Sustainability Strategy 6 (c) New 2016 edition of the German Sustainability Strategy – discussion paper on the draft of the German Sustainability Strategy 7 2. Parliamentary monitoring and support of the sustainability process in the EU framework 7 (a) Opinion on the public consultation process of the on the Europe 2020 strategy 7 (b) Talks on the sustainability policy of the European Union 8 (c) Visit to Brussels 8 (d) Discussion paper – a long way to a sustainable future for the European Union 8 3. Parliamentary monitoring and support of the sustainability process in the United Nations framework 8 (a) Opinion on the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 9 (b) Moving resolutely forward, leaving no one behind – discussion paper for the meeting of the United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development 9 (c) Participation in the HLPF meeting 9 Printed paper 18/12511 – 2 – German Bundestag – 18th electoral term

4. Evaluation of sustainability assessments in legislative impact assessments 10 5. Parliamentary monitoring and support of the institutions dedicated to sustainable development created by the Federal Government 10 (a) Cooperation with the State Secretaries’ Committee for Sustainable Development 10 (b) Cooperation with the Council for Sustainable Development 12 6. Other related matters handled by the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development 12 (a) Motion on education for sustainable development – into the future with the Global Action Programme 12 (b) Fair supply chains – the example of cocoa 13 (c) Discussion paper on product responsibility in the context of collection and recycling 13 (d) Resolution on the Bundestag car pool as a beacon of sustainable mobility 14 (e) Enshrining sustainability in the Basic Law 14 (f) Sustainable agriculture – is a national plant-breeding strategy needed? 14 (g) Sustainability in film and media production 15 (h) The TTIP 15 (i) Sustainable consumption 15 7. Conclusion and proposals for the next electoral term 15

German Bundestag – 18th electoral term – 3 – Printed paper 18/12511

I. Basis of the reporting obligation

By means of a decision on an appointment motion (Bundestag printed paper 18/559), the Bundestag, at its 17th sitting, held on 20 February 2014, appointed the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Sustainable Development (Parlamentarischer Beirat für nachhaltige Entwicklung) for the duration of the 18th electoral term. Under the terms of that decision, the Parliamentary Advisory Council presents the Bundestag on a regular basis with reports on its activities. In the 18th electoral term it has presented a total of three such reports. Besides the present activity report for the 18th legislative term, these reports are: 18/3214 Opinion of the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development on the 2013 Peer Review of the National Sustainability Strategy, entitled Sustainability – Made in Germany 18/7082 Opinion of the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development on the 2014 Indicator Report from the Federal Statistical Office entitled Nachhaltige Entwicklung in Deutschland (Sustainable Development in Germany) and on its expectations for the 2016 progress report on the National Sustainability Strategy. In the present report, the Parliamentary Advisory Council describes its mission, its working methods and organisational structure, its activities and its achievements in the 18th electoral term up to and including March 2017 as well as projects that are still pending. In this context, it recommends that the 19th Bundestag take steps to ensure the seamless continuation of the work of Parliament in the realm of sustainable development. At the United Nations Conference of 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, the international community committed itself to the ideal of sustainable development and to Agenda 21, the global action programme for the 21st century that it adopted there. In Agenda 21, the signatory states undertook to develop a strategy for the pursuit of environment- friendly, socially just and economically efficient development. In September 2015, the international community committed itself to global sustainable development in the 2030 Agenda. In this new sustainability agenda, the world set itself 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 targets. Unlike the MDGs – the Millennium Development Goals – the SDGs apply to all countries in equal measure, be they newly industrialised, developing or industrialised, which means that they apply to Germany too. In response to the Rio process, the Federal Government established the Council for Sustainable Development (Rat für Nachhaltige Entwicklung) in 2001 and presented the first German national strategy for sustainable development, entitled Perspektiven für Deutschland (‘Prospects for Germany’), in April 2002. The strategy mapped out the direction in which Germany was to develop and the choices it had to make in order to pursue that course. It set priorities for the coming years, defined specific targets and identified measures and indicators that would help to realise the ideal of environmentally, socially and economically sustainable development. In 2012, Germany’s National Sustainability Strategy was updated for the third time in the 2012 progress report. The most recent update was published on 11 January 2017. This new edition of the German Sustainability Strategy has comprehensively revised the existing strategy. It incorporates all 17 of the SDGs and announces structural improvements to the sustainability architecture. In the 13th legislative term, the Bundestag appointed a Study Commission on the Protection of Humanity and the Environment, subtitled Objectives and Framework for Sustainable Development, through which it laid important foundations for the institutionalisation of sustainability in Parliament. In the most recent legislative term, the Bundestag, through its Study Commission on Growth, Well-being and Quality of Life – Paths to Sustainable Economic Activity and Social Progress in the Social Market Economy, has been dealing, among other things, with ways of severing the link between economic growth and resource consumption and the quest for a potential new gauge of well-being. The initial appointment of the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development in the 15th legislative term institutionalised the sustainability drive in the parliamentary framework. Unlike the Parliamentary Advisory Council, study commissions of the Bundestag avail themselves of extraparliamentary expertise, drawing half of their members from non-elected experts designated by the parliamentary groups, have a clearly demarcated remit and, in their final report, present the Bundestag with a basis for parliamentary decisions. The Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development, by contrast, has a long-term task, involving permanent parliamentary monitoring of the German Sustainability Strategy, known until January 2017 as the National Sustainability Strategy. The Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development is striving to ensure the continuity of its work. This continuity has hitherto been hampered by the fact that the Advisory Council is not Printed paper 18/12511 – 4 – German Bundestag – 18th electoral term

appointed until after the appointment of the parliamentary committees. In order to eliminate this problem, the Advisory Council is seeking the enshrinement of its appointment in the Rules of Procedure of the German Bundestag.

II. Mission, working methods and organisational structure

By reappointing the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development in March 2014, the Bundestag further reinforced its role in the sustainability debate. The constituent meeting of the Advisory Council took place on 12 March 2014; the body comprises 17 full members. In the 18th electoral term, the chair of the Advisory Council has been Bundestag Member (CDU/CSU), and his deputy is Dr (SPD). The current list of members of the Advisory Council on Sustainable Development – in alphabetical order – is as follows: Mr (CDU/CSU), Dr Lars Castellucci (SPD), Ms (SPD), Mr Mark Helfrich (CDU/CSU), Mr Andreas Jung (CDU/CSU), Mr Rüdiger Kruse (CDU/CSU), Ms ( Party), Dr (CDU/CSU), Mr (CDU/CSU), Ms Birgit Menz (The Left Party), Ms Jeannine Pflugradt (SPD), Ms (CDU/CSU), Mr (CDU/CSU), Mr Carsten Träger (SPD), Ms Beate Walter-Rosenheimer (/The Greens), Mr (SPD) and Dr Valerie Wilms (Alliance 90/The Greens). The current list of substitute members of the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development – in alphabetical order – is as follows: Mr (CDU/CSU), Ms (CDU/CSU), Mr (Alliance 90/The Greens), Ms (The Left Party), Mr (CDU/CSU), Mr (CDU/CSU), Ms (SPD), Mr Peter Meiwald (Alliance 90/The Greens), Ms Cornelia Möhring (The Left Party), Dr Martin Pätzold (CDU/CSU), Mr (SPD), Mr (CDU/CSU), Mr Stefan Rebmann (SPD), Mr Christoph Strässer (SPD), Mr (SPD), Mr (CDU/CSU) and Mr (CDU/CSU). The decision appointing the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development entrusts it with the following tasks: - parliamentary monitoring and support of the Federal Government’s National Sustainability Strategy, particularly as regards the updating of indicators and objectives, the adoption and fleshing-out of measures and instruments for the implementation of the sustainability strategy and the linking of major sustainability- related policies; - parliamentary monitoring and support of the Federal Government’s sustainability policy in the EU framework, particularly with regard to the European sustainability strategy; - parliamentary monitoring and support of the Federal Government’s sustainability policy in the United Nations framework, particularly with regard to the activities and measures forming part of the post-Rio process; - supporting deliberations concerning sustainable development in other Bundestag bodies by ensuring that specialised opinions and recommendations can be presented to the relevant lead committees for discussion; - dealing with other priority matters relating to sustainable development that are likely to promote the process of sustainable development and, where necessary, presenting the Bundestag or the Federal Government with appropriate recommendations; - evaluating the Federal Government’s sustainability assessments; the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development presents the relevant lead committee with the result of its evaluation in the form of an opinion for discussion and written appraisal by the lead committee; - parliamentary monitoring and support of the activities of the State Secretaries’ Committee on Sustainable Development in the Federal Chancellery and of the other institutions created by the Federal Government that are dedicated to sustainable development, particularly the Council for Sustainable Development; German Bundestag – 18th electoral term – 5 – Printed paper 18/12511

- fostering contacts and consulting with other institutions for the purpose of promoting sustainable development, particularly with other national parliaments, the German Länder and the institutions of the European Union.

Sustainable development is a long-term task that cuts across policy portfolios, and its pursuit must be planned on a timescale transcending that of short-term policy decisions which relate only to one legislative term. Accordingly, the Advisory Council on Sustainable Development takes care to ensure that its decisions are reached by consensus wherever possible. Beyond the parliamentary framework, the deliberations of the Advisory Council have also served as a communication platform for other players in the field of sustainability. .

III. Proposal for enshrinement of the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development in the Rules of Procedure of the German Bundestag

In the 15th legislative term, the Bundestag established the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development for the first time (printed paper 15/2441) to provide parliamentary monitoring and support for the implementation and continuing development of Federal Government’s National Sustainability Strategy. The decision to appoint a new Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development has subsequently been taken in each new parliamentary term, but often after a lengthy delay. This does not serve to ensure that sustainability policy, with its focus on the long term, is continuously monitored and supported in accordance with the remit of the Advisory Council. In view of this deficiency and against the backdrop of the complex interdisciplinary tasks of the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development, its formal enshrinement in the Rules of Procedure of the German Bundestag is needed. Sustainable development is regarded by all parliamentary groups as a long-term cross-party objective transcending policy portfolios and legislative terms. For that reason, the work of the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development is based on the principle that its decisions should, wherever possible, be reached by cross-party consensus. The aim is to institutionalise the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development in the Rules of Procedure of the German Bundestag in order to lend continuity to its modus operandi. In this way, it could be appointed at the start of each legislative term at the same time as the permanent committees. In our view, this would be an important and proper commitment on the part of the Bundestag to the objective of promoting sustainable development.

IV. Activities

1. Parliamentary monitoring and support of the National Sustainability Strategy One of the main priorities of the work of the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development is to monitor and support the sustainability strategy of the Federal Government. Since it was first appointed in 2004, it has been regularly involved, delivering its own opinions as well as engaging in talks with representatives of the Federal Chancellery and also with individual federal ministries and the Council for Sustainable Development, in defining and fleshing out the objectives, measures and instruments of the sustainability strategy and in pursuing their ongoing development. The adoption in New York of the 17 international Sustainable Development Goals in September 2015 lent fresh impetus to sustainability policy, not only internationally but in the national context too. The SDGs adopted in the framework of the 2030 Agenda supersede the Millennium Development Goals. The 17 SDGs are comprehensive and apply, unlike the Millennium Development Goals, to all countries. The individual Sustainable Development Goals are as follows: SDG 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere SDG 2: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture SDG 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages SDG 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all SDG 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls SDG 6: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all Printed paper 18/12511 – 6 – German Bundestag – 18th electoral term

SDG 7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all SDG 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all SDG 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation SDG 10: Reduce income inequality within and among countries SDG 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable SDG 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns SDG 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts by regulating emissions and promoting developments in renewable energy SDG 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development SDG 15: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss 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 SDG 17: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development At an early stage, the Federal Government decided to incorporate the SDGs into the sustainability strategy in Germany. This was done in January 2017 with the adoption of the revised and renamed German Sustainability Strategy – new edition, 2016. The Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development has held numerous talks with the lead departments on the implementation of the SDGs in Germany and the continuing development of the sustainability strategy and has consulted experts in public and non-public hearings on the same subjects.

(a) Opinion of the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development on the report of the 2013 Peer Review, entitled Sustainability – Made in Germany, of the National Sustainability Strategy In this opinion (Bundestag printed paper 18/3214), the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development stated its position on the report drawn up by eight international experts commissioned by the Federal Government to assess its sustainability policy. This Peer Review, produced in 2013 under the title Sustainability – Made in Germany, contained detailed assessments of the various areas of national and international policy in which the Federal Government had been pursuing the objective of sustainability since 2002 as well as of sustainability management in Germany. The Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development evaluated the statements and recommendations of the Peer Reviewers, whose report followed on from their initial report of 2009 and who examined how sustainability policy had developed between then and 2013. The Advisory Council welcomed the fact that the Federal Government had responded to calls for an early third peer-review report, including the call made in the discussion paper from the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development on the draft German Sustainability Strategy, by commissioning the Council for Sustainable Development to conduct a new review.

(b) 2014 indicator report on the state of the National Sustainability Strategy In June 2014, the Federal Statistical Office presented its 2014 indicator report, which provided an up-to-date review of the state of the National Sustainability Strategy. Within the scope of its duties, the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development evaluated the indicator report and set out its expectations regarding the Federal Government’s next progress report. The Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development held several discussions with the Council for Sustainable Development, federal ministries and the Federal Statistical Office on both the 2014 indicator report and the further development of the indicators. In its opinion (Bundestag printed paper 18/7082), the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development pointed out that, despite the progress achieved over the past few years, major goals of the National Sustainability Strategy had yet to be achieved and that it was uncertain or well-nigh impossible that they would German Bundestag – 18th electoral term – 7 – Printed paper 18/12511

be reached by 2020. The reasons for these deficiencies are diverse, and they reveal an urgent need for action. It will take intensified efforts if the self-imposed targets are to be met. The 2014 indicator report revealed some encouraging trends, such as the development of renewable energy sources, the reduction of public financial liabilities and the increase in the level of employment. These trends contrasted, however, with adverse developments in the realms of biodiversity, mobility, general government debt and investments in the future. Action was needed in these areas. In the effort to combat climate change, rising volumes of greenhouse-gas emissions were currently prejudicing the progress that had been achieved to date. In many cases, moreover, the pursuit of particular goals, though moving in the right direction, was still advancing too slowly. In its opinion, the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development also set out its expectations with regard to the updating of the National Sustainability Strategy. It noted, for example, that the achievement of the global sustainability goals in the framework of the National Sustainability Strategy presented an opportunity to realign German sustainability policy while preserving and/or further developing established goals and indicators of the German national strategy. In this transformation process, Germany’s own ambitious national goals should be retained; at the same time, Germany should display the ability to recognise development needs in specific areas, such as sustainable production and consumption patterns, and see itself in that context as a ‘developing country’. Individual targets from the existing set of indicators could then certainly be replaced as part of the implementation process. The Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development expressed the view that the update of the National Sustainability Strategy should incorporate new goals relating to the fight against poverty and inequality, protection of the oceans, water quality, security of water supply and the aforementioned promotion of sustainable consumption. What was needed was a targeted achievement of the SDGs through a revised National Sustainability Strategy which left scope for the exercise of political control and was comprehensible and communicable. The opinion was debated at a plenary sitting of the Bundestag on 18 December 2015.

(c) New 2016 edition of the German Sustainability Strategy – discussion paper on the draft of the German Sustainability Strategy After a consultation phase, which was launched on 29 October 2015 with the first in a total of six conferences, the Federal Government updated the National Sustainability Strategy, unveiling it on 11 January 2017 as the German Sustainability Strategy. The Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development took part in this consultation process, contributing a discussion paper. As consulted parties, including the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development, had urged, the Federal Government decided to implement the 2030 Agenda, adopted in September 2015, with its 17 global Sustainable Development Goals in the framework of the German Sustainability Strategy. The Advisory Council welcomed the fact that provision had been made for sustainability postulates and indicators for all of the SDGs but called for improvements in respect of individual points. One of the core requirements of the 2030 Agenda was improvement of policy coherence, including greater coherence within and between institutions. Reforms to the institutional structure of the sustainability architecture were therefore desirable. The Advisory Council suggested that all of these reforms be focused on the following goals: national and global responsibility, cooperation, transparency, coherence, impact assessment and impact reduction. The Advisory Council also advocated the creation of sustainability commissioners in every federal government department at director or director-general grade. The Advisory Council will present the Bundestag with an opinion on the German Sustainability Strategy before the end of the current legislative term.

2. Parliamentary monitoring and support of the sustainability process in the EU framework The Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development engages in regular experience-sharing with other parliaments, especially the European Parliament, and with the European Commission.

(a) Opinion on the public consultation process of the European Union on the Europe 2020 strategy Printed paper 18/12511 – 8 – German Bundestag – 18th electoral term

The Advisory Council’s task of monitoring and supporting European sustainability policy has involved its participation in the public consultation process on the Europe 2020 strategy, to which end it delivered an opinion. The Advisory Council emphasised that, notwithstanding the existence of the Europe 2020 strategy, the European Sustainability Strategy must be continued. Although Europe 2020 also addressed aspects of the sustainability strategy, its aim was not so much sustainable development in all policy areas as the generation of growth. Europe 2020 was essentially a strategy for boosting economic growth. The European Sustainability Strategy went far beyond the objectives of Europe 2020. Europe 2020 could contribute to respect for democracy and fundamental rights on the part of EU Member States. To do so, it had to be complemented by the European Sustainability Strategy, which identified the political principles of the European Union against which every political measure taken by both the European institutions and the EU Member States had to be assessed.

(b) Talks on the sustainability policy of the European Union The Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development has been engaging in continuous dialogue with members of the European Commission and of the European Parliament to inform itself about European sustainability policy, exchange views and press for a new edition of the European Sustainability Strategy. These matters were also discussed at several non-public meetings with representatives of the Federal Government. A very fruitful discussion took place with Karl Falkenberg, Senior Adviser for Sustainable Development at the European Commission, whose report, Sustainability Now!, was also a subject of deliberations in the Advisory Council.

(c) Visit to Brussels On 6 September 2016, a delegation from the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development travelled to Brussels for talks. In its discussions with high-ranking members of the European Commission, the delegation advanced the case for a new edition of the European Sustainability Strategy and informed itself about the sustainability policy of the European Union. The delegation also exchanged views with Members of the European Parliament on the desirability of a new edition of the European Sustainability Strategy. In the talks, the members of the Parliamentary Advisory Council placed particular emphasis on the fact that an ambitious implementation of the SDGs required a European framework. The delegation members reached the conclusion that, although there were some ambitious projects such as a new approach to recycling, and although credit should be given to the Commission for its efforts to eliminate the prevailing silo mentality, there were no indications that the European Sustainability Strategy was being revised. That was deeply regrettable.

(d) Discussion paper – a long way to a sustainable future for the European Union On 22 November 2016, the European Commission published its Communication on the next steps for a sustainable European future. In the discussion paper it produced on this Communication, the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development noted that it was primarily an inventory of existing sustainability policies and that more action was needed. In the view of the Advisory Council, what was required was a comprehensive and systematic approach to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda by the EU and in the EU but also with the EU in the wider world. The Advisory Council regarded the instrument of a new EU sustainability strategy as a particularly apt means to that end and held that further steps were essential, beginning with a self- critical analysis of gaps in the present strategy. Moreover, consideration had to be given to all implementation tools, such as better lawmaking. Equal importance attached to rapid fleshing-out and creation of the heralded ‘multi-stakeholder platform’ for follow-up and exchanges of best practice, to effective monitoring and to the prompt appointment of a group of experts on a sustainable financial system.

3. Parliamentary monitoring and support of the sustainability process in the United Nations framework The Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development was heavily involved in the process of drafting the SDGs within the scope of its powers. Besides talks with representatives of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Federal Foreign Office, the Advisory Council addressed the subject of the SDGs at non- German Bundestag – 18th electoral term – 9 – Printed paper 18/12511

public meetings and in hearings and took part in the post-Rio process by delivering opinions and producing discussion papers.

(a) Opinion on the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) In its opinion on the SDGs, the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development made the case for ambitious and coordinated goals, arguing that the goals and targets, and especially the measures for their achievement and the review mechanisms, should be capable of meeting the present challenges and paving the way for a worldwide socio-environmental transformation. For the Advisory Council, ‘business as usual’ was not an option if global development was to be shaped in a sustainable manner and if opportunities for a fulfilled and dignified life were to be ensured for future generations. The SDGs must not fall short of the poverty-reduction and sustainability goals and human-rights standards that had already been agreed internationally. Care must be taken to ensure that the idea of leaving no one behind that underlay the Rio negotiations of 2012 was reflected in the goals. This meant that relative goals, such as ‘halving’ unemployment, were to be avoided. The aim had to be elimination of the need for anyone to live in poverty any more. The Advisory Council also referred to the national dimension. As an internationally respected, economically successful and technologically advanced country, the Federal Republic of Germany was a key player. To enable Germany to assume a leading global role, it would be necessary to continue and further develop the sustainability strategy and provide for greater interlinkage between the institutions with responsibilities in the realm of sustainability.

(b) Moving resolutely forward, leaving no one behind – discussion paper for the meeting of the United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development At the adoption of the 2030 Agenda, Germany declared itself willing to be one of the first states to present a report to the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). The Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development welcomed that decision, because the Federal Government thereby signalled how much priority attached to sustainability as a political guiding principle in Germany. In the UN framework, Germany pronounced itself clearly in favour of a broad reporting base and wished to set a good example. It was essential to avoid ‘cherry-picking’. The Advisory Council therefore called on all federal government departments to be aware of their responsibility for implementing not only the SDGs that fell within their remit but also the 2030 Agenda in its entirety and to play a constructive part in the drafting of the HLPF report. The Advisory Council also emphasised the role of parliaments. The implementation of the 2030 Agenda, it reasoned, was definitely not only the task of governments but required the participation of various players. It was the task of Members of Parliament in particular to work towards a coherent German sustainability policy and to ensure that laws encouraged sustainable development. In order to send a strong worldwide message in favour of parliamentary responsibility and constructive cooperation between parliaments and governments, the Advisory Council advocated involvement of Members of Parliament in the international reporting and review process too.

(c) Participation in the HLPF meeting At the meeting of the High-Level Political Forum, held in New York in the framework of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) from 17 to 21 July 2016 under the motto ‘Leaving No One Behind’, the first national reports on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda were presented. Bundestag Members Matern von Marschall (CDU/CSU) and Carsten Träger (SPD) took part on behalf of the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development. Two Parliamentary State Secretaries, Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety, and from the Federal Ministry for Economic Development and Cooperation, presented the German implementation report. In his speech, Thomas Silberhorn focused chiefly on the updating of the sustainability strategy, the Partnership for Sustainable Textiles, the efforts to promote sustainable consumption and the increase in the budget for global partnerships to 1.5 billion euros. Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter highlighted the issues of the energy transition, combating climate change, sustainable growth, the national biodiversity strategy and raising awareness of the need to change our lifestyles. Printed paper 18/12511 – 10 – German Bundestag – 18th electoral term

The fact that German civil society was also able to present its points of view as part of the presentation was very well received. The German delegation headed by the two parliamentary state secretaries played an active part in numerous side events and held bilateral talks with high-ranking government representatives from Egypt, Canada, Sweden and the Maldives on the implementation of the agenda and its links with the climate process and Habitat III. In addition, the representatives of the Parliamentary Advisory Council reported on Germany’s sustainability architecture, implementation methods and coordination processes.

4. Evaluation of sustainability assessments in legislative impact assessments During the 16th electoral term, the Federal Government, on the initiative of the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development, supplemented the Joint Rules of Procedure of the Federal Ministries by introducing a sustainability assessment as part of the legislative impact assessment. The reason for this was to integrate the sustainability strategy more fully into everyday political activity with a view to ensuring that projects could no longer run counter to the goals of the National Sustainability Strategy. Since the 17th electoral term, the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development has been formally evaluating these sustainability assessments that are conducted by the Federal Government. The Advisory Council checks all legislative bills and draft regulations from the Federal Government immediately after their referral to the Bundesrat. Two rapporteurs – one Member from a parliamentary group in the governing coalition and one from an opposition group – preview the proposal and formally check whether a sustainability assessment has been conducted and is plausibly portrayed. If the assessment is missing or its findings are not verifiable, an opinion is delivered to the lead committee, which can request the missing assessment from the competent federal ministry. The federal ministry receives an information copy of the opinion. The Advisory Council has been deliberating with representatives of several government departments on how the sustainability assessment in legislative impact assessments can be improved. In the 18th electoral term, the Advisory Council had examined 769 Federal Government proposals for statements on sustainable development and evaluated them by 18 April 2017.

Number of Sustainability- Not Statements Of which No Sustainability Sustainability government related sustainability- on statements assessment assessment proposals related sustainable on OK flawed development sustainable development Plausible Not plausible 769 546 223 678 625 53 91 707 62 % 71.00 29.00 88.17 92.18 7.82 11.83 91.94 8.06

These evaluations revealed that a total of some 92% of the proposals contained sustainability assessments with no formal defects, a rate which was significantly higher than in the 17th electoral term. The evaluation of sustainability assessments has therefore led to a marked term-on-term improvement as far as the formal dimension is concerned. The procedure of a purely formal evaluation by the Advisory Council of the sustainability assessment has proved practicable. The aim, however, must be for bills to be reviewed at the outset by their initiators – the Federal Government as well as the Bundesrat and parliamentary groups – for their impact on sustainable development on the basis of specific criteria.

5. Parliamentary monitoring and support of the institutions dedicated to sustainable development created by the Federal Government

(a) Cooperation with the State Secretaries’ Committee for Sustainable Development Efforts to monitor and support the work of the State Secretaries’ Committee for Sustainable Development had already been stepped up during the 17th electoral term of the Bundestag. The head of the Federal Chancellery, for example, had been inviting the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development to present the position of the Bundestag to the State Secretaries’ Committee prior to its thematic meetings. In the present legislative term too, the Advisory Council has been taking up these invitations, presenting a total of five position German Bundestag – 18th electoral term – 11 – Printed paper 18/12511

papers. The Advisory Council considers it important that its cooperation with the State Secretaries’ Committee for Sustainable Development should be continued in the next electoral term too.

Discussion paper on the promotion of sustainable public procurement Besides calling for sustainable shopping, sustainable mobility and eco-refurbishment of buildings, the Advisory Council stressed the task of the public sector to set an example and made proposals for the reinforcement and exercise of that model function. The pilot role of the public sector had to be further developed in a systematic manner and be made more visible. The Advisory Council expressed the view that the Alliance for Sustainable Procurement and the Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Procurement could help to ensure that public contracting authorities took their model function seriously and endeavoured to put sustainable procurement into practice. The Advisory Council also advocated that all enterprises in which the Federal Government held a direct stake should apply the German Sustainability Code and also called for accession to the Code by administrations, particularly those of the Bundestag and the federal ministries with their subordinate authorities, as well as by all enterprises in which the Federal Government held a stake.

Position paper on sustainable urban development Sustainable development stood or fell in our cities, towns and other communities, in the places where people lived and worked. Management of and cooperation in the quest for sustainable development required improvement. Sustainable spatial planning had to lead to frugal and efficient use of greenfield sites. Support for urban development had to be even more sharply focused on the sustainability dimension. The Advisory Council called for more attention to be devoted to local authorities, which were key players in the field of sustainable development, and for assistance to be given to them to relaunch their quest for sustainability. In addition, the Advisory Council made specific proposals for more sustainable spatial planning, sustainable urban-development support and sustainable building and refurbishment in cities, towns and rural settlements.

Discussion paper on more transparency for consumers Because of the huge increase in the range of diverse product variants over the past few decades and the increasing length of ingredient lists and supply chains, labelling and oversight had become more important than ever. Consumers were increasingly interested in the origin of products and how they were made. Consumers had to be able to rely on seals and certifications. To that end, appropriate checks and sanctions were necessary. Besides the calls that were already contained in the discussion paper on the promotion of sustainable public procurement regarding the task of the public sector to set an example of sustainable procurement and wider application of the German Sustainability Code, the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development also reiterated the call for consideration of a consumption indicator that it had already made in its opinion on the 2012 progress report (Bundestag printed paper 17/11670). The Federal Government, it said, was determined that environmental standards and occupational health and safety standards should receive more attention in other countries as well as in Germany. A consumption indicator would be a good way for states to be able to measure their own progress in a more targeted manner than hitherto.

Discussion paper on improving sustainability in budgetary and subsidisation policies The Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development welcomed the enshrinement of the sustainability principle in the Federal Government’s guidelines on subsidisation policy. As part of the subsidies report that the Federal Government presented to the Bundestag and Bundesrat at two-yearly intervals, the extent to which subsidies were sustainable now had to be clarified. The broadening of these guidelines to include the sustainability dimension was an important step in the right direction. The Advisory Council called for this sustainability assessment to be conducted by an independent institution. The fact was that many subsidies were still not sustainable. In the realm of energy policy, there was a need for long-term, well-thought-out scenarios which focused not only on security of supply and affordable electricity prices but also on the associated jobs, the tracking of technical development and the updating of environmental targets as well as mapping the gradual transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. The Advisory Printed paper 18/12511 – 12 – German Bundestag – 18th electoral term

Council called for the elimination of counterproductive policy measures. The purpose of a sustainable subsidisation policy, it argued, must be to allocate public funds systematically to encourage economic development that was sustainable and hence fit for the future. The Advisory Council welcomed the efforts of the Federal Government to expedite the consolidation of public budgets. For the first time since 1969, no new debts had featured in the federal budget for 2014. To limit government debt on a permanent basis, a cap on public borrowing (the ‘debt brake’) had been enshrined in the Basic Law back in 2009. There was, however, more to a sustainable budgetary policy than debt reduction. In particular, the Advisory Council favoured government expenditure with an impact on economic, environmental and social development, that is to say sustainable development of the economy and society. The public sector had to set an example in this respect and stimulate sustainable and innovative procurement.

Discussion paper on creating opportunities through sustainable business activity The economic and social order in Germany bore the stamp of the social market economy, which formed the basis for prosperity, social harmony and environmental progress. The only way in which prosperity and a decent quality of life for everyone could be promoted in the long term was if we consistently applied the principle of sustainability to our daily actions and business activities. Sustainable development, which was the key to social improvements and economic progress within the planetary boundaries, created opportunities for present as well as future generations. This created a need to sever the link between prosperity and quality of life on the one hand and consumption of environmental resources on the other and to reduce the level of such consumption in absolute terms. In the Leaders’ Declaration adopted at the G7 summit in Schloss Elmau, the major industrialised nations had reaffirmed their resolve to put the world on a sustainable growth path in the long term. A social and environmental market economy offered a good framework within which the three dimensions of sustainability – economic, environmental and social – could be reconciled. To that end, there was a need to discuss seriously how a socially acceptable global price could be put on external costs, such as those generated by the extraction of fossil fuels and raw materials, or on potential environmental impacts. Internationally, we needed a regulatory framework in which the opportunities offered by free trade could be seized but which also ensured fair trade by guaranteeing global observance of human rights and decent working conditions and – as had been emphasised by the G7 – creating a just and modern international taxation system. Germany could and should play a leading role in this area. In the discussion paper the Advisory Council also set out its visions on energy, climate protection, social safeguards, the model function of the public sector, economic activity on a regional scale, recycling and the .

(b) Cooperation with the Council for Sustainable Development The Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development was in close contact and engaged in frequent discussions with the Federal Government’s Council for Sustainable Development. Members of the latter body attended public hearings of the Parliamentary Advisory Council as expert consultants, and the two councils also held joint meetings. Since 2016 the Council for Sustainable Development and the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development had been marking European Sustainability Week with an event in the Bundestag at which Members of Parliament were able to present the case for implementation of the SDGs.

6. Other related matters handled by the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development

(a) Motion on education for sustainable development – into the future with the Global Action Programme The joint motion tabled by the parliamentary groups of the CDU/CSU, the SPD and Alliance 90/The Greens entitled Education for sustainable development – into the future with the Global Action Programme (Bundestag German Bundestag – 18th electoral term – 13 – Printed paper 18/12511

printed paper 18/4188) had been drafted by members of the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development. The topic of education for sustainable development had also been the subject of several hearings held by the Advisory Council. Sustainable development required changes in our thought processes and behaviour patterns. Education played a decisive role in these changes. It was therefore essential to become active at all levels with a view to fully mobilising the potential of education for sustainable development and to improve learning opportunities for everyone as a contribution to sustainable development. The Global Action Programme on Education for Sustainable Development was designed to launch the activities that would make this happen. Education for sustainable development contributed to the quest for innovative, robust and durable solutions to sustainability- related challenges. The aim of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014), which had been proclaimed at the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development (the Earth Summit) in Johannesburg in 2002, was that the rudiments of sustainable development should be incorporated into member nations’ education systems. In order to make sustainable development processes a reality, the concept of Gestaltungskompetenz, meaning the skill to apply acquired knowledge regarding sustainable development, was coined in the framework of BLK 21, a joint federal-Länder model programme for schools, and its successor programme, Transfer-21.

(b) Fair supply chains – the example of cocoa One of the priority matters addressed by the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development during the 18th electoral term has been the subject of sustainable business activity. In this context, the Advisory Council dealt in depth with the issue of cocoa and sustainability at three public hearings and adopted a decision on the matter.

Resolution on the SchokoFair project against child labour, part of the 2013 Schokolade mit FAIRantwortung (‘Chocolate with fairness and responsibility’) programme of the Unicef Junior Ambassadors The Advisory Council welcomed the commitment to sustainable cocoa production that was reflected in numerous initiatives such as SchokoFair and the Sustainable Cocoa Forum. These were making an important statement for conscious consumption choices in a globalised marketplace. Germany was the world’s second-biggest consumer of chocolate. With our high demand, we consumed about ten per cent of the worldwide cocoa-bean harvest. We therefore bore particular responsibility and had to ask questions about the conditions in which our food products were produced. The fact was that people often worked on cocoa plantations in conditions that breached international standards, children being the main victims. The members of the Advisory Council called on the Federal Government to campaign actively for efforts to combat abusive child labour and child-trafficking. Transparency and oversight of production chains, they said, were an important means to that end. The Advisory Council called on the Federal Government to examine whether and to what extent national and European legislation would be a useful way of protecting children’s rights. Pupils from Fairtrade schools were invited to the Advisory Council meeting of 14 December 2016 to report to Bundestag Members on their engagement in the campaign for fair cocoa and on other sustainability projects at their schools.

(c) Discussion paper on product responsibility in the context of collection and recycling In its discussion paper, the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development welcomed the sharp increase in target recycling rates contained in the Federal Government’s legislative bill for the further development of local segregated collection of waste containing reusable materials, not least because of the beneficial impact on innovation processes, and expressed its fundamental commitment to rising collection and recycling rates. There was a need to extend responsible treatment of end-of-life products to other items, particularly to non- packaging items made of plastics, metals and composites. For products made of other materials, for example mass-market items such as mattresses, furniture and textiles, consideration should be given to an extension of product responsibility. Product responsibility was not to be understood solely in the context of waste management. As the Council for Sustainable Development had recommended in 2011, it had to be seen as encompassing the responsibility of Printed paper 18/12511 – 14 – German Bundestag – 18th electoral term

manufacturers and sellers for raw materials so as to create greater incentives for the design of long-life, reparable, reusable and recyclable products as well as for the economical use of primary raw materials. Product responsibility, resource management, recycling and obsolescence had also been the subjects of several hearings held by the Advisory Council.

(d) Resolution on the Bundestag car pool as a beacon of sustainable mobility The Bundestag has to set an example through its own actions. Its procurement must also be governed by sustainability criteria. Accordingly, the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development has been pressing for systematic adherence to the principle of sustainable mobility in the forthcoming tender for the new contract to provide and operate the Bundestag car pool. Besides a cost-effectiveness requirement, which would entail the assessment of life-cycle costs, the Advisory Council had recommended the inclusion of environmental considerations relating to climate change and social factors relating to occupational health and safety. In addition, at least 20% of all vehicles were to be equipped with fully electric engines. These calls were a logical consequence of resolutions adopted by the Bundestag in which it had urged the Federal Government to focus more sharply on low-emission vehicles in public procurement tenders. The Advisory Council very much welcomed the fact that the Bundestag had taken the first step towards electromobility in its new tender procedure for the car pool and was continuing to insist on attainment of the required percentage of official vehicles with electric engines after an initial test phase.

(e) Enshrining sustainability in the Basic Law One of the main interests of the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development was that the political status of the sustainability principle should be upgraded. For this reason, it had hosted a public symposium in May 2015 on the subject of enhancing sustainable development. The view that sustainability policy had to be reinforced had been expounded by the three invited experts. Professor Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker, former chair of the Bundestag Environment Committee, former Environment Minister Professor Klaus Töpfer and Dr Günther Bachmann, Secretary-General of the Council for Sustainable Development, had all expressed support for enshrinement of the goal of sustainability in the Basic Law. In order to continue the discussion, the Advisory Council had conducted a public hearing in June 2016 on the question whether sustainability should be enshrined in the Basic Law. At that hearing too, the invited experts had advocated the inclusion of sustainability in the Basic Law as a national objective. This would explicitly bind the legislature to make provision for the permanent pursuit of community interests in that field, said the former President of the Federal Constitutional Court, Professor Hans-Jürgen Papier. Professor Gesine Schwan, President and co-foundress of the Humboldt-Viadrina Governance Platform, held that enshrinement in the Basic Law could lend the goal of sustainability a higher profile in the public debate. In the view of Professor Joachim Wieland of the German University of Administrative Sciences in Speyer, the national aim of sustainability was not “a shackling of the legislature but rather a reminder to take longer-term effects into consideration”. In the light of these findings, the Advisory Council recommended intensified discussion of the related legislative issues and of proposals to confer constitutional status on the sustainability principle.

(f) Sustainable agriculture – is a national plant-breeding strategy needed? It was observable throughout the world that plant-breeding was undergoing a concentration process that could also have adverse effects on the range of varieties as well as on the cultivation of crop species. At the present time, the plant-breeding structure in Germany was still characterised by a marked predominance of small and medium-sized businesses, which made a host of new varieties available to farmers every year. Over the past 15 years, however, some 25% of plant-breeding businesses had closed down. At the same time, Germany had committed itself to an ambitious implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The second goal of the Agenda was to “End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture”. One of the questions discussed at a public hearing had been how Germany’s food and breeding sovereignty could be sustainably secured so as to preserve the availability and diversity of seed in the long term. A national sustainable plant-breeding strategy for Germany would have to German Bundestag – 18th electoral term – 15 – Printed paper 18/12511

be reviewed for its implications for the plant-breeding activity of other countries, particularly of developing countries, and for the potential beneficial global impact of a German national plant-breeding strategy based on sustainable breeding.

(g) Sustainability in film and media production On 15 February 2017, during the week of the Berlinale Film Festival, the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development held a public hearing on the subject of sustainability in the film industry. Besides the application of uniform national sustainability standards in film production, calls were made for the creation of financial incentive systems for the provision of environment-friendly technology for the film industry. There were also calls for a study examining the present position regarding sustainability measures in the film industry as well as for support schemes such as the funding of sustainability consultants for filmmakers and linkage between support funds and compliance with sustainability standards. Before the end of the present legislative term, the Advisory Council plans to hold a similar hearing with representatives of the public radio and television corporations.

(h) The TTIP At a public hearing on 2 July 2014, the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development consulted business leaders and representatives of the German Trade Union Confederation, the European Commission and non-governmental organisations on the opportunities and risks of the TTIP with regard to sustainability. The subject was addressed in greater depth in talks held on 28 January 2015 with the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and a representative of the European Commission.

(i) Sustainable consumption In respect of Sustainable Development Goal 12, the German Sustainability Strategy now includes consumption indicators, for which the Parliamentary Advisory Council had long been calling. The Federal Government has launched a National Programme for Sustainable Consumption, subtitled Social change through sustainable lifestyles, under the aegis of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety, the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture and the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection. The Advisory Council discussed this programme with the Federal Environment Minister, Dr Barbara Hendricks, and Mr Thomas Silberhorn, Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development. The Advisory Council also dealt at one of its meetings with the Federal Environment Ministry’s Integrated Environment Programme, which identifies consumption and use of resources as one of the key areas in the transition to sustainability, along with mobility, energy and agriculture.

7. Conclusion and proposals for the next electoral term The Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development deals with a wide range of issues. Given the adoption of the 2030 Agenda with the 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), this range of issues is more likely to expand than contract in future. It is therefore imperative that the number of members serving on the Advisory Council be maintained, as must its accompanying structures. The Advisory Council, moreover, should be appointed as soon as possible at the start of the forthcoming electoral term, ideally at the same time as the permanent committees. Cross-party agreement on long-term objectives is an important step towards sustainable development. According to the appointment decision, the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development monitors and supports the sustainability strategy of the Federal Government. In the new revised edition of the German Sustainability Strategy, the Federal Government has incorporated the pursuit of the SDGs into the strategy. Accordingly, the Advisory Council should monitor and support the pursuit of the SDGs in the same way. We propose that the Advisory Council monitor very closely the updating of the German Sustainability Strategy that is already scheduled for 2018 and present proposals of its own. This should be done in consultation with Parliament, in close contact with the Federal Chancellery and the relevant government departments and in continuous dialogue with the Council for Sustainable Development, the scientific community and interested parties within society. Printed paper 18/12511 – 16 – German Bundestag – 18th electoral term

In this context it is also advisable to address the question whether and, if so, in which areas of German sustainability policy there is a greater need to set specific priorities. In view of the interdepartmental approach to sustainability policy, the need to deal as transparently as possible with conflicting objectives and the great complexity that already exists within the monitoring system, it will be necessary to devote particular attention to ways in which the operability, consistency and effectiveness of German sustainability policy can be maintained and enhanced. With regard to the formal evaluation of sustainability assessments that the Advisory Council has been conducting since 2009, there will be a need to examine very closely how new steps can be taken towards the introduction of a substantive examination. One of the key concerns of the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development is to raise the profile of sustainability within society and to lodge the issue more firmly in the public mind. Continued vigorous pursuit of this objective is needed in the coming legislative term.

Berlin, 17 May 2017

Andreas Jung Chair