German Sustainable Development Strategy Update 2021 Sustainable Development Strategy for Germany German Sustainable Development Strategy WeiterentwicklungUpdate 2021 2021 – Kurzfassung GERMAN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY 2021 Foreword At the SDG Summit in 2019, United Nations Secretary-Gen- If we are to achieve the targets of the German Sustainable eral António Guterres called for a global Decade of Action, Development Strategy and the goals of the 2030 Agenda for based on the risk then – as now – that the world will fail to Sustainable Development, we must embark on a truly de- achieve the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Devel- manding transformation of key areas such as energy, the opment. circular economy, housing, transport, food and agriculture. In Germany we plan to advance the transformation process All states must mobilise more quickly and more ambitious- with this update to our Sustainable Development Strategy, ly to implement the Agenda. With this recently adopted up- and by harnessing education, research and innovation. date to the German Sustainable Development Strategy, the German Government therefore aims to pick up the pace on Our task now is to set the right course for the Decade of the path to greater sustainability, both at home and in in- Action ahead. Our transformation into a sustainable ternational cooperation. Germany can succeed only if we tread this path together. The pressure to act has intensified world-wide in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. It has shown us unequivocal- ly that even if only one of the Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs, is in jeopardy – in this case Good Health – there may be fatal consequences for all other areas of life, and thus for all of the other SDGs. We can all see how the Dr. Angela Merkel pandemic is making it all the more difficult to fight poverty Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany and hunger. This difficult time has nonetheless brought us to the grow- ing realisation that global challenges can only be overcome with by global efforts. The European Commission’s pres- entation of its European Green Deal as a model for the fu- ture is thus a significant step, and one that we followed up during Germany’s presidency of the EU Council. Where cli- mate action is concerned, the EU has undertaken to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. 3 Sustainable Development Strategy for Germany Foreword ....................................................................................................................................................................... 3 Summary ....................................................................................................................................................................... 11 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................. 24 Chapter A. Decade of Action .................................................................................................................................. 27 I. Setting the right course now ............................................................................................................................... 27 II. Action is needed at all levels ............................................................................................................................... 30 1. Sustainability at the international level ............................................................................................... 30 a) High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) ...................................... 31 b) SDG Summit 2019 ...................................................................................................................................... 31 c) Global Sustainable Development Report ........................................................................................ 32 d) Foreign sustainability policy, sustainable trade policy, international cooperation ..................................................................................................................... 32 e) German Government cooperation with developing and newly industrialised countries ............................................................................................................. 33 2. Sustainability in the EU ................................................................................................................................ 37 3. Sustainability in Germany .......................................................................................................................... 42 a) Measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic ..................................................................... 42 b) Achieving long-term change ................................................................................................................ 47 aa) Areas of transformation ........................................................................................................................ 48 (1) (Human well-being and capabilities; social justice ............................................................ 48 (2) Energy transition and climate action ........................................................................................ 51 (3) Circular economy ............................................................................................................................... 54 (4) Sustainable building and the transformation of transportation ................................. 56 (5) Sustainable agricultural and food systems ............................................................................. 58 (6) Pollutant-free environment .......................................................................................................... 59 bb) Levers ............................................................................................................................................................ 66 Chapter B. German Sustainable Development Strategy ............................................................................ 68 I. Need for update ........................................................................................................................................................ 68 II. Development and status of the Strategy ....................................................................................................... 70 III. Institutions, structures and responsibilities ................................................................................................ 72 1. State Secretaries’ Committee on Sustainable Development ...................................................... 72 a) Priority areas since 2018 .......................................................................................................................... 73 b) Further meeting elements ..................................................................................................................... 83 2. Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development ............................................... 84 3. Council for Sustainable Development ................................................................................................. 86 4. Allocation of responsibilities within the German Government .............................................. 89 5. Ministry Coordinators .................................................................................................................................. 89 4 GERMAN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY 2021 IV. Sustainability governance .................................................................................................................................... 90 1. Principles of sustainable development ................................................................................................. 90 2. Sustainability indicators and targets/measures ............................................................................... 92 3. Monitoring ......................................................................................................................................................... 104 4. Instruments for strengthening policy coherence ............................................................................ 104 a) Sustainability impact assessment ...................................................................................................... 104 b) Finance and budgeting as a lever for sustainable development .......................................... 105 c) Continuing education .............................................................................................................................. 106 5. Communications ............................................................................................................................................. 106 V. Programme of Sustainability Measures ........................................................................................................ 109 VI. Federation-Länder cooperation ....................................................................................................................... 111 VII. Cooperation with local government .............................................................................................................. 115 VIII. Involvement of social stakeholders ................................................................................................................