The German Sustainable Development Strategy
The German Sustainable Development Strategy outlines the importance of sustainable development for the Federal Government's policies and defines concrete targets and measures over the entire range of political issues. It thus provides a benchmark for the required long-term perspective. All federal institutions are called upon to contribute to achieving the targets with activities in their own fields. The Sustainable Development Strategy contains currently 63 "key indicators". The indicators are mostly associated with quantified targets. At least one indicator-backed target is defined for each of the 17 SDGs. The Sustainable Development Strategy does not only cover climate and biodiversity protection, resource efficiency and mobility, for example. Issues such as the fight against poverty, education, health, equality, sound government finances, distributive justice and anti-corruption are also incorporated into the Strategy with political goals.
The Sustainable Development Strategy is based on a holistic, integrated approach: long-term, viable solutions can only be achieved if interdependencies between the three dimensions of sustainability are taken into account. The Strategy aims at economically efficient, socially balanced and environmentally sustainable development, whereby the planetary boundaries of our Earth together with the objective of a life in dignity for everyone form the ultimate constraints for political decisions. The Strategy bundles the contributions of the various policy areas to sustainability and works towards greater coherence and the resolution of conflicting goals in light of the large number of systemic interdependencies. It thus directs globally responsible, intergenerationally equitable and socially integrative policy. The Sustainable Development Strategy presents Germany's measures to implement the 17 SDGs at three levels. Alongside measures with effects in Germany, there are also measures by Germany with a global impact. In addition, there is also the support of other countries in the form of bilateral cooperation (measures with Germany). Germany thereby shows that it is committed to the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs and is taking on this challenge comprehensively as its own.
