Implementing the German National Program on Sustainable Consumption: the Competence Centre and the National Network
The National Programme on Sustainable Consumption is a first step towards implementing the 2030 Agenda. It is meant to support efforts to bring German consumption patterns and lifestyles into harmony with the planet's limits. In order to achieve this, the programme is designed to expand on instruments and approaches that have been successful to date, but also to initiate new projects. The programme aims to make sustainable consumption possible and easy for everyone and to move sustainable consumption from a niche role into the mainstream. The programme explicitly addresses not only consumers, but also all relevant stakeholders including the business and trade sectors, civil society, the media, the scientific community, local authorities, religious bodies, etc. It also addresses the public sector, which must lead the way as a role model.
Sustainable consumption means living within the Earth's carrying capacity and ensuring that today's consumption patterns do not jeopardize the ability of current and future generations to satisfy their needs. The German government's National Programme on Sustainable Consumption describes the relevant fields of action and details specific measures for each one, some of which need further attention. The programme does not represent the end of a process but a way for Germany to drive the necessary structural change towards sustainability in the economy and society. The National Programme on Sustainable Consumption is divided into five chapters. The first chapter identifies aims and areas where there is a need for action, along with measures the German government has already initiated to address sustainable consumption. It illustrates that sustainable consumption is a real possibility but that there are still obstacles to be eliminated. The second chapter explores the principle of sustaina- bility and develops key ideas for a sustainable con- sumption policy. The National Programme on Sustainable Consumption hinges on five key ideas: 1. Making sustainable consumption a feasible option for consumers 2. Taking sustainable consumption out of the niche into the mainstream 3. Ensuring all sections of the population participate in sustainable consumption 4. Looking at products and services from a lifecycle perspective 5. Shifting the focus from products to systems and from consumers to users The third chapter describes cross-cutting approaches designed to systematically strengthen and expand sustainable consumption with the help of specific proposals for action. The programme addresses the following cross-cutting approaches: A debate within society, Education, Consumer information, Environmental and social labels, Ecodesign, Sustainable public procurement, Research on sustainable consumption, Social innovations, and Monitoring sustainable consumption. In addition to these cross-cutting fields of action, six fields of need –including respective measures – that are particularly relevant to sustainable consumption are addressed in the programme's fourth chapter: Mobility, Food, Home, Workplace and Office, Clothing, Leisure and Tourism. The fifth chapter explains how institutional support for the programme works and how stakeholder involvement will continue to be guaranteed. To this end, the programme intends to create a kind of platform, designed both to expand instruments and approaches that have already proved successful and also to insti- gate new projects. The idea is that this will help to reflect adequately the diversity of approaches in the field of consumption and encourage as many actors as possible to participate – because a change in consumption patterns in our society towards greater sustainability can only be achieved with the participa- tion of all parts of society. The programme is therefore primarily the first step on the path towards sustainable consumption and a sustainable lifestyle.

