At UN Forum on Sustainable Development in New York, German government reports about its first efforts to implement the SDGs
Today, the German government submitted Germany's first report on the implementation of the global Sustainable Development Goals. Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter, Parliamentary State Secretary in the German Environment Ministry, and Thomas Silberhorn, Parliamentary State Secretary in the German Development Ministry, presented the report to the United Nations High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in New York. Germany thus became one of the first countries to report on its efforts to implement the goals, which were adopted in 2015.
Schwarzelühr-Sutter said, "If all people in the world had the same lifestyle as we here in Germany, we would need three planets. This shows that business as usual is not an option. We have to change our lifestyles in such a way that they respect the ecological boundaries of our planet. The Sustainable Development Goals offer enormous opportunities with a view to protecting the global environment, safeguarding peace and creating healthier living conditions worldwide. This is about viable jobs, better training and education, compliance with social standards, and respect for human rights."
Thomas Silberhorn said, "The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development should not exist only on paper. It must be filled with life. The eradication of extreme poverty and hunger and the protection of our natural resource base require all societies to change their ways. A world in which all people are able to enjoy decent lives cannot be a world where some of us live our lives and run our economies at the expense of others. This means that things need to change – including in Germany. The goal of sustainable development is a global balance in economic, ecological and social terms. The Partnership for Sustainable Textiles launched by the BMZ is one practical example of working towards that goal. Under the Textiles Partnership, a variety of stakeholders – industry, non-governmental organisations and governments – have joined forces in order to bring about improvements along the entire textile supply chain, from the cotton field to the clothes hanger."
In order to achieve the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals, the German government is pursuing efforts both at the national and at the international level. National challenges include, for example, gender equality, biodiversity conservation, and the energy transition, which is also making a major contribution to the implementation of the Paris climate agreement. Germany is giving special attention to activities that do not only have an impact within Germany but also serve the global common good.
The German implementation report was compiled with input from German civil society representatives. That is why, in New York, the German government presented the report together with the Federation of German Industries, the German Trade Union Confederation, the German NGO Forum on Environment and Development, and the Association of German Development and Humanitarian Aid Non-Governmental Organisations (VENRO). In addition to Germany, 21 other countries were planning to report on their status of implementation, including France, Turkey, China, South Korea, Colombia, Mexico, Egypt, Morocco, and Uganda. This year's High-level Political Forum is entitled Ensuring that No One is Left Behind.