Germany

The German government appointed several actors and institutions to support the implementation of the Agenda 2030. This process is led by the German chancellery. The German SDG implementation plan is primarily building on ongoing processes. Germany has published sustainable development strategies since 2002 and decided to reorganise the review of 2016 according to the SDGs. This procedure resulted in a reviewing process that is incoherent with the international framework. Overall the restructuring in Germany towards sustainable development can be seen as rather weak so far.

Important stakeholders are broadly involved in developing the German Sustainable Development strategy. Several dialogue formats on the Agenda 2030 are in place between ministries and CSOs such as the “Forum Nachhaltigkeit” organized by the German Chancellery and regular information exchange formats between the ministries of environment and development and civil society. Often German NGOs are part of the delegation at High Level Political Forum and CSOs are invited to comment on the Voluntary National Review. The Agenda 2030 is available online in German.

There are several organisations lobbying on the SDGs and a loose coalition is working on an annual shadow report. The main coordination platform is the ‘Network 2030’ including the voices from a broad spectrum of umbrella organisations in Germany (unions, social, cultural, environmental and development organisations) and is most involved in regular dialogues with governmental actors. Individual organisations are also lobbying for the implementation of the SDG but focus more on specific topics or events.

Aiming to implement the Agenda 2030, CSOs plan individual and joint advocacy work, awareness raising and capacity building events through new partnerships between CSOs, municipalities, science and private sector. While the majority of the private sector is still focusing on fulfilling minimum legal requirements, there are new pioneers and collaborations to achieve sustainable innovations. The independent Council for Sustainable Development also consists of members from businesses and trade unions and thus individuals from the private sector also engage with the political alignment towards more sustainable development.