In a nutshell: The German Council for Sustainable Development

The German Council for Sustainable Development (RNE) is an advisory body with a mandate from the German Federal Government. The board of RNE comprises 15 public figures. The latest RNE board members were appointed for a period of three years by Chancellor Angela Merkel in June 2010. RNE was first established in April 2001 by then Chancellor Gerhard Schröder.
 

Assigned tasks

The Federal Government has entrusted RNE with the following tasks:

• Advising the Federal Government on all items of the National Sustainability Strategy
• Pinpointing specific areas of action and projects
• Bolstering the public discussion on sustainability
   

Chair

Until January 2012 Hans-Peter Repnik has been RNE Chairman. He was a directly-elected member of the German Bundestag for seven legislative periods, and was Parliamentary Secretary of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the German Bundestag, Parliamentary State Secretary, as well as CEO of Duales System Deutschland GmbH. Marlehn Thieme, member of the Council of Lutheran Churches in Germany (EKD), is the Deputy Chairwoman of RNE. She also holds a senior position at Deutsche Bank AG.
 

Mission

Sustainable development entails treating environmental aspects on an equal footing with social and economic aspects. Making this abundantly clear is one of RNE’s missions. Future-oriented management means: we have to leave our children and grandchildren an intact ecological, social and economic system. One cannot be achieved without the other.

RNE seeks to make sustainable development a fundamental goal and area of action of politics. It works towards citizens living a sustainable lifestyle. It urges businesses and institutions to make their economic activities sustainable, to face the challenges posed by sustainability and to use the opportunities presented by sustainability. RNE seeks to broaden the discussion within society on sustainability and to make the outcomes of the discussion more effective and more binding.
 

Outcomes

The German Council for Sustainable Development shapes the continuing development of Germany’s sustainability strategy in critical dialogue with the Federal Government and leading political, economic and social players. It has publicly debated the “German Sustainability Code” and has tested and refined it during a participation phase together with members of the business community and the capital market. Spanning twenty criteria, the new transparency standard outlines the core requirements of the green economy and makes them comparable by offering a selection of quantified indicators. RNE’s latest policy recommendations call for financial market stabilisation and the establishment of a closed-loop recycling management system for strategic raw materials. In March 2011, RNE tested its “Dialoge_Zukunft_Vision2050”, a new format for social dialogue on long-term policy. RNE is currently seeing through a sustainable municipal development initiative launched by around 20 lord mayors. In 2009, RNE organised the Peer Review, a critical analysis of German sustainability policy conducted by international experts. Both the German Bundestag and the Federal Government have used the “Sustainability: Made in Germany” (PDF, 3513 KB) review to advance sustainable development policies.

The German Council for Sustainable Development bestows the Social Entrepreneur Award in the frame of the German Sustainability Award, holds the Carl-von-Carlowitz Lectures and awards the “Werkstatt N” quality label for a year at a time for outstanding sustainability initiatives.
 

Instruments

• Political dialogue
  RNE presents its policy recommendations and statements to Ronald Pofalla as Chair of the Undersecretary of State Committee for Sustainable Development, Federal Minister and Head of the Federal Chancellery. The National Sustainability Strategy – along with its objectives, indicators and institutions – and also Germany’s global responsibility are key issues. RNE also works closely with the heads of federal government departments, with parliament and with sustainability initiatives of the business community and from civil society. In the past, RNE has voiced its opinions on a broad range of issues including public procurement and consumer matters, energy and climate policy, research policy, land consumption and corporate social responsibility.
   
• Political publicity
  RNE has established an annual public conference in the shape of a political summit on sustainable development. Contributions by leading politicians, business representatives and experts on sustainable development from civil society are interlaced with formats and means of involving the general public. Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel and her predecessor, Gerhard Schröder, have regularly presented the Federal Government’s sustainability policy at RNE’s annual conferences. RNE is an active member of the Network of European Environment and Sustainable Development Advisory Councils (EEAC) as well as numerous other networks.
   
• Publications
  RNE publishes statements, recommendations, studies and its shopping guide “The Sustainable Shopping Basket”. These are available as printed and digital brochures. RNE’s views are also expressed in regularly issued press releases. All publications are free of charge and available at www.nachhaltigkeitsrat.de. Here, interested parties can also subscribe to the biweekly RNE newsletter “News Nachhaltigkeit” (in German).
   
  Current publications and speeches
  “The German Sustainability Code”, October 2011
   
  “The German Sustainability Code. Recommendations made to the Federal Government by the German Council for Sustainable Development”, October 2011
   
  “Nachhaltig wirtschaften – welche Verantwortung hat der Finanzmarkt?” Keynote speech by Marlehn Thieme during discussions on corporate social responsibility held at the Ständehaus, 4 October 2011 (in German)
   
  „Gold-Standard Ökolandbau“: Für eine nachhaltige Gestaltung der Agrarwende. Recommendations made to the Federal Government by the German Council for Sustainable Development, July 2011
   
  Dialog der Verantwortung. RNE statement on furthering the National Sustainability Strategy 2012, June 2011
   
  Wie Deutschland zum Rohstoffland wird. Recommendations made to the Federal Government by the German Council for Sustainable Development, June 2011
   
  Fortschritt neu denken. Keynote speech held by RNE Chairman Hans-Peter Repnik at an event commemorating 25 years of the BMU, 6 June 2011
   
  Stabilising the Financial Markets. Recommendation on International and National Fiscal Sustainability Measures, March 2010
   

Council Members

Marlehn Thieme
Deputy Chairwoman of the Council, Member of the Council of Lutheran Churches in Germany (EKD), Director at Deutsche Bank AG

Dr. Heinrich Graf von Bassewitz
Farmer, Federal Commissioner for Organic Farming of the German Farmers’ Association (DBV) and Member of the DBV Presidium

Dr. Ursula Eid
Former Parliamentary State Secretary for International Development Cooperation

Dr. Joachim Faber
Member of the Board, Allianz SE Asset Management

Dr. Hans Geisler
Former Saxony State Minister for Social Affairs, Health and Youth

Alois Glück
President of the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK)

Walter Hirche
Former Parliamentary State Secretary for the Environment, former minister in Lower Saxony and Brandenburg; President of the German Commission for UNESCO

Prof. Dr. Lucia A. Reisch
Professor at Copenhagen Business School and Zeppelin University Friedrichshafen

Max Schön
Managing Partner of Max Schön Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH & Co. Service KG, President of the German Association for the Club of Rome, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the DESERTEC Foundation

Dr. Eric Schweitzer
Member of the Board of ALBA AG, President of the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (Berlin branch)

Olaf Tschimpke
President of “NABU” (Nature and biodiversity conservation)

Michael Vassiliadis
Chairman of the Industrial Union of Mining, Chemicals and Energy (IG BCE)

Hubert Weinzierl
President of the German League for Nature and Environment (DNR), Chairman of the Board of Advisors of Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU)

Prof. Dr. Angelika Zahrnt
Honorary Chairwoman of "Friends of the Earth Germany" (Bund für Umwelt- und Naturschutz Deutschland, BUND)

Jochen Zeitz, coopted member
Chairman of the Administrative Board of PUMA SE, CEO of the Sport and Lifestyle Group and Chief Sustainability Officer of PPR
 

Contact:

Rat für Nachhaltige Entwicklung, Office c/o GIZ
Dr. Günther Bachmann
Potsdamer Platz 10
D-10785 Berlin
Telefon +49(0)30 408190 121
Telefax +49(0)30 408190 125
E-Mail: guenther.bachmann@nachhaltigkeitsrat.de
Internet: www.nachhaltigkeitsrat.de

Media enquiries:

Rat für Nachhaltige Entwicklung, Office c/o GIZ
Katja Tamchina
Potsdamer Platz 10
D-10785 Berlin
Telefon +49 (0)30 408190 233
Telefax +49 (0)30 408190 22233
E-Mail: katja.tamchina@nachhaltigkeitsrat.de
Internet: www.nachhaltigkeitsrat.de

 
Last updated: January 2012