Mandate given to the German Council

The aim of having a policy of sustainable development is to establish a valuable platform for the purposes of conserving the environment and of promoting quality of life, social coherence within society as well as an integrated form of economic development both in Germany and on an international scale. The objective behind doing so is to find a fair and even balance between the needs of the present-day generation and the perspectives of life of generations to come.

The German Council for Sustainable Development (RNE) was established by the German government in 2001. It advises the government on its policy for sustainable development and, by presenting proposals for targets and indicators, seeks to contribute towards the advancement of the strategy of sustainable development as well as to propose projects designed to realise the strategy.

A further task of the German Council for Sustainable Development is to foster social dialogue on the issue of sustainability. The objective here is to increase the level of awareness among all concerned and the population as to what sustainable development actually means by demonstrating the results of social action and discussing possible approaches.