Marlehn Thieme re-elected as Chairperson of the German Council for Sustainable Development

Berlin, 22 November 2016 – Marlehn Thieme, a member of the Council of the Evangelical Church (EKD) in Germany who also chairs the Television Council that oversees Germany’s ZDF public television broadcasting station, will remain chairperson of the German Council for Sustainable Development (RNE). The Council Members re-elected Marlehn Thieme at the RNE’s inaugural meeting on 22 November. Marlehn Thieme joined the RNE in 2004 and has been its chairperson since 2012, having already been re-appointed to this position in 2013.
Olaf Tschimpke, President of the German Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU) was re-elected as deputy chairperson. Germany’s Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel appointed the 15 RNE members for a three-year period on 1 November 2016. For six of them, this is the first time.
Following her re-election, Marlehn Thieme said that, ‘Sustainability policy has never been as relevant as it is now. In the years ahead, we have to focus on the consistent and effective implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. On 1 December, Germany will take over the G20 Presidency. I expect the German Government to use the G20 process to implement the 2030 Agenda in this major group of countries and so generate the confidence this global process urgently requires. Global Sustainable Development Goals will only be successful if they are backed by society as a whole. For that reason, it is now more important than ever to engage experts, dedicated stakeholders and actors from all parts of society and to agree on jointly achievable steps and target outcomes for sustainability policy.’
The German Council for Sustainable Development consists of public figures from the business sector, church-based organisations, the environmental and science community and other areas of society. Its mission is to assist the German Government in implementing and further developing its National Sustainability Strategy.
The Council will discuss and adopt its agenda for the next three-year period at its regular meeting scheduled for January 2017.
The biographies and photos of all the RNE members appointed on 1 November are accessible online at:

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