Dr Werner Schnappauf
Sustainable development requires greatest possible recognition of commonalities as well as acceptance of differences.

Chairman of the German Council for Sustainable Development; Former Minister of State, Free State of Bavaria Former CEO and Member of the Presidium of the Federation of the German Industries (BDI e.V.)

Dr Imme Scholz
Sustainable development requires today more than ever an agenda that explicitly interlinks global and national responsibility and provides a significant boost to global cooperation.

Deputy Chairwoman of the German Council for Sustainable Development; Board of Heinrich Böll Foundation e.V.; Honorary professor at the University of Applied Sciences Bonn-Rhein-Sieg

Prof. Dr Alexander Bassen
Measuring sustainability and identifying interrelationships are major success factors for anchoring this topic in companies and on capital markets.

Professor of economics, in particular capital markets and management, at the University of Hamburg

Ulla Burchardt
Anyone who wishes to live well and securely tomorrow must today start to do things differently – this applies equally to parliaments and administrations as well as to businesses and private households. For this to happen, we need regulations that make sustainability economically and culturally attractive and which drive innovation in the right direction.

Former member of the German Bundestag; freelance strategy consultant

Saori Dubourg
We will only succeed in transforming our society into a value-oriented and resource-efficient one, if we can manage to consider social and environmental responsibility and economic success together at executive level.

Member of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE

Prof. Dr Cornelia Füllkrug-Weitzel
Nothing can be sustainable which is achieved at the cost of people in other countries – no matter how far away their lives may be from ours. It is pleasing to see the Federal Government formally define the planetary boundaries and a life of dignity for all free from poverty and hunger in the sense of the 2030 Agenda as the “outermost limits” of its political decision-making. Now this must be followed by action.

Former President of Brot für die Welt

Jörg-Andreas Krüger
In light of the many pressing ecological and social crises, sustainable solutions are needed more urgently than ever. The quality of everyone’s future depends on the decisions we make today. More sustainability requires more transparency and more courage to change from all of us. We need positive visions of the future and new alliances that will negotiate this path to the future together. I look forward to helping to drive and shape these changes through my work in the RNE.

President of the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU)

Markus Lewe
People’s expectations of how public space should be designed and of quality of life are visibly changing. Smart future-proof solutions are needed. In my home city of Münster, we have con-densed the topic of sustainability into the phrase ‘Making Münster fit for our grandchildren’. This means that we are doing everything in our power to ensure that future generations have living condi-tions as good as those we have today, both here in Münster and globally.

Mayor of the city of Münster, President of the Association of German Cities

Lisi Maier
We must shape the way in which we live together on our planet in a way that is socially and ecologically just. We need strong orientation towards the communal good. In the interests of young people, but also because it is necessary for all generations.

Director of the Federal Foundation for Gender Equality

Hubertus Paetow
Humankind’s impact on its environment is becoming both deeper and broader. We must thus observe the complex system of global sustainability even more closely to assess and balance out this impact.

President of the German Agricultural Society (DLG)

Gunda Röstel
If we cannot integrate sustainability in the way we live and produce the thing which gives the beat, we will botch the entire concert.

Managing Director of Stadtentwässerung Dresden AG

Katherina Reiche
Going forward, the principle of the three dimensions of sustainability – environmental, economic and social – shall be the guide for shaping growth, social cohesion and environmental and climate progress. The foundation for this is provided by high-performance, smart infrastructures that are, in cities and rural areas, essential drivers of equality when it comes to living conditions. They must be supported and promoted through intelligent and sustainable policy.

Chairwoman of the Management Board of Westenergie AG

Prof. Dr Hubert Weiger
Enabling a good life for people everywhere over the long term requires that we solve the climate crisis and halt the progressive loss of biodiversity – and come to terms with the planet’s boundaries.

Honorary Chairman of Friends of the Earth Germany (Bund für Umwelt- und Naturschutz Deutschland, BUND)

Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul
The UN Sustainable Development Goals present the vision of a fundamental socio-ecological transformation. They are not a specialist task for development or environmental policy, but are binding for all cabinet members.

Former German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development; Vice-Chair of Friends of the Global Fund Europe Board for Germany

About the Council

The German Council for Sustainable Development (RNE) advises the Federal Government on issues of sustainability policy. It acts in this capacity as an independent entity, and since 2001 its members have been appointed every three years by the Federal Government. The Council consists of 15 public figures, comprising individuals from civil society, the business sector, the scientific community and the political arena. It has been chaired since 2020 by Dr Werner Schnappauf and his deputy, Prof. Dr Imme Scholz. The Council also carries out its own projects aimed at advancing the topic of sustainability in practical terms. In addition, it helps shape topically focused momentum within policy and societal dialogue. The Council is supported in its activities by an administrative office based in Berlin.

Brief profile

The German Council for Sustainable Development (RNE) was first called into being by the German federal government in April 2001. The Council consists of 15 public figures. From 2020 it has been chaired by Werner Schnappauf, lawyer and consultant, former State Minister and former CEO of the Federation of the German Industries, with Imme Scholz, Acting Director of the German Development Institute (DIE) and honorary professor at the University of Applied Sciences Bonn-Rhein-Sieg, as Deputy Chairwoman.

The Council is tasked with:

  • generating contributions to the German Sustainable Development Strategy
  • specifying concrete areas of action and projects
  • making sustainability a public issue of vital importance

In selecting the topics it deals with and the forms of action it employs, the Council operates independently. Results of its ongoing work include the Sustainability Code; recommendations regarding the German Sustainable Development Strategy, the global Sustainable Development Goals, climate policy, raw materials policy, fiscal sustainability and organic farming; the founding of the Hub for Sustainable Finance; the Germany-wide networking of players from all areas of society through the RENN (Regional Hubs for Sustainability Strategies); the subsidising of national sustainability projects via the Sustainability Culture Fund; strategy dialogue with city mayors on sustainable urban development; as well as articles on the subject of sustainable business, among other things. The Council is supported in its activities by an administrative office.

Further details of its work and functioning can be found in its Rules of Procedure.

Work programme

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Work programme of the German Council for Sustainable Development, 2017 to 2019

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Work Programme of the Council for Sustainable Development until June 2016 and Working Steps in 2014

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Work programme of the German Council for Sustainable Development, 2010 to 2013

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Rules of Procedure

Here you will find the rules of procedure of the German Council for Sustainable Development (RNE) in the version of 17 January 2020.

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RNE Rules of procedure 2020

Rules of procedure of the German Council for Sustainable Development as of 17 January 2020

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External Links