National Sustainability Strategy
In the autumn of 2010, the Federal Government began the consultation process for the next Progress Report. This time all members of the general public were able to contribute to the discussion and the report online at www.dialog-nachhaltigkeit.de. The first round of dialogue in the summer of 2010 comprised a debate on the key issues in the report, the second round of discussion in the summer of 2011 revolved around the Draft for the 2012 Progress Report. On 15 February 2012, the Federal Cabinet approved the finalised report. For more information, see Strategy 2012.
In April 2002, the German Government adopted the national Sustainability Strategy. The results of consultations with social groups and the proposals of the Council for Sustainable Development were incorporated into this document. For more detailed information, see section Strategy 2002.
In the following years, the German Sustainability Strategy was repeatedly refined with the input of so-called Progress Reports. In November 2004, the Federal Government presented the first revision of its Sustainability Strategy with the 2004 Progress Report. Aside from the results of a public consultation process, the report included the Council’s verdicts on sustainable development, which had previously been published under the title of “Nachhaltigkeit im Visier” (Targeting Sustainability). Additionally, the results of a dialogue project organised by the Council on minimising land consumption were included in the report. For more information, see Strategy 2004.
In its "Wegweiser Nachhaltigkeit 2005", the Federal Government described its current sustainability policy at the national and international level. The German Council for Sustainable Development contributed two independent chapters to the document. Read more about it in Landmark Sustainability 2005.
In 2008, the Federal Cabinet presented the next Progress Report. Prior to this, engaged citizens, associations and institutions were able to participate in a consultation process and assist in appraising the current state of affairs and in further developing the Sustainability Strategy. For more detailed information, see Strategy 2008.
Since 2006, by order of the Federal Government, the Federal Statistical Office tracks the course of sustainable development in Germany. The agency presented its first so-called Indicator Report in 2006, followed by further reports in 2008, 2010 and 2012.