The 17 global sustainability goals of the 2030 Agenda, which are also known as Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), are directed at everyone: at national governments worldwide but also at businesses, civil society and science and at regions, cities and municipalities. Germany has committed to an ambitious implementation of the 2030 Agenda from the very beginning.

The German National Sustainability Strategy (DNS) and how it evolved

The DNS sets out Germany’s measures for implementing the 17 SDGs. On 29 January 2025, the Federal Cabinet adopted a comprehensively updated version of the Strategy. The Committee of State Secretaries for Sustainable Development has prepared the DNS in collaboration with all ministries. The public was involved through an extensive dialogue process, which lasted several months. In particular, the updated DNS sheds light on six decisive transformation areas on which the Federal Government’s sustainability policy focusses:

• Human well-being and abilities, social justice
• Energy transition and climate change mitigation
• Circular economy
• Sustainable construction and transport transition
• Sustainable agri-food systems
• Pollutant-free environment.

Transformation area 5, entitled “sustainable agri-food systems”, is of major importance to us as the BMEL. In this area, we focus on transformative topics such as promoting organic farming, enhancing regional value chains, ending hunger and all forms of malnutrition, promoting climate change mitigation and adaptation and improving social participation.

Evolution of the German National Sustainability Strategy

In January 2017, the Federal Cabinet adopted the “German Sustainable Development Strategy – 2016 Relaunch”, thereby amending the National Sustainability Strategy entitled “Prospects for Germany”, which had been adopted in 2002. In 2018, the Strategy was updated, including the introduction of overarching principles of sustainability. In 2021, the transformation areas and levers were established.

The 2030 Agenda: Sustainable Development Goals that are of major importance to the BMEL

The following SDGs play a crucial role for the policies of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture:

• SDG 2 – end hunger, improve nutrition, promote sustainable agriculture
• SDG 6 – sustainable management of water,
• SDG 11 – make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
• SDG 12 – sustainable consumption and production patterns,
• SDG 13 – climate action,
• SDG 14 – sustainable use of the oceans and
• SDG 15 – sustainable forest management, environmental protection and nature conservation.

High Level Political Forum and the United Nations’ Sustainability Summit

The global community holds an annual meeting in the United Nations’ headquarters in New York in order to discuss progress and challenges in implementing the 17 SDGs of the 2030 Agenda. There is a particular focus on a different 5 SDGs each year, and international representatives from politics, science, civil society and business discuss potentials and inhibiting factors on the path to a sustainable world.

In September 2021, halfway to 2030, heads of state and government of the UN member states met in New York in order to conduct a mid-term review regarding the implementation of the SDGs. It was found that not enough SDGs were on course and that, in some cases, they had even suffered setbacks. Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz pointed out the German commitment for sustainable development and underpinned Germany’s efforts in accelerating the implementation of the SDGs.