Hendricks: The key challenge in implementing the new sustainability goals is to change lifestyles
With the adoption of the sustainable development goals (SDG) by 150 heads of state and government and high-level representatives of all other UN member states at the Sustainable Development Summit on 25 September 2015 the international community has taken a big step towards more just and environmentally sound development worldwide. Industrialised countries, emerging economies and developing countries are now called upon to ensure the resolute implementation of the goals set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
This will only succeed if more sustainable lifestyles and economic practices that respect the planetary boundaries are established worldwide. At the opening of the summit Pope Francis emphasised the importance of environmental protection in solving global challenges. "Any harm done to the environment is harm done to humanity", the Pope said, denouncing today's widespread "culture of waste".
Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks and Parliamentary State Secretary Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter accompanied Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel to the UN Sustainable Development Summit that was held in New York from 25 to 27 September. In an official dialogue during the summit, Federal Environment Minister Hendricks urged all countries to send a clear signal for a sustainable, low-carbon and climate-resilient development path at the Paris climate conference. She said a long-term decarbonisation target would create economic momentum and generate investments for the transformation process.
At a side event organised by the German Environment Ministry (BMUB), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UN Development Programme (UNPD) Minister Hendricks welcomed the focus of the agenda on poverty eradication and respect for the planetary boundaries and highlighted the need for the industrialised countries, including Germany, to adapt their lifestyles accordingly.
Speaking at several events during the summit, Parliamentary State Secretary Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter advocated the resolute implementation of the 2030 Agenda and biodiversity conservation and stressed the importance of renewable energy expansion.
With the adoption of the sustainable development goals, the United Nations agreed for the first time on a globally applicable action plan with specific goals for the transformation towards considerably more sustainable development. This plan will shape action in many key policy fields over the next 15 years. The summit brought together two formerly separate UN negotiation processes, the Rio process established at the Earth Summit in 1992 and the Millennium Development Goal process of 2000/2001. They are now combined under the heading of transformation for sustainable development.