“Sustainability State” in the Making? Institutionalization of Sustainability in German Federal Policy Making

Harald Heinrichs,Norman Laws

doi:10.3390/su6052623

Abstract

More than two decades after the Rio-conference on environment and development in 1992, sustainable development remains a big challenge. Politics and administration, especially in democratic societies, have a specific responsibility in coordinating sustainable development. In order to fulfill this role, the regulative idea of sustainability needs to be integrated into decision-making in politics and administration at all levels, from local to global. Taking this into account, we have analyzed the institutionalization of sustainability as a crosscutting and long-term challenge at the federal level in Germany. Based on a theoretical-conceptual framework deriving from democracy, bureaucracy and political steering/governance theory, we have employed qualitative methods to understand, in depth, how sustainability is integrated into political-administrative practice. In the present paper, we present key results and show that sustainability is not a routine practice at the federal level in Germany. We will conclude by giving an outlook on the structural and procedural options and argue for the need to develop a “sustainability state”.

Highlights

IntroductionConference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro (“Rio+20”) indicate, among other things, that global greenhouse gas emissions are still increasing, biodiversity loss is accelerating, social inequality is growing and economic instability is threatening societal cohesion and political stability (e.g., [1,2,3])
The development towards a sustainable society remains an ongoing challenge
The first question focuses on the institutionalization of sustainability itself: How is sustainability positioned in different institutions, and how exactly do they deal with the issue? The second point is concerned with steering and governing the process of Sustainable Development (SD) by political actors and administration: How and through what measures do political actors try to advance SD in government and legislation? The third focus is directed at the political process: How is sustainability understood, and is sustainability prioritized? The basic objective of all analyses is to see to what extent the integrative understanding of sustainability, especially the correlation and the interplay of the different dimensions, is applied in policy-making at the federal level in Germany

Summary

Introduction

Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro (“Rio+20”) indicate, among other things, that global greenhouse gas emissions are still increasing, biodiversity loss is accelerating, social inequality is growing and economic instability is threatening societal cohesion and political stability (e.g., [1,2,3]). Putting this stock-taking effort into a long-term perspective on ecological, economic and social developments (by analyzing key indicators, such as population growth, gross domestic product, declining fish stocks, nitrogen input, individual motorized mobility or even the proliferation of McDonald’s restaurants as a proxy for mass consumption), one can observe exponential growth rates from the beginning of the industrial revolution in the 18th century till the present [4]. The significant developments in environmental (protection) policies, the institutionalization of environmental bureaucracy, the diffusion of environmental management in the private sector, the increased environmental awareness of citizens, an active civil society represented by (environmental)

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion