Factsheets: International Sustainability Commitments for Local Governments | Umweltbundesamt

Since the 1992 Agenda 21 declaration by the United Nations (UN) in Rio de Janeiro, local authorities have been taking on tasks outside of their normal responsibilities within national constitutional frameworks. The mandate by the UN served as an especially important reference point in the field of sustainable development. Since then, there has been increasing demand for cooperation, networking and training opportunities across national borders, and a number of networks and alliances have emerged to enable local authorities to advocate their positions, organize exchanges and trainings, and to collaborate in a variety of ways. In the context of this project, a concise summary and an overview of the most relevant commitments and programs was developed. Building on these main achievements, the paper at hand derives recommendations for the federal authorities in Germany. The recommendations especially focus on the vertical integration of sustainability strategies at the international level (e.g. SDGs), the National Sustainable Development Strategy of Germany, as well as sustainability strategies at the local level.