Kevin BorchersHead of Department
Service Agency Municipalities in One World, Engagement Global
Germany
kevin.borchers@engagement-global.de
In Germany, the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda are anchored at a national level within the German Sustainability Strategy. The strategy is based on a multi-actor approach which also includes all governmental levels. The Federal Government's aim is for municipalities to increasingly implement the 2030 Agenda from the perspective of global responsibility and to strategically anchor it in local administrative activities.
On behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Service Agency Municipalities in One World (Service Agency for short) empowers and advises municipalities, cities and districts on their work supporting global sustainability both in Germany and in the Global South. As part of this advisory service, the Service Agency takes into account the individual characteristics of the municipalities. It should be emphasised that there is no one way for a municipality to align its actions with global responsibility. What is clear, however, is that city leadership support is essential in establishing structures to ensure that a municipality’s actions are aligned with global sustainability over the long term. How this can work is briefly described below.
In order to make a sustainable global commitment, it is important to build awareness of the 2030 Agenda within your own administration and population. By signing the model resolution ‘2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: Shaping Sustainability at Municipal Level’ of the Association of German Cities and the German Section of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions, German municipalities can commit to sustainable development locally and globally and signal they are taking appropriate measures within their means.
The SDGs, and therefore also development policy commitment in the areas of global responsibility of a municipality, are anchored locally within the framework of municipal sustainability management by means of developing municipal sustainability strategies, action programmes and mission statements. Municipal sustainability strategies provide information on goals and measures, which also reveal, for example, where sustainable administrative action is still lacking. A self-critical analysis of the current situation helps to identify potential for improvement. The sustainability strategies are developed in a cooperative planning process with politicians, administrators and civil society. Implementing a sustainability strategy does not imply any additional work if the processes are skilfully integrated. Sustainability management fundamentally affects the entire municipal administration.
A council resolution is required for drawing up a sustainability strategy. The advantage, once this hurdle has been overcome, is that the strategy then forms part of municipal action in the long term.
Explicit topics, whose measures have a global impact, can be anchored within a sustainability strategy. Fair trade and fair procurement, for example, have an impact both internationally and in the local community. Municipalities can support the objectives of fair trade by purchasing fairly traded products and avoiding goods manufactured using exploitative child labour or in violation of minimum social standards. As public purchasers, municipalities possess huge economic potential. They also play a key role in providing an example of best practice.
A further approach is international cooperation on 2030 Agenda topics within the framework of municipal partnerships. Today, municipal partnerships embrace far more than just cultural exchange. They stand for equal dialogue, knowledge transfer and a change of perspective. By working together on the 2030 Agenda, many municipal partners are giving their long-standing relationships a new, future-oriented foundation. Others are establishing new partnerships and seeking to contribute and expand their municipal expertise internationally. The partner municipalities are jointly implementing projects for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and in this way are making a specific contribution to global sustainability.
Finally, it is important that municipalities and municipal umbrella organisations articulate their development and sustainability policy positions in international forums and use their expertise to contribute to international exchange. This applies, for example, to participation in the High-level Political Forum of the United Nations or the World Urban Forum of UN-Habitat.
In order to successfully implement the 2030 Agenda, full use must be made of the creative scope available to local authorities and their scope of action, and ways must be found to mobilise as many local authorities as possible in order to leverage their potential in terms of development policy. As briefly explained here, well-established structures already exist in Germany for doing this. At the same time, much still needs to be done to realise the full potential of all municipalities.