International Peer Review to focus on Germany’s Sustainable Development Policy

The Federal Government has officially requested the drawing up of a second international peer review of its sustainable development policy. In keeping with the 2012 progress report on the National Sustainable Development Strategy, the respective invitations have been issued to internationally recognized experts.

The first meeting of peers was held in Berlin in early October 2012. The group is being chaired by Björn Stigson, who performed the same function for the first review four years ago. A full week of consultations between peers in Berlin is scheduled for the end of February 2013. This will include meetings with stakeholders. The annual conference of the Council for Sustainable Development in May 2013 will serve to collect and closely examine the various perceptions and assessments of sustainable development policy in Germany.

The peers will determine to what extent Germany’s Parliament, Federal Government and stakeholders have taken action in response to the recommendations of the first peer review of 2009. The 2013 peer review will primarily focus on sustainable, “green” business practices and on issues of sustainability management, as well as on increasing the effectiveness of sustainable development strategies. The peer review will also cover developments in the spheres of demographic change, cultural diversity, and resource scarcity. In addition, the peers will address how to enhance competencies and capacities for sustainable development and will look at issues related to global interdependence.

The peer review group is composed of the following members:

• Professor Björn Stigson (Chairman), former Chairman of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, WBCSD
• Dr Suresh Babu, United States, Brookhaven National Lab of the U.S. Department of Energy
• Dr Jeroen Bordewijk, the Netherlands, President of the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) and former member of the board of Unilever
• Pekka Haavisto, Finland, Member of the Finnish Parliament, Special Representative of the European Union for Darfur and former Finnish Minister of the Environment
• Valli Moosa, South Africa, former Minister of Environmental Affairs and Minister of Constitutional Development; Chairman of WWF South Africa
• Jennifer Morgan, United States, Director of the Climate and Energy Program of the World Resources Institute
• Derek Osborn, United Kingdom, President of the British Stakeholder Forum and former member of the European Economic and Social Committee
• Professor Sun-Jin Yun, Republic of Korea, professor for environmental research at Seoul National University