Sustainable Development Strategies of the Länder

Baden-Württemberg's Sustainable Development Strategy was launched in 2007 and revised in 2011. The Indicator Report entitled "Statusindikatoren einer nachhaltigen Entwicklung in Baden-Württemberg" (Status indicators of sustainable development in Baden-Württemberg) has been published since 2014. The fourth (2022) edition of the report was for the first time prepared only in interactive online format. It was issued by the Sustainable Development Strategy Office of the Ministry for the Environment, Climate Protection and the Energy Sector of Baden-Württemberg. 52 status indicators give on overview of sustainable development by providing data, background information and evaluations. 6 indicators offers insights into the personal attitudes and feelings of the people in Baden-Württemberg. To improve the comparability of indicators at federal and Land levels, this set of indicators was harmonised as far as possible with the nationwide set employed in the German Sustainability Strategy and the indicators used by the Working Party for Sustainable Development of the statistical offices of the Länder. The Land Statistical Office Baden-Württemberg was involved in compiling the Indicator Reports. The responsibility lies with the State Institute for the Environment of Baden-Württemberg.

The current version of the Bavarian Sustainable Development Strategy was adopted by the Bavarian Council of Ministers in March 2022. It is the result of intensive collaboration between all Land ministries and the State Chancellery. In its Sustainable Development Strategy, the Land government specifies the goals it sets itself and describes the measures it is taking to achieve them. With the Indicator Report "Sustainable Development in Bavaria", the Bavarian State Statistical Office takes over the statistical reporting on the progress made by the Free State of Bavaria in this area. The second edition of the report was published in December 2023 with an update of all indicators. The Bavarian State Office for the Environment also publishes environmental indicators for Bavaria.

Assessing sustainable development in Berlin is based on a set of indicators consisting of 40 "core indicators", each of which is assigned to one of the 17 global Sustainable Development Goals. The Core Indicator Report on sustainable development in Berlin was last updated in 2021 by the Senate Department for the Environment, Mobility, Consumer and Climate Protection in cooperation with the Statistical Office of Berlin-Brandenburg. A sustainability strategy for all of Berlin is currently being developed on which the leaflet "Die 17 Nachhaltigkeitsziele in Berlin" (The 17 Sustainable Development Goals in Berlin) is based.

In 2010 the Land govenment of Brandenburg decided to develop a strategy for the sustainable development of Brandenburg. As a result of various phases of dialogue, Brandenburg's Sustainable Development Strategy was adopted in April 2014 and updated in 2019. A first report including 49 sustainable development indicators for Brandenburg was submitted in July 2017. Taking stock of potential sustainable development indicators, it is intended as a basis for discussing ways of implementing and updating the Sustainable Development Stategy of Brandenburg. The report was prepared by the Statistical Office of Berlin-Brandenburg on behalf of the Ministry for Rural Development, the Environment and Agriculture of the Land of Brandenburg.

Every two years since 2021, Bemen has prepared a report on how the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals is progressing. The report and the goals that will be derived from it replace the strategy for sustainable development. The State Chancellery of Bremen is responsible for the coordination. The objectives of the 2030 Agenda and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals are monitored decentrally in the individual ministries of Bremen. The Sustainable Development Goals report of Bremen covers indicators relating to the all 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations and their targets.

The government of Hamburg adopted a document on the "Umsetzung der Nachhaltigkeitsziele der Vereinten Nationen in Hamburg" (Implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in Hamburg) in July 2017. In addition to identifying the aspects of the government's policy which are already in line with the goals of the 2030 Agenda, the document points out the topics which have to be worked on in the next few years. Plans have been made to develop a two-yearly reporting system together with the Statistical Office of North of Germany. The responsibility lies with the Ministry for the Environment, Climate, Energy and Agricultural Industry.

In 2008 the Land government of Hessen launched the "Nachhaltigkeitsstrategie Hessen" (Sustainable Development Strategy for Hessen). Its goals and indicators were developed in a participative process. The indicators were revised fundamentally with a view to the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted in 2015 and new target values were defined for 2030 as part of a refinement process in the years 2017 and 2018. The goals and indicators were assigned to the fields of "economy", "ecology" and "social affairs" in the biennial Progress Report published between 2010 and 2016; the Progress Reports issued in 2020 and 2022 with 13 target indicators and 42 reporting indicators are structured according to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda.
A supplementary edition of the progress report 2022 in 2023 focussed on the 17 new indicators. An integrated presentation of the 17 new and 68 old indicators is planned for the 2024 progress report.

To date there has been no Sustainable Development Strategy for Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. As set out in the 2016-2021 coalition agreement, a strategy for the sustainable development of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is to be developed in line with the National Sustainable Development Strategy.

In May 2017 the Land government adopted Niedersachsen's new indicator-based Sustainable Development Strategy. In September 2020, the first Progress Report on the "Niedersächsische Nachhaltigkeitsstrategie" (Sustainable Development Strategy of Niedersachsen) commissioned by the Land government was prepared by the Land Statistical Office of Niedersachsen. It focuses on adjusting and updating the sustainable development indicators and, in particular, on an even stronger and more systematic integration of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations into Niedersachsen's indicator set. The structure of the Progress Report follows the Sustainable Development Strategy and the selection of indicators is based on the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals in terms of content.

The Land government adopted the first Sustainable Development Strategy for Nordrhein-Westfalen in 2016, which was updated in 2020. On behalf of the Land government of Nordrhein-Westfalen, the statistics sector of IT.NRW (Central statistical and IT service provider of Nordrhein-Westfalen) prepared the first Sustainable Development Report in 2016 and updated it in 2020. It comprises nearly 70 indicators. Current data regarding the sustainable development indicators are provided online on an Internet portal.

A Sustainable Development Strategy for Rheinland-Pfalz has been in place since 2001. In the beginning, the strategy was revised every two years. A first indicator-based report was published in 2005. Since 2009, the Sustainable Development Strategy has been revised every four years. However, the data or Indicator Report (latest report with 27 indicators 2023) is still published every other year. The Land Statistical Office of Rheinland-Pfalz has been responsible for preparing the Indicator Report since 2011.

The Sustainable Development Strategy for the Saarland entitled "Gemeinsam Verantwortung tragen für heute und morgen" (Sharing responsibility for today and tomorrow) was adopted in December 2016 after a two-year preparation phase based on a dialogue within society at eye level. With its six areas of action and 39 indicators, the Sustainable development Strategy focuses on central sustainabillity topics which are relevant for the Saarland from its perspective as a federal state but also in the global context. The Saarland was one of the first Länder to show in its strategy which of the global sustainability goals adopted under the 2030 Agenda are particularly relevant for the Land and what aspects require more attention.

From 2020 to 2022, the Sustainable Development Strategy was updated under the aegis of the Ministry for the Environment, Climate, Mobility, Agriculture and Consumer Protection. The updating process was open for participation and focused on the ideas and project approaches for implementing the Sustainable Development Strategy. Under the motto "Wir gestalten gemeinsam. Saarland nachhaltig" (Jointly shaping a sustainable Saarland), all interested an committed citizens and stakeholders in society were invited to network and get into dialogue and thus play an active part in the updating process. In this context, a team of sustainability experts selected ten flagship projects for a more sustainable Saarland from 80 proposals submitted and the process of successful implementation was started jointly. The continuous development of sustainability is both the basis and the mission of Saarland's Sustainability Policy - to be pursued together with citizens.

The Sustainable Development Strategy describes major topics, central goals and challenges regarding the sustainable development of Sachsen. When the Sustainable Development Strategy was prepared in 2018, Sachsen's areas of action were linked with the Sustainable Developments Goals of the 2030 Agenda. These areas of action are addressed in the Sustainable Development Report and sets of indicators, among others, are used for measurement purposes. The 2022 Sustainable Development Report for Sachsen has been available since the end of 2022. Such reports are prepared once per legislative term.

Under the aegis of the Ministry for Science, energy, Climate Protection and the Environment and in cooperation with other ministries involved, a new version of the Sustainable Development Strategy was prepared for Sachsen-Anhalt in 2022. The strategy is based on the 17 Sustainable development Goals of the united Nations' 2030 Agenda and presents the current situation, the framework conditions in Sachsen-Anhalt, the goals to be implemented and the relevant measures that have to be taken to achieve these goals by 2030. The strategy includes an updated Indicator Report, which describes Sachsen-Anhalt's sustainability goals and adapts goals for past periods to the 2030 perspective.

Education is the central element of the Sustainable Development Strategy. It is regarded as on of the key factors of sustainable living in Sachsen-Anhalt. By assigning an individual target to promote the development of creative competencies for shaping the future, participation and critical thinking, an important contribution is made to implementing the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda. The Sustainable Development Strategy and more information on sustainable development in Sachsen-Anhalt are available here.

In December 2018, the Land government of Schleswig-Holstein identified a total of 75 indicators as a basis for taking stock of the sustainable development in Schleswig-Holstein and for measuring its sustainable development until 2030: 44 target indicators, 27 reporting indicators and 4 reference indicators. Schleswig-Holstein's first report on the UN Sustainable Development Goals was published on this basis in June 2020. A PDF of the report is provided here. The report will be updated every five years. A webpage offering key information can be accessed here.

The Land government adopted a Sustainable Development Strategy including relevant indicators for Thüringen in 2011. The first Indicator Report with 27 indicators was published in 2012.

When the 2030 Agenda was adopted, Thüringen's Sustainable Development Strategy had to be adjusted. The strategy with five areas of focus and reference to the Sustainable Development Goals was adopted in 2018. Each ministry prepared its own Sustainable Development Plan in 2018, too, which supports sustainable action in the respective policy area. In 2019, Thüringen's indicator set for sustainable Development was revised fundamentally, and its third Indicator Report was published in 2020. The preparation of the projects is organised by a State Secretaries' working group and the relevant inter-ministerial working group. Thüringen's Advisory Council on Sustainability is also involved in the projects. The webpage which has been accessible since 2021, give a good overview of the sustainability activities in Thüringen.