In the 40th year of its existence, the ADFC has launched a nationwide action and awareness campaign under the motto #MMorePlaceForBicycles. The aim is to create a spirit of optimism in politics and society for more and better cycling. Concrete demands are: Wide and good cycle paths, safe crossings and many more bicycle parking spaces everywhere in Germany. Numerous prominent supporters have already committed to #MehrPlatzFürsRad - including Minister Andreas ScheuerMember of the Bundestag Cem Özdemir, actress Liv Lisa Friescartoonist Mawil, actor Michael Kessler, ministers Winfried Herrmann, OB Henriette Reker, OB Fritz Kuhn and many more.
Today, the Federal Government is presenting the first German report on the implementation of the Global Sustainability Goals. The report will be presented to the United Nations Forum on Sustainable Development in New York by Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for the Environment, and Thomas Silberhorn, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. Germany is thus one of the first countries to give an account of the implementation of the goals adopted in 2015.
Schwarzelühr-Sutter: "If all people worldwide lived like the Germans, we would need three planets. This shows that "business as usual" is not an option. We must change our lifestyles so that they respect the ecological limits of the Earth. The Sustainable Development Goals offer enormous opportunities for global environmental protection, for the preservation of peace and for healthier living conditions worldwide. It is about future-proof jobs, better education, respecting social standards and upholding human rights."
Thomas Silberhorn: "The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development must not remain a declaration on paper, but must be filled with life. The fight against extreme poverty and hunger and the protection of natural resources require a change of direction in all societies. In order for everyone to be able to live, some people must not live and work at the expense of others. This also has consequences for Germany. A global balance in economic, ecological and social relations is the goal of sustainable development. The Alliance for Sustainable Textiles launched by the BMZ is a practical example of this. Here, companies in the textile industry, non-governmental organisations and governments have joined forces to implement social and ecological improvements along the entire textile supply chain - from the cotton field to the hanger."
In order to achieve the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals, the Federal Government is committed at both national and international level. The national challenges include, for example, gender equality, the protection of biodiversity or the energy transition, which also makes a significant contribution to the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement. Particular attention is paid to measures that not only have an impact in Germany, but at the same time serve the global common good.
Representatives of German civil society also participated in the preparation of the German implementation report. In New York, the German government is therefore presenting the report together with the Federation of German Industries, the German Trade Union Confederation, the German NGO Forum on Environment and Development and VENRO (Association for Development Policy and Humanitarian Aid).
Building culture is becoming a recognised goal in the real estate industry: with support from the real estate and housing industry, the Institute for Corporate Governance in the German Real Estate Industry (ICG) and the Federal Foundation for Building Culture initiated and developed the Code for building culturea voluntary commitment for the responsible performance of tasks by companies in the real estate industry.
In its role as project developer, planner, builder, owner, etc., the real estate industry bears particular responsibility for the design of our living spaces. At the same time, building culture values and social acceptance form the basis for economic success. The Codex for Building Culture now supports companies in the real estate industry in assuming social responsibility for the consequences of real estate business activities and for the built results on their own initiative and within the framework of self-regulation. The fact that building culture offers added value for the real estate industry has now entered people's minds - but is not always put into practice. In the survey of the participation process for the code, for example, 98% of the companies surveyed stated that the appreciation of historic properties is seen as relevant or at least relevant to a certain extent - only half of the respondents, however, stringently implement this in practice.
Building culture is always closely linked to process quality, which is why the initiators of the Code for Building Culture were keen to involve the players in the real estate industry in the drafting process. Since a personal discussion of the contents was not possible due to the Corona pandemic, companies in the real estate and housing industry were asked in the summer of 2020 to provide feedback on the draft of the Code for Building Culture by means of an online survey and were thus involved. Scientific support was provided by IREBS at the University of Regensburg.
Prof. Dr. Sven Bienert, Chairman of the Institute for Corporate Governance in the German Real Estate Industry /IREBS Institute at the University of Regensburg, is in favour of this code because: "In times of rising land prices and ever higher building densities, the issue of a "good building culture" is becoming increasingly important. This form of social responsibility will also increasingly concern the real estate industry in the future in the ever more important after-use and conversion - for example of churches that are increasingly coming onto the market."
"Our goal is to make the real estate industry fit for the future," says Karin Barthelmes-Wehr, Managing Director of the ICG. "This includes encouraging the players in the industry to deal with all the requirements of ESG (Environment Social Governance) and to forge new alliances in this regard. For this, the Code for Building Culture we have presented provides a very good basis in the field of planning, development and construction."
Reiner Nagel, Chairman of the Board of the Federal Foundation for Building Culture, emphasises: "The Code for Building Culture now focuses on the responsibility of real estate business activities for the spatial impact of the built environment on us and the resulting consequences, with which companies grow in their building culture competence. As a result, the quality of the built environment benefits from the Code for Building Culture that is now available."
The complete "Code forBuildingCulture" and documentation of the participation process can be found at on our website. It contains the following demands (abbreviated).
Attitude and Values:
- Holistic building culture
- Prudent action in new construction and portfolio development
- Appreciation of already existing building culture
Visions and goals:
- Use stocks
- go easy on resources
- Promoting diversity and mix
Processes and Means:
- life cycle assessment
- quality assurance
- Cooperative collaboration
Supporters of the Codex for Building Culture already include:
- Art Invest
- reason of value
- Landmarken AG
- COPRO Project Development GmbH
- PRIMUS developments GmbH
Source: PM of the Bundesstiftung Baukultur from 17.5.2021
At the end of the UN conference Habitat III in Quito (Ecuador), the environmental and development organization Germanwatch draws a mixed balance. "Around 50,000 people took part in the conference. This alone shows that cities are considered to be of great importance on the way to a sustainable world. It is very good that the adopted New Urban Agenda recognises cities as important players in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris climate targets," says Lisa Junghans, expert on climate change, adaptation and urban transformation at Germanwatch. However, she qualifies: "The New Urban Agenda is not concrete enough in parts. Citizens will not feel directly addressed and there is a complete lack of measurable goals and criteria for monitoring the success of the agenda. It remains to be seen to what extent the agenda really supports cities in their development towards greater sustainability and a higher quality of life. Civil society in particular will have a key role to play in the coming years to ensure that the principles adopted here for future urban development have an impact."
Habitat III was the third World Conference on Human Settlements and Sustainable Urban Development after 1976 and 1996 and is intended to define guidelines for future urban development. Despite the highly participatory process in the preparation of the New Urban Agenda, the negotiations in the final phase took place, as expected, exclusively within the circle of government negotiators. Junghans: "Although this process is a classic UN process driven by states, it is problematic that city representatives are excluded from the final decisions on their own development."
Germanwatch is particularly positive about the fact that the final document grants cities more self-determination and ownership in the implementation of the New Urban Agenda and that "no one is to be left behind" - a reference to the particularly vulnerable population groups that must be included in the planning and implementation of future urban development policy.
The hope that a larger number of cities would lead the way with voluntary commitments, for example towards climate neutrality, has unfortunately not materialised. "Although there have been some very good announcements from civil society as well as from Germany and the EU regarding the creation of housing and climate-friendly mobility, concrete announcements from local governments themselves have been very limited," says Junghans.
Source: Germanwatch press release, 20 October 2016
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In the 40th year of its existence, the ADFC has launched a nationwide action and awareness campaign under the motto #MMorePlaceForBicycles. The aim is to create a spirit of optimism in politics and society for more and better cycling. Concrete demands are: Wide and good cycle paths, safe crossings and many more bicycle parking spaces everywhere in Germany. Numerous prominent supporters have already committed to #MehrPlatzFürsRad - including Minister Andreas ScheuerMember of the Bundestag Cem Özdemir, actress Liv Lisa Friescartoonist Mawil, actor Michael Kessler, ministers Winfried Herrmann, OB Henriette Reker, OB Fritz Kuhn and many more.
