The GfaW Gesellschaft für angewandte Wirtschaftsethik welcomes the German government’s intention to further develop its sustainability strategy in order to make its contribution to achieving the Sustainability Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda. The GfaW also considers the inclusion of the public in this process through the opportunity to submit comments to be an important step towards a participatory understanding of democracy and hopes that, in addition to these suggestions, associations, institutions and initiatives committed to sustainability will be consistently involved in the further development of the sustainability strategy. In our view, the chances of success in solving global problems increase with the participation of as many stakeholders as possible. In GfaW’s view, the draft strategy falls far short of the existing possibilities in terms of concrete solutions. Even if it is understandable that the German government wants to emphasize its own initiatives in the public sector, we lack a stronger commitment to exploiting the great existing potential in the private sector. Numerous sustainable economic players are already following exemplary paths and are operating at the highest possible level. The GfaW therefore urgently recommends taking stock of these best practice initiatives, which are already highlighted by the Werkstatt-N awards and others. In order to ascertain the current state of knowledge and the status quo in terms of sustainability, we also expressly support the creation of a public register of all existing sustainability seals, labels and criteria, as well as their expert evaluation, as suggested by the German Federal Government’s Sustainability Council. In detail, the GfaW advises the following measures with regard to the various objectives:
- Goal 2 “End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture. “The promotion of research and development of organic farming is welcome, but not sufficient. 20% organic farming has long been a declared goal of the German government. However, an increasing demand for organically produced food will not be achieved through research and education alone, but rather through a complementary political framework. Legislation is long overdue to ensure full cost accounting in agriculture so that internal costs cannot continue to be externalized to a large extent. This market disadvantage of organic suppliers is intolerable in view of the current exploitation of soil and water and the waste and destruction of other natural resources.
- Goal 8: “Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all “Economic growth (measured by GDP) as an indicator of quality of life is outdated. There are now a number of other, more accurate approaches and methods for measuring prosperity. The GfaW recommends using differentiated prosperity indicators, such as health, satisfaction, safety, etc. Transferring the experiences from the textile sector with regard to global supply chains to other production routes is a sensible first step. However, it is not enough to concentrate on a media-effective section. Similar or worse working conditions prevail in other sectors. And the fundamental problem remains: growth orientation in this country obviously only works at the expense of those at the beginning of the supply chain. Here, too, the consequences are externalized. Therefore: reduction and even sufficiency must not remain forbidden orientations. Prosperity in the broad sense is only a material achievement to a very limited extent.
- Goal 12 “Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns. “This is where the above-mentioned terms necessarily come to the fore: truly sustainable economic activity does not shy away from reduction or even sufficiency. Rather, the question of “whether” and “how little” is the starting point for sustainable thinking. Sustainable business is based on the question of meaning and benefit and maintains its focus on this.
In order to ultimately reward sustainability, it is necessary to make it reliable and clearly recognizable. With this in mind, GfaW supports the Federal Government’s efforts to set clear signals. One way of conveying quality standards is through appropriate seals. There is great potential here in recognizing, publishing and using the existing ambitious voluntary environmental, social and, in particular, sustainability seals in addition to the famous environmental seal and other statutory standard seals. An important initiative in this direction is the online portal “Siegelklarheit” (seal clarity) set up by the German government. An appropriate and demanding assessment of existing quality labels creates transparency and guidance for consumers. The portal should be expanded, continuously updated and equipped with sufficient expertise from the spectrum of existing institutions and initiatives – also in order to avoid a dilution of the relevant sustainability criteria. The GfaW explicitly advocates a high standard in the evaluation of the labels that are ultimately recommended. In particular, standards should be used that go well beyond the requirements of the eco-label (seals of cultivation associations, ecological product and other organic seals, CSE Certified Sustainable Economics, etc. – see also www.labelonline.de). Another very effective step towards sustainability should be public support for conversion. Based on the promotion of conversion in organic farming, around 3 years of support can undoubtedly help companies to convert their production methods and structures and to undergo certification. Even a state contribution to the inspection costs should significantly increase the willingness to undergo sustainability certification. In view of the fact that companies that do not operate sustainably continue to pass on their costs to society as a whole, public support for companies that operate for the common good makes more than enough economic sense.