The United Nations have recognized the importance of fostering sustainable consumption by making this topic one of the Sustainable Development Goals. At the same time progress with regards to sustainable consumption is ambivalent: On the one side, there exist a wide range of initiatives seeking to transform consumption patterns. On the other side, lifestyles of consumers particularly in industrialized countries are far from being sustainable. Recent calculations suggest that Germany is very likely failing to achieve its emission reduction goals for carbon emissions.
Against this background, the German Federal Government has adopted a program to foster sustainable consumption. Today, it hosts a national conference Implementation of Sustainable Consumption in Germany at which the competence center for sustainable consumption is launched and exchange is facilitated by several fora for networking and expert discussions.
Participants to the national conference are among others the Secretaries of State, Dr Maria Flachsbarth from the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture and Gerd Billen from the Federal Ministry for Justice and Consumer Protection, as well as the President of the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) Mrs Maria Krautzberger, the President of the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE) Dr Hanns-Christoph Eiden and Head of Department in the Federal Ministry of the Environment Dietmar Horn. Moreover, representatives from academia, business and civil society participate in the conference. ConPolicy Director Prof Dr Christian Thorun moderates the conference.