DGE position statement on a more sustainable diet

Background

While “sustainability” has become a central aspect of social action and responsibility around the world, its complex and multi-dimensional nature requires further explanation. The Brundtland Report from the World Commission on Environment and Development, which represents a landmark in the understanding of sustainability, describes the term as a development "that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" [1]. Another milestone was set by the so-called Club of Rome in 1972 who, for the first time, raised awareness on the limited nature of the world’s natural resources and called for an international environmental policy in their publication “The Limits to Growth” [2].

Member states at the 2015 General Assembly of the United Nations agreed on the 2030 Agenda, which linked the necessary transformation of the world to specific ecological, social, and economic goals. The 17 goals and 169 sub-goals described by the agenda are known as the Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs [3]. The European Union also committed itself to the 2030 Agenda [4], and Germany has since developed a national sustainability strategy that is updated every two years. 231 indicators are used to constantly measure how well the targets are being achieved [5], and the results are published by the German Federal Statistical Office [6, 7].

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