"We live in a time full of challenges. We must all do everything we can to leave our children and grandchildren a world where they can live in peace, dignity and prosperity. This is the core idea of the United Nations' Agenda 2030 and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals. As cities and municipalities, we can and must render a contribution to this. With our second Voluntary Local Review, we show what we have achieved in Bonn in recent years and where we still need to improve," says Katja Dörner.
Bonn's mayor outlines the progress that has been made in climate protection as well as the efforts for the mobility turnaround, pointing out that the creation of affordable housing continues to be a major challenge.
As one of the first cities in Germany and worldwide, the City of Bonn submitted its first Voluntary Local Review on the SDGs in 2020, which received a great deal of positive feedback on the international stage. For the preparation of the second Voluntary Local Review, which is now available, the City of Bonn has participated in the testing of the "Sustainable Municipality" reporting framework, which was developed by the German Council for Sustainable Development. This novel format combines quantitative indicators and qualitative reporting aspects in sustainability reporting. The report also maps the developments in the municipal fields of action for sustainability since the adoption of the Bonn Sustainability Strategy in February 2019.
The Voluntary Local Review will be presented on Thursday, July 14, 2022, 7:15 p.m. to 8:35 p.m. German time during a side event at the Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nations in New York. Virtual participation is possible at: https://www.youtube.com/user/GermanyUN (opens in a new tab)
Further information on the event can be found here (opens in a new tab).
Background: Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development
In 2015, the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. 17 Goals are intended to help tackle the major challenges facing humanity, such as hunger and poverty, the climate crisis, species extinction and social inequality.
Every two years, the member states of the United Nations report on the status of implementation at the High Level Political Forum in New York.
Cities and municipalities are doing their share to contribute to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In 2015, the City of New York submitted the first Voluntary Local Review (VLR) to the United Nations. More than 200 cities worldwide that are now preparing local implementation reports on the SDGs.
The Bonn Voluntary Local Review 2022 was compiled as part of the project "Globally Sustainable Municipality NRW", which is implemented by the Service Agency Communities in One World (SKEW) of Engagement Global in cooperation with the German Council for Sustainable Development (RNE) and the State Working Group Agenda 21 NRW (LAG 21 NRW) on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).