A new study by the Environmental Policy Research Centre, commissioned by the Bertelsmann Foundation, outlines options for the implementation of a sustainability assessment within the German legislative process. The progress report of the German Sustainability Strategy mandated such an assessment and the report will assist the implementation process of such an assessment. On the basis of a comparative analysis of other countries’ experiences with sustainability assessments, literature reviews, and interviews with practitioners in Germany, a set of options and recommendations was compiled for the implementation of a both ambitious and practical sustainability assessment in Germany.
The proposed version of sustainability assessment conceives the instrument not only as a tool for analysis, but also for communication between ministries, non-governmental organisations and experts. The German Parliament will be involved in the quality management. This would be unique in international perspective and could strengthen the role of the assessment in the process of preparing a law. The Chancellor’s Office shall guarantee the compliance with process standards. The whole assessment process is supposed to be regulated in a law. Such a design would be able to strengthen the role of sustainability in the decision-making processes.

The study can be retrieved in German language here.