Abstract
In order to illustrate the necessity for action, the authors report on the current influence of Sustainable Development Goals Disclosure (SDGD) status in Europe, especially in Germany. For this analysis, the authors consider data spread over several years, in order to explain the influence of the pandemic on SDGD, especially in terms of Social Development Goals (SDGs) 12 (responsible consumption and production), 13 (climate action) and 17 (partnerships for the goals). Detailed cases from industry and for institutions where current actions are already having a high impact on the future are discussed.
A specific case regarding electromobility, i.e. investing in a zero-emission future and a more sustainable business, is detailed herein. As energy storage systems are indispensable for climate-neutral mobility, the impact on the SDGs is very important. Specific insights into the battery industry, backed up by a detailed case study of a battery company, illustrate the special focus of this industry sector on sustainability – and its influence on the SDGs. The company, which takes a high local-for-local approach at every opportunity, represents a new way thinking in terms of the industry’s supply chain in comparison to the latest best-cost sourcing strategies in low-cost countries (LCCs) and best-cost countries (BCCs). Strategic partnerships within the supply chain play a major role in influencing common goals such as battery recycling and research into new materials.
In this chapter, a particular case study focusing on green energy supply and the activities of a new energy and climate agency in North Rhine-Westphalia is presented.
The results of this study show that not only are negative influences on SDGD prevalent during the pandemic but also demonstrative examples of specific actions that push SDGs in the right direction. On the one hand, the authors report on significant press and public attention in Germany regarding climate neutrality, and that the industry talks about it in public wherever possible; however, during the pandemic, sustainability budgets were slashed, as companies did not want to spend money on this area. On the other hand, the authors show that specific actions were taken – and still take place – to support the SDGs, especially in relation to climate neutrality, mainly due to extreme political pressure and consumer behaviour. Nevertheless, there are also increasingly more changes in thinking relating to a clean and safe future that accelerates the SDGs.
References
BFM (2022) Bundesregierung bringt zweites Entlastungspaket auf den Weg. https://www.bundesfinanzministerium.de/Content/DE/Pressemitteilungen/Finanzpolitik/2022/04/2022-04-27-zweites-entlastungspaket.html. Accessed 08 May 2022
Bieker, ICCT (2021). Georg Bieker, ICCT. https://theicct.org/sites/default/files/publications/Global-LCA-passenger-cars-jul2021_0.pdf. Accessed 28 Apr 2022
BMAS (2022) Sorgfaltspflichtengesetz. https://www.bmas.de/DE/Service/Gesetze-und-Gesetzesvorhaben/gesetz-unternehmerische-sorgfaltspflichten-lieferketten.html. Accessed 01 May 2022
BMU (2022) Kurzinformation Elektromobilität bzgl. Strom- und Ressourcenbedarf. https://www.bmuv.de/fileadmin/Daten_BMU/Download_PDF/Verkehr/emob_strom_ressourcen_bf.pdf. Accessed 29 Apr 2022
BMUV (2022) Die Pariser Klimakonferenz. https://www.bmuv.de/themen/klimaschutz-anpassung/klimaschutz/internationale-klimapolitik/pariser-abkommen. Accessed 08 May 2022
BMZ (2022a). Die globalen Ziele für nachhaltige Entwicklung. https://www.bmz.de/agenda-2030/. Accessed 01 May 2022
BMZ (2022b) SDG 12: Nachhaltige/r Konsum und Produktion. https://www.bmz.de/agenda-2030/sdg-12. Accessed 01 May 2022
BMZ (2022c) SDG 13: Maßnahmen zum Klimaschutz. https://www.bmz.de/de/agenda-2030/sdg-13. Accessed 08 May 2022
BMZ (2022d) SDG 17: Partnerschaft zur Erreichung der Ziele. https://www.bmz.de/de/agenda-2030/sdg-17. Accessed 08 May 2022
Bundesregierung (2022) EU-Umweltrat: Nur noch CO2-frei fahren. https://www.bundesregierung.de/breg-de/themen/europa/verbrennermotoren-2058450. Accessed 20 Dec 2022
Ciftci KY, Michel A, Siegfried P (2022) The potential impact of E-mobility on the automotive value chain. SpringerBriefs in Business. Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-95599-1
Die Bundesregierung (2021) Maßnahmenprogramm Nachhaltigkeit –Weiterentwicklung 2021 „Nachhaltigkeit konkret im Verwaltungshandeln umsetzen“. https://www.bundesregierung.de/resource/blob/998008/1953740/cfcc4422222f013844c6b6f02dd31144/2021-08-25-massnahmenprogramm-nachhaltigkeit-2021-data.pdf?download=1. Accessed 01 June 2022
Elkington J (2020) Green swans: the coming boom in regenerative capitalism. Company Press, New York
Energy4climate (2022) Institute homepage. https://www.energy4climate.nrw/. Accessed 12 July 2022
EU Regulation (2020) EU Regulation 2020/0353. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/docs_autres_institutions/commission_europeenne/com/2020/0798/COM_COM(2020)0798_EN.pdf. Accessed 26 Apr 2022
Europäische Union (2022) Europäischer Gründer Deal. https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal_de. Accessed 24 Apr 2022
European Commission (2021) ProcurCompEU – the European competency framework for public procurement professionals. https://ec.europa.eu/info/policies/public-procurement/support-tools-public-buyers/professionalisation-public-buyers/procurcompeu-european-competency-framework-public-procurement-professionals_en. Accessed 02 June 2022
Eurostat (2022a). SDG 12 – Responsible consumption and production. https://www.ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title= SDG_12_-_Responsible_consumption_and_production. Accessed 01 May 2022
Eurostat (2022b) SDG 13 – Climate cction. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=SDG_13_-_Climate_action. Accessed 08 May 2022
Eurostat (2022c) SDG 17 – Partnership for the goals. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=SDG_17_-_Partnerships_for_the_goals. Accessed 08 May 2022
Filho WL, Wolf F, Lange Salvia A, Beynaghi A, Shulla K, Kovaleva M, Vasconcelos CRP (2020) Heading towards an unsustainable world: some of the implications of not achieving the SDGs. Discover Sustainability 1(2). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-020-00002-x
Fröhlich E, Karlshaus A (2022) Qualitäts- und Akzeptanzmerkmale von E-Learnings. In: HR-Management und Corporate Learning im Zeichen der Digitalisierung. Untersuchungen, Fallstudien, Empfehlungen (Hrsg. Prof. Dr. U. Thelen & Prof. Dr. Miriam Hägerbäumer). Lemmens Medien Verlag, Bonn/Berlin, pp 154–172
Fröhlich E, Baid V, Lenz J, Peters S (2020) Developing partnerships across global supply chains. In: Leal FW, Azul AM, Brandli L, Lange SA, Wall T (eds) Partnerships for the goals. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71067-9_89-1
GHG protocol (2011) Corporate value chain (Scope 3) accounting and reporting standard. https://ghgprotocol.org/standards/scope-3-standard. Accessed 28 Apr 2022
Jamal Y (2021) The new „license to operate“ – the need to implement sustainability in your procurement organization. In: The world is round: a brief history and future outlook of global supply chains before, during and after the Covid-19 pandemic in times of Deglobalization (Josip Tomasevic (Autor) | Hajo Drees (Autor + Hrsg))
JARO (2021) Module structure overview. https://www.jaro-academy.com/portal/site/ad_en-GB_/Folder_type/Module-Structure-Overview_title/ID_securedGetRequest_const=SSsyec4gHEdkdMpySM60sPkfd87dWKUlLr8t_baImY8. Accessed 02 June 2022
JARO (2022) Institute homepage. https://jaro-institut.de. Accessed 12 July 2022
Kathiresh M, Kanagachidambaresan GR, Williamson SS (2022) E-mobility – a new era in automotive technology, EAI/Springer Innovations in Communication and Computing, Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85424-9
Lafortune, G., Cortés Puch, M., Mosnier, A., Fuller, G., Diaz, M., Riccaboni, A., Kloke-Lesch, A., Zachariadis, T., Carli, E. & Oger, A. (2021). Europe sustainable development report 2021: transforming the European Union to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. SDSN, SDSN Europe and IEEP, Paris
SVOLT (2022) SVOLT brand identity & company presentation 2022
SVOLT CN (2022) Company homepage China, https://www.svolt.cn/. Accessed 12 July 2022
SVOLT EU (2022) Company homepage Europe. https://svolt-eu.com/. Accessed 12 July 2022
TfS (2022) UNLOCK YOUR SUSTAINABILITIES AT THE TFS ACADEMY. https://tfs-initiative.com/tfs-academy/. Accessed 01 June 2022
United Nation (2022) Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda. Accessed 24 Apr 2022
Virta (2022) Der Trend und die Prognose für die Elektromobilität in Deutschland & weltweit. https://www.virta.global/de/aktuelle-trends-und-prognosen-fur-die-elektromobilitat-in-deutschland. Accessed 20 Dec 2022,
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Lenz, J., Fröhlich, E., Jamal, Y., Reichardt, U. (2023). Illustration of How Industry and Institutions in Germany Impact the SDGs. In: Leal Filho, W., Dinis, M.A.P., Moggi, S., Price, E., Hope, A. (eds) SDGs in the European Region . Implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals – Regional Perspectives. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-91261-1_32-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-91261-1_32-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-91261-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-91261-1
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Earth and Environm. ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences