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Germany commits to helping consumers to better understand the environmental and social impacts of their consumption through the German National Programme for Sustainable Consumption. The programme aims to identify alternative consumption patterns and strengthen sustainable alternatives, without removing consumers’ rights to make their own decisions. The programme also aims to strengthen incentives for innovative approaches that facilitate sustainable consumption and stimulate a broader national discussion about lifestyles and a change in values.The programme addresses not only consumers but all relevant stakeholders such as the business community, commerce, civil society, the scientific community and academia, the media, local authorities and the public sector. The Programme will promote sustainable lifestyle and product choices and raise awareness of the impacts of sustainable consumption. In addition, it will identify and encourage potential synergies among the different stakeholders, produce role models of public actors in sustainable procurement, and reduce food waste.

Germany commits to establishing methods for economic valuation of environmental damage and the provision of best-practice cost rates for drivers and impacts of environmental damage. The commitment falls under the focus areas 1 and 2 of the Batumi Initiative to improve the measurement and valuation of natural capital, promote the internationalisation of externalities and the sustainable use of natural capital. The commitment will result in the establishment of a decision support tool to estimate the economic benefit of environmental policy measures and to call attention to the cost of failure to protect the environment. The tool will inform policy makers on the national, regional and local level about environmental damage costs of policy alternatives. In addition, the commitment will result in the introduction of cost rates for environmental damage into legislative impact assessments and internalization of environmental costs into decision makings.

The commitment falls under focus areas 1 and 2 of the Batumi Initiative to improve the measurement and valuation of natural capital and promote the internalisation of externalities and the sustainable use of natural capital.

Germany commits to establishing the International Sustainable Collaborative Centre (ICS3). The ICS 3 intends to support the global breakthrough of Sustainable Chemistry. The project for the establishment of ICS3 was launched in March 2015 by the German Environment Agency and the centre is planned to open in early 2017. ICS 3 will ensure the pull together existing scientific and political expertise to foster the further development of the basic principles, applications and business model of Sustainable Chemistry at international level. 

The commitment falls under focus areas 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 of the Batumi Initiative promote the internalization of externalities and the sustainable use of natural capital; shift consumer behaviours towards sustainable consumption patterns; develop clean physical capital for sustainable production pattern; promote green and fair trade; increase green and decent jobs, while developing the necessary human capital; and improve access to services, healthy living and well-being; Promote public participation and education for sustainable development.