The starting point was an experience from forestry: those who clear too much wood will earn environmental damages. The consequences are still to be seen today. Resulting from this, the principle of 'sustainability' has been developed: do not clear more wood than will grow again, and plant new trees so that your children and grand-children will be able to profit from it.
Since then the meaning of the concept 'sustainability' has been understood in a broader sense.
Sustainability means taking environmental aspects into consideration on an equal basis with social and economic considerations, in order to meet the global challenges of the future. We must leave our children and grandchildren with intact environmental, social, and economic structures, so that have at least as many options as the current generations.
There is no general formula for sustainable development. The creative ideas of many people are required. Everybody agrees that it is important to have development which is of benefit for future generations, but there are still controversial debates about the way to achieve this.
The concept of sustainability stands today for an all-round modernisation strategy. The German government introduced a national strategy of sustainability in 2002 "Prospects for the new millennium". The aim is to measure sustainability using 21 goals and indicators. The government documented the situation regarding these indicators for the first time in 2004. The German Council for Sustainable Development contributed to this Progress Report 2004 by documenting a number of local initiatives and the discussions in society.
The sustainability strategy is linked above all to innovation, renewable sources of energy and the climate, agriculture and nutrition, land use for housing, mobility, but also to education, ethnic diversity, family policies, and not least national debt, the economy, and development cooperation.
The German Council for Sustainable Development was constituted in 2001 by Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. It makes specific proposals for sustainable strategies and policies, and highlights sustainability as an important topic of public concern.