Headline:
Professor Töpfer appointed to Steering Committee for German sustainability initiative
The Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) initiative, which was founded in 2012, launched the national SDSN for Germany in April 2014. Professor Klaus Töpfer, Executive and Founding Director of the IASS Potsdam, was appointed as a member of its Steering Committee. Further members are junior professor Jan Börner (Centre for Development Research), Professor Joachim Fetzer (German Business Ethics Network), Dr Maja Göpel (Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy), Professor Hermann Lotze-Campen (Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research), Professor Dirk Messner (German Development Institute), Klaus Milke (Germanwatch) and Professor Martin Visbeck (Kiel cluster of Excellence “The Future Ocean” ).
The Sustainability Development Solutions Network under the auspices of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon brings together institutions and representatives from science, society, politics and business. The aim is to bundle knowledge and experience to develop innovative and practically implementable solutions for sustainable development in order to contribute to specific sustainability projects in Germany and worldwide. One of the initiative’s aims is to support the negotiations of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The IASS trans-disciplinary research on renewable resources, soils, cities and energy will inform these developments.
The national SDSN for Germany, which was initiated by 10 German knowledge institutions and is coordinated by the German Development Institute (DIE), is committed to the sustainable development in Germany and at a global level. The member organisations are developing joint strategies for low-carbon, socially just and resource-efficient societies and are examining their political feasibility. The integrative approach pursued by the IASS is also a central component of the SDSN initiative.
Besides the IASS, the German SDSN initiative includes the following institutions:
- German Development Institute (DIE)
- German Business Ethics Network (DNWE)
- Germanwatch
- HUMBOLDT-VIADRINA School of Governance
- Kiel Cluster of Excellence "The Future Ocean"
- Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)
- Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP)
- Wuppertal Institute for climate, environment and energy
- Centre for Development Research (ZEF)