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On the occasion of the United Nations High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in New York, Bonn Mayor Katja Dörner virtually presented Bonn's second Voluntary Local Review (VLR) on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
With its first Voluntary Local Review, Germany’s United Nations City of Bonn is particularly committed to the municipal implementation of the 17 SDGs and to regular reporting on this process to the United Nations.
As one of the first cities in Germany and worldwide, the City of Bonn submitted its first Voluntary Local Review on the SDGs in 2020, which received a great deal of positive feedback on the international stage.
For the preparation of the second Voluntary Local Review, which is now available, the City of Bonn has participated in the testing of the "Sustainable Municipality" reporting framework, which was developed by the German Council for Sustainable Development. This novel format combines quantitative indicators and qualitative reporting aspects in sustainability reporting. The report also maps the developments in the municipal fields of action for sustainability since the adoption of the Bonn Sustainability Strategy in February 2019.
Central role of cities in implementing the 2030 Agenda
"This publication shows how Bonn is concretely setting out on the path to a fairer and more sustainable society. At the same time, it also highlights the role that cities should play in addressing current global challenges," affirms Marina Ponti, Director of the UN SDG Action Campaign based in Bonn.
A study by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has shown that more than 65 percent of all sub-goals of SDGs cannot be achieved without the participation of cities. In 2018, the City of New York has therefore launched an initiative to encourage sustainability reporting of cities to the United Nations. In the meantime, more than 200 cities worldwide have joined this movement, including the City of Bonn in 2020. A good 20 cities have already submitted reports on their local situation.
Reporting structure aligned with Bonn's municipal sustainability strategy
The structure of the Bonn VLR follows the systematics of the City of Bonn's municipal Sustainability Strategy. It was adopted in February 2019 with the aim of initially implementing the SDGs in six municipal fields of action:
Mobility
Climate and Energy
Natural Resources
Work and Economy
Social Participation and Gender Equality
Global Responsibility and One World
On the basis of 46 indicators, the report illustrates the developments in these areas and shows the extent to which they are relevant for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in Bonn. The VLR Report thus links for the first time the City of Bonn's long-standing sustainability reporting with the goals the City set itself with the Sustainability Strategy adopted in 2019.
Bonn’s first SDG Report 2020
The report was presented to an international audience by then Lord Mayor Ashok Sridharan on October 23, 2020, at the Daring Cities conference organized digitally by the international cities network ICLEI.
In the topic area of mobility, a look at the choice of means of transport for overall traffic, the so-called modal split, shows that more people in Bonn than the average in German cities Germany-wide are on the move in “eco-friendly modes”, i.e. on foot, by bicycle or by public transport. However, the density of motor vehicles has remained virtually unchanged since 2015. As the sector with the currently highest CO-2 emissions, traffic reduces the overall positive development of the CO2 emission balance in Bonn.
Climate and Energy
Thanks to successful municipal climate protection policies, per capita CO-2 emissions were reduced by around 25 percent between 1990 and 2016. Substantial reductions were achieved in private households and businesses. In Germany, Bonn is at the top of the list when it comes to the share of renewable energies in the electricity mix of the municipal supplier. In 2018, it was over 72 percent and will be further expanded.
Natural Resources
The city is well positioned in terms of natural resources and environment. About half of the city's total area is protected areas, and the area for settlement and transportation has increased less than the population, which remains well provided for with about 155 m2 of recreational space per capita. By contrast, drinking water consumption, which had fallen by 2018, was pushed into reverse by the hot summers, presenting the city with new challenges.
Work and Economy
Bonn is also doing well economically: the employment rate has risen continuously since 2000 and will exceed 51 percent in 2018. The proportion of highly qualified workers is high, as is that in the knowledge-oriented services, which stand for innovative strength. When it comes to inclusion, the city sets a good example. It employs more than twice as many disabled workers as stipulated by law.
Social Participation and Gender
In the school sector, Bonn has been able to offer all interested pupils with special needs a place in joint learning in a regular school. It provided a high number of childcare slots for children under 3 years of age (just over 40 percent) and 100 percent for all children over 3 years of age.
In Bonn, volunteer work is very important: there are almost twice as many associations here as on a national average.
Informal citizen participation has been rising since 2015. In contrast, only just under a third of women are elected representatives in local politics. In addition, child, youth and old-age poverty and the number of people receiving benefits under the SGBII scheme have steadily increased in Bonn.
Global Responsibility
Bonn has long been committed to fair trade and was one of the first German municipalities to establish municipal project partnerships with cities in emerging and developing countries as early as the end of the 1990s. This municipal commitment to global responsibility has been steadily expanded, and expenditure on fair trade and project partnerships has risen continuously.
