Abstract

Today, sustainability is a generally accepted guiding principle of politics. There is hardly a political programme that does not claim the label of sustainability: public budgets are to be consolidated sustainably, social security systems are to be financed sustainably, the production of agricultural products is to be sustainably interlinked with consumer protection, energy consumption is to be sustainably reduced and sustainable investments are to be made in research and education. The Federal Government's sustainability strategy states: "Sustainability is the common thread running through all areas of the Federal Government's reform policy. It goes on to say: "Sustainability is a social modernisation strategy and not the continuation of environmental policy by other means. It requires a balanced consideration of environmental, economic and social policy objectives." This bundle of goals, which has become known as the "three-pillar concept of sustainability", is undisputed today in the political sustainability debate and is already inherent in the combination of environmental and development policy goals in Agenda 21. This understanding of sustainability is supported by the realisation that a long-term ecological balance can only be achieved if economic security and social justice are striven for in parallel and with equal priority. "Sustainability" thus becomes a complex political programme that is essentially supported by the normative requirements of intergenerational justice, social and political participation and international responsibility.

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