Context
The underlying economic conditions for growth that is inclusive, environmentally sustainable and conducive to employment creation are a basic prerequisite for generating income and bringing about a permanent reduction in poverty. Issues such as how best to promote growth that is socially, environmentally and economically sustainable are increasingly at the centre of the international debate. Examples of this include the post-2015 sustainable development agenda and the concept of inclusive green growth.
Growing importance is being attached to various aspects of sustainability in the context of economic policy – including questions of income distribution, impact in terms of the inclusiveness of growth and employment, regional economic integration, structural and industrial policy and strategies for economic development in resource-rich countries. The private sector must also be integrated into economic policy decision-making and strategy development.
Until now, sustainable development issues like these have not been sufficiently defined in the context of economic policy. Consequently, there remains a need to further enhance the economic policy profile of German development cooperation with regard to the three dimensions of sustainability – the social, the environmental and the economic.