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Sustainable development and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) are topics of the utmost importance for the future plans of the city of Bonn. After the relocation of the Parliament and the lion’s share of the Federal Government, competences in policy areas were allocated in the Berlin-Bonn Act. Thereafter Bonn became responsible for the environment, development and international affairs.

The UN secretariats with their headquarters in Bonn agreed on the motto "The UN in Bonn – for sustainable development worldwide" for their public image.  In addition to the United Nations, roughly 150 non-governmental organisations have their headquarters in Bonn. They also deal with topics of sustainability. The Bonn ESD measures have been implemented in projects in scope of the international concept, campaigns and annual partnerships, numerous one-off events and series of events, in addition to local projects and fringe programmes at large conferences.

A new mission statement and a marketing concept for the city of Bonn are currently being prepared. These include sustainable development, beefing up the international profile and raising awareness of ESD-related topics among citizens.

The first Bonn city sustainability report was published in 2006 to highlight and make development trends and starting points for action more transparent. The areas of the environment and development were identified as core focus areas. Topics such as saving energy, renewable energies, climate protection and fair trade are part of this, as are soil (land erosion), water and early warning systems for catastrophes.
The contracting states conference on biodiversity took place in Bonn from 19th to 30th May 2008. As a result, the topic of biodiversity will be at the very forefront of the city’s activities over the coming year.