The roots of the Foundation for Global Sustainability (SGN) date back to 1996. At the time, as one of Germany’s largest employers, Deutsche Post AG recognized a unique social obligation: amidst massive structural economic shifts, the company sought to make a substantial, scientific contribution to solving global labor market issues by establishing an evidence base for national and international policy-making. This vision led to the establishment of the original "Deutsche Post Foundation."
With the IZA Institute of Labor Economics, the Foundation created more than just a local research center; it built one of the world's largest global networks in economic science, which addressed labor market challenges with cutting-edge research and policy advice for over 25 years. In 2015, the Behavioral and Inequality Research Institute (briq) was established to serve as a hub for world-leading research on the behavioral economic drivers of inequality. In 2024, briq was integrated into IZA. Following the Foundation's strategic realignment, the local institute was dissolved at the end of 2025, and its world-renowned IZA Network was successfully transferred to the LISER Institute. Since January 1, 2026, the IZA Network has been coordinated from Luxembourg.
Until 2022, the Foundation's growth was supported by regular financial contributions from its founder, placing it on a solid long-term footing. With the scheduled conclusion of this initial funding phase, we now operate entirely independently. From this position of autonomy, we continue our tradition of social responsibility with a redefined focus: As early as 2014, we laid the groundwork for our commitment to environmental economics by initiating the SUN Institute for Environment and Sustainability. Under the name SGN, we now dedicate our independence and funding resources exclusively to the most pressing global challenge of our time—the transformation toward a sustainable economy.