Education for sustainable development aims at developing key competencies that enable individuals to help the world society progress on a more sustainable path. There is, as yet, no agreement in the international debate on what are the most important key competencies. In a Delphi study, experts from Europe (Germany, Great Britain) and Latin America (Chile, Ecuador, Mexico) were asked: Which individual key competencies are crucial for under standing central challenges facing the world society and for facilitating its development towards a more sustainable future? The participants discussed and defined a number of key competencies. These were condensed to twelve key competencies, all of which are considered relevant for sustainable development both in the North and the South. However, the results also reveal some differences between the European and Latin-American percep tions. The key competencies identified here show similarities with other sustainability competence concepts. In addition, they also focus on aspects that so far have not been sufficiently taken into account.