Germany’s G7 Presidency Meeting of G7 Development Ministers starts in Berlin today
Press release 18 May 2022 | BERLIN – The development ministers of the G7 countries are coming together today for a two-day meeting in Berlin. They will discuss common development policy responses to the challenges facing the world today – from the food crisis and climate change to the reconstruction of a free Ukraine. The G7 health ministers will join the development ministers on Thursday for part of the meeting, when they will deliberate on what measures to take to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic and to make health care systems crisis-resistant.
Copyright© Xander Heinl/photothek.net
German Development Minister Svenja Schulze speaks at the opening press conference of the G7 meeting of development ministers in Berlin.
German Development Minister Svenja Schulze said: “The terrible consequences of Russia's war of aggression are being felt way beyond the borders of Ukraine. That is why we in Germany are directing our attention not only towards the East but also towards the South, where famines are threatening to break out because Mr Putin is using hunger intentionally as a weapon. To counter this plan, we need to form a new alliance for global food security. We are seeking to adopt just such an alliance at this meeting. Other crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, loss of biodiversity and social inequality, still need to be tackled, too, since to some extent they have a mutually reinforcing effect. What gives me hope is that Putin's actions have brought the G7, as a group with shared values, even closer together. And together we will do everything in our power to tackle the current global challenges.”
Joining the G7 representatives will be representatives from Indonesia, India and Senegal, who hold the G20 Presidency this year; the Head of the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP, Achim Steiner; and the World Bank President David Malpass. They have been invited by Development Minister Schulze to take part in the G7 development ministers' meeting as guests. The Ukrainian Prime Minister, Denys Schmyhal, will join the meeting per video link to discuss the consequences of Russia's war of aggression on Ukraine.
In addition to the war, the agenda for the meeting includes topics such as global food and nutrition security; investments in sustainable infrastructure; protection of the climate and the environment; a “just transition”; global health and gender equality.
The plan is to use the meeting to announce the launch of the Alliance for Global Food Security. Germany's Development Minister Svenja Schulze jointly with World Bank Group President Malpass proposed back in April that such an alliance be forged – not only to secure additional financing but also to closely coordinate the food security measures that the international community decides to take. Another topic the G7 will discuss are Just Energy Transition Partnerships. The Partnerships are to mobilise high levels of private and public funding for specific investments in, for example, the socially equitable phasing out of coal, the increased use of renewable energy or the creation of new jobs in regions particularly affected by the energy transition.
Tomorrow, 19 May, the development ministers and health ministers of the G7 countries will come together to discuss what joint actions they will take to get the COVID-19 pandemic under control and to improve pandemic prevention.
The Group of 7 (G7) consists of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the USA. The European Union also participates in G7 meetings. Germany took on the presidency of the Group of 7 from the United Kingdom on 1st January this year. The presidency lasts for one year. On 1 January 2023 Japan will take on the presidency of the G7.