Federal Minister for Development Schulze welcomed her G7 counterparts to a two-day meeting in Berlin. As part of Germany's G7 Presidency, the ministers discussed joint development policy responses to current challenges. These included efforts to combat the food crisis.

Alliance for Global Food Security

Those countries at risk of famine due to Russia's war of aggression must be supplied as effectively as possible. In order to guarantee that people around the world have food, close coordination between the measures adopted by the individual countries is required in addition to extra funding. For this reason the G7 countries agreed to set up a new Alliance for Global Food Security. The aim is to achieve long-term structural changes “to strengthen the ability of developing countries to provide for themselves in future,” Schulze said.

At the beginning of the meeting, Schulze called on Russia to end its war of aggression in Ukraine, warning that the war not only had grave consequences for Ukraine, but for the Middle East and Africa as well. “The dreadful consequences of Russia’s war of aggression extend far beyond Ukraine. For this reason Germany is not only looking eastwards at this time, but also southwards,” stressed Schulze. “The poorest are suffering the most.”

The global alliance is open to all, and its members already include the World Bank, the G7 countries and the EU Commission, along with the UN Global Crisis Response Group, Norway, Denmark, the African Union, the World Food Programme and the International Fund for Agricultural Development. Private businesses and civil society organisations can also participate.

Greater efforts towards climate protection

In order to combat climate change, the G7 development ministers agreed to expand the so-called “Just Energy Transition Partnerships” with developing countries. These aim to mobilise large-scale public and private funding for specific investments such as socially equitable measures to phase out coal, the expansion of renewable energies and creating new jobs in regions particularly affected by the transition. The G7 also committed to greater involvement in the area of environmental damage and losses, such as flood disasters in developing countries caused by climate change. The common goal is to create a safety net against climate risks even before the crisis occurs, such as by providing insurance or social security systems.

Standing together for gender equity

For the first time, the G7 development ministers pledged their support for a feminist development policy. The aim is to break down structures and role models so as to permanently eradicate gender inequality. “Countries with strong women and men have stronger societies that are better equipped to face global challenges,” said Schulze.

The ministers also discussed levels of debt in developing and emerging countries. The G7 representatives were joined for parts of the meeting by Indonesia, India and Senegal, which hold the G20 Presidency this year, along with the head of the UN Development Programme, Achim Steiner, and Director of the World Bank, David Malpass, as guests. The Ukrainian Prime Minister, Denys Shmyhal, joined the meeting via video link for the discussions of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Germany assumed the G7 Presidency on 1 January 2022. The G7 Presidency rotates between members on an annual basis. The G7 democracies include Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, Canada and the USA. The European Union is also represented at all G7 meetings. The Presidency rotates between members on an annual basis. G7 summits are regarded as a platform on which important ideas are developed for the solution of global problems based on a set of commonly held values. Japan will assume the G7 Presidency on 1 January 2023.