Think7 hands over recommendations to G7
Cooperation of the G7 with other countries and organisations is now particularly important in order to end the war in Ukraine. This is one of the recommendations put forward by the experts involved in the think-tanks contributing to Think7. A Think7 delegation presented a communiqué with proposals to Federal Chancellor Scholz for the G7 Summit in Elmau.
Anna-Katharina Hornidge and Dennis Snower hand over the catalogue of elaborated Think7 recommendations to the Federal Chancellor.
Photo: Federal Government/Schacht
Better global governance for the common good – this is the goal supported by the Think7 group. More than 300 representatives of G7 think-tanks have been working for months on recommendations to put forward to the German G7 Presidency in the run-up to the G7 Summit in Elmau. A Think7 delegation has now handed over these recommendations to Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
G7 to build bridge to G20
Russia’s war of aggression on Ukraine poses a threat to the entire world order. This is also the conclusion arrived at by the Think7 think-tanks in their final communiqué. In it, they recommend that the G7 should build a bridge to the countries of the G20, as well as to other multilateral groups and organisations. Peaceful, international cooperation is the most successful way to jointly tackle global challenges and secure peace.
It was with this in mind that the Federal Government recently invited the partner countries Argentina, India, Indonesia, Senegal and South Africa to participate in the G7 Summit in Elmau. Indonesia holds the G20 Presidency this year, while India is due take it over in 2023. Senegal represents the 55 states of the African Union. South Africa and Argentina are other G20 members.
Think7’s work priorities were set out at an inaugural conference in January. The resulting policy recommendations were discussed at the Global Solutions Summit in March 2022 before being presented at the Think7 Summit in Berlin on 23-24 May.
Challenges that can only be tackled jointly
The international think-tank experts stress that the war in Ukraine should not lead to other global problems being put on the back burner. Based on this underlying idea, they are submitting a series of recommendations to the German G7 Presidency in the run-up to the Summit of Heads of State and Government in Elmau. In essence, Think7 emphasises the value of international cooperation in tackling global challenges through
- international cooperation to reduce food shortages,
- meeting previously agreed climate targets by reducing CO2 emissions,
- undertaking joint efforts to end the pandemic through better vaccine distribution,
- and ensuring sustainable, economic recovery by means of targeted investments.
Climate Club – a step in the right direction
Federal Chancellor Scholz’s suggestion of an inclusive Climate Club to be established at the G7 Summit is in keeping with the ideas put forward by Think7, for example. The final Think7 report praises the idea of the Climate Club and says that the G7 should lead by example. Other countries are to be invited to pursue greater sustainability in society and in industrial production, thereby emitting less CO2. The aim is to win over more and more supporters for this cause as time goes on. Here again, the G7 is to invite partner countries to get involved so as to show that only joint action can be effective.
The Think7 (T7) group is made up of leading think-tanks from the G7 countries. The high-level Think7 delegation was led by Prof. Dr Anna-Katharina Hornidge of the German Development Institute and Dennis Snower, President of the Global Solutions Initiative. For further information about the think-tanks advising the G7, see the Think7 website.