Solving global crises together

The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine has driven up energy and food prices worldwide. The pandemic left huge gaps in state budgets around the world and the consequences are still being felt today, particularly in the poorest countries. Climate change remains a global challenge. It affects business, finance, health, security and politics. Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz is convinced that it is not enough to take each crisis in isolation.

Global search for solutions

Speaking at the Global Solutions Summit in Berlin, the Federal Chancellor said this made it all the more important to bring about a "global effort". It was not enough for individual countries or regions of the world to simply try and deal with the problems that were most pressing for them in political or geographical terms, said Scholz. Given that even the most influential countries had only limited means at their disposal, the best that could be achieved would be to alleviate the local symptoms of a global "polycrisis", he said. The Federal Chancellor praised how the Global Solutions Summit had been committed to the necessary globalisation in ideas and solutions right from the outset.

The motto of this year's Global Solutions Summitis "Moving beyond the crisis: mobilizing change for global prosperity". The summit brought together experts from politics, science, business, think tanks and civil society to discuss global issues and to develop recommendations for G7 and G20. It took place in the run-up to the G7 summit for heads of state and government in Italy in July. The first Global Solutions Summit took place in 2017 during Germany's G20 presidency.

According to Scholz, international efforts were proving successful in limiting climate change, as all state parties to the Paris Agreement had developed national climate protection plans for the decade. At the same time, he went on, 78 countries had presented long-term strategies to achieve greenhouse gas neutrality by the middle of this century. "The transformation towards climate neutrality cannot be reversed. We cannot and will not return to the era of fossil fuels."

However, Scholz stressed it would not be possible to fund the necessary transformation with public funds alone, as UN estimates had put the cost at 125 trillion euros. Industrial nations were shouldering their responsibility, he said, but "climate funding around the world needs to be much more focused on mobilising private investment."

Scholz cited the Climate Club as an example of Germany's efforts. Its 38 members were working on joint standards for cooperation, greater transparency and closer alignment around decarbonising industry, he said.

Joining forces to fight poverty around the world

Scholz also stressed the need for global cooperation in the area of reforming the architecture of international finance and the international debt situation. He said this was why Germany was pushing for World Bank reform, and that new objectives had been adopted last year. "Fighting poverty goes hand in hand with preserving our livelihoods and protecting global public goods," he said.

According to Scholz, Germany was the first country to commit to providing over 300 million euros of hybrid capital to the World Bank. The World Bank can use these funds to increase lending and leverage private investment.

Global South key to achieving peace

Turning to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the Federal Chancellor called on major emerging countries to increase their efforts to bring an end to the war. "The more countries like China, Brazil, India and many others tell Russia that they've had enough, that Russia should put an end to the war and withdraw its troops, the greater the chance of peace coming soon," he said. He stressed the role of the Global South on this issue and said it reflected a world in a multifaceted crisis. The same was true, he said, of the planned peace conference in Switzerland. Scholz also said it was in the interests of Germany's G20 partners to send a signal that they wanted a lasting and just peace for Ukrainians.

Speaking at the Global Solutions Summit, the Federal Chancellor said he firmly believed that we cannot resign ourselves to our fate when it comes to facing the many interwoven challenges. Instead, we must keep looking ahead. "After all, solutions are all around us if we work together, as governments, think tanks and civil society."