It's great to be back at the Global Solutions Summit!

It's great because all too often our public debates focus on the problems rather than the solutions.

And more often than not, we approach them from a perspective that is strongly influenced by domestic politics.

In our networked, interdependent world, that is simply not enough.

That's why peaks like this one are so helpful. Because they devote themselves to both – the solutions and their global nature.

No matter where you come from or in which area you work - be it climate protection, international regulatory policy or migration, fighting poverty or promoting human rights - all these acute challenges have one thing in common: We will only master them successfully if we find new forms of global

cooperation .

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The international order as we know it faces enormous challenges.

Russia's brutal war against Ukraine may be the most shameful and shameless attack on that order. But he's far from the only one.

International law and judgments of international courts are ignored.
Universal human rights are dismissed as “regional inventions”.
Nuclear proliferation is a growing threat in East Asia and the Middle East.

I could continue this list.

So the million euro question is: How can we maintain an international order based on the United Nations Charter and international law in the 21st century?

But now we are here to talk about solutions.

And for me, the first part of the solution is that any functioning international order must reflect the multipolar nature of the world.

Yesterday's uni- or bipolar world may have been easier to shape, at least for the powerful. But it is no longer the world we live in.

Populations and economies are growing in countries in Asia, Africa and America. Hundreds of millions of them have lifted themselves out of poverty around the world and are now part of the middle class.

You have every right to seek the same level of prosperity, participation and global influence enjoyed by citizens of Europe and North America.

A global order in the 21st century must reflect this.

The good news is that an overwhelming majority of the world's countries agree on the principles on which such an order must be built.

With a few glaring exceptions - including Russia - we all agree on the prohibition of the use of force in international relations. We want the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of other states to be respected.

Countries that were not at the table in San Francisco in 1945 when the UN Charter was adopted also share this view.

Just ten years later, in Bandung, Indonesia, many of these African and Asian states spoke out in favor of self-determination, territorial integrity, sovereignty and a world free of colonialism and imperialism.

That's what we want to achieve if we support Ukraine against Russia's attack.

But why, some of you may ask, are some of these countries now reluctant to criticize Russia more openly?

Why did influential countries like India, South Africa or Vietnam abstain when the relevant UN resolutions calling on Russia to end its illegal invasion were voted on?

These questions deserve to be answered.

When I speak to leaders from these countries, many assure me that they do not question the principles of the international order. What troubles them is their unequal application.

They expect representation at eye level. They expect an end to Western double standards.

Don't get me wrong: I'm not saying that all these demands are always justified. But we must face them if we are to encourage the powers in Asia, Africa and America to join with us in building and defending a stable world order.

But what does that mean in practice?

First, we need to significantly expand the scope of our engagement in the Global South.

If countries are given the impression that we are only approaching them because we are interested in their raw materials or because we want their support for a UN resolution, then we should not be surprised if their willingness to work with us is, at best, muted is.

Our focus should therefore be more on what we have to offer them and where our interests overlap.

One example is regional integration.

No other region of the world has a higher degree of integration than the European Union - with its internal market, its freedom of movement and its strong political institutions.

Countries in Africa, Southeast Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean have embarked on a similar path with the African Union, ASEAN, MERCOSUR, CELAC and other organizations.

We Europeans should offer them our unique experience and our support. That's what I did in my meetings with the African Union last week in Addis Ababa.

Another great opportunity to build a new relationship between Europe and the Global South lies in the energy transition.

Within two decades we will be living in a world that draws its energy from wind, sun and hydrogen. For many countries in Africa, Asia and America that were once importers of fossil fuels, this holds enormous potential to boost their own zero-carbon industrial development, and in some cases even to export energy themselves.

This success is in our own interest.

After all, one of the most important lessons that Russia's war against Ukraine has taught us is that we must avoid unilateral dependencies and diversify our energy supplies.

To do this, the countries of the Global South must have access to the technology and capital needed to build a climate-friendly energy and industrial sector. An access we can grant.

Last but not least, this is also what the international climate club, which we founded during our G7 presidency last year, is about.

Chile recently joined Germany as co-chair. And I am very pleased that other emerging countries have also decided to join, including Indonesia, Colombia, Kenya and Argentina.

Dependencies do not only exist in the area of ​​energy. Many critical minerals are vital to the global transition to a carbon neutral future.

At the moment, a handful of countries dominate most of the market for the simple reason that the raw materials are processed there and not in the countries of origin.

The countries of origin are very keen to change that. And we are very keen to diversify our supply chains.

So why don't we work together to locate more processing steps where the raw materials come from?

This would not only ensure more prosperity locally. We would also ensure that our economies have more than one provider to choose from in the future.

If that means adjusting EU trade policy and agreements, then we should be open-minded.

In the future, equitable trading partnerships for mutual benefit could serve as a model.

That brings me to the second point we need to talk about: representation – or more specifically, lack of representation.

As long as emerging economies feel overlooked and underrepresented in the international system, they will not fully engage in its defense.

This is about acceptance and belonging.

Institutional reforms are needed to achieve this.

Germany expressly supports Africa's demand for more and permanent seats on the UN Security Council.

And I also agree with the African Union leader that the AU should join the G20 as an official member.

I hope that the G20 summit in New Delhi in September will formalize this important step.

The Summit can also play a crucial role in preparing our international financial institutions for the 21st century.

Given the magnitude of the change ahead, they need to stimulate private sector investment.

The World Bank in particular could be a pioneer in this - by driving the global transformation towards climate neutrality and continuing to fight poverty.

The way to get there will also be a topic of the talks we are having in the run-up to the G20 summit in New Delhi.

But we can do more. Not every step towards more participation requires laborious institutional reforms.

As you may know, we used our G7 presidency last year to bring leaders from the Global South into our discussions: Indonesia as the current G20 chair, India as its successor, Senegal as the AU chair, South Africa as a voice Africa in the G20 and Argentina as the presidency of the Latin American and Caribbean countries.

The results of our meeting reflect this affiliation.

As a proposition to the world in the spirit of sustainable development, we established the Global Infrastructure and Investment Partnership.
We created the Alliance for Global Food Security to protect people from hunger and malnutrition.
Together with the "Vulnerable 20", the group of countries most affected by the effects of climate change, we have launched the Global Climate Risk Shield.
And we have formed new partnerships with Indonesia, South Africa and Vietnam to support their societies and economies in a just energy transition.

I am pleased that the Japanese G7 Presidency plans to build on these achievements at our summit in Hiroshima later this week.

In Hiroshima, the G7

pledge our firm support to Ukraine for as long as it is needed;
Take steps to create secure and resilient economies based on partnerships with the Global South;
and respond to the challenges that developing and emerging countries face: from the acute threat of the climate crisis to the urgent need for infrastructure.

I myself will also personally advocate for a more inclusive and balanced international order, especially when it comes to our neighboring continent of Africa.

Therefore, I will invite African colleagues and other representatives of the international community to Berlin on November 20th to advance the G20 Compact with Africa initiative.

The aim of the initiative is to stimulate economic growth in Africa and create incentives for private sector investments. That still applies.

The corresponding potential has even increased - I was able to see this for myself during my visit to East Africa last week. Through Africa's young and growing population. And because many African countries see the energy transition as an opportunity.

So my conclusion is this:

Yes, there are many challenges to our existing international order - perhaps more than at any time in the past eight decades.

At the same time, the potential for equal global collaboration has never been greater.

This is the dichotomy of our time.

We should focus on harnessing this potential – just like you do with your work.

On that note, thank you for being part of the global solution!

And now I look forward to our discussion.