Dear Minister Alabali-Radovan,
dear Mr. Director Steiner,
dear Honorary Citizen Prof. Dr. Michael Otto,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Welcome to the Hamburg Sustainability Conference 2025.
This year, more than 100 countries are represented at the conference: with government representatives, ambassadors, and other members of the diplomatic and consular corps. I also welcome the numerous representatives from business, science, civil society, and international organizations.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Hamburg is home to people from over 180 nations. It is an honor for our city that the international community – for the second time now – is gathering here to discuss strategies and projects for a sustainable, better future for all of us.
In recent years, the world has changed. Crises, wars, and conflicts increasingly overshadow the focus on climate change and the global pressures on nature and the environment.
The United Nations’ 2030 Agenda provides guidance in these challenging times. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals aim to give 8 billion people worldwide a good life and a secure future, with access to education, health, participation, peace, security, and prosperity.
Implementing this is a mandate and a great responsibility for the international community, because global developments can only be achieved through cooperation and joint efforts.
The Hamburg Sustainability Conference offers an independent forum for:
- discussion and exchange of experiences,
- presentation of new concepts and initiatives,
- and the agreement on multilateral alliances and partnerships.
This year, the program of the HSC focuses on three key areas:
- reform of the international financial architecture,
- new investments in the implementation of the sustainability goals,
- and transformation processes in key sectors such as mobility, logistics, health, biodiversity, and digitalization.
Ladies and gentlemen,
More than half of the world’s population lives in urban areas. They consume 80 percent of global energy, are responsible for 70 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, and produce more than half of the waste. But they are also centers of societal and technological progress. They combine economic strength, scientific excellence, and innovation.
Therefore, global metropolises have a special responsibility and also the potential to take a pioneering role in developing and implementing solutions for a sustainable future worldwide.
Hamburg is ready for this and has already committed in 2017 to the consistent implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The major cities of your countries also have this potential to act together with politics, business, science, and civil society, and to cooperate internationally.
The Hamburg Sustainability Conference is a forum for this cooperation.
I thank the co-initiators of the conference for their commitment:
- the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development,
- the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and
- the Michael Otto Environmental Foundation.
And I thank all of you for participating in this conference. I wish you interesting discussions, many new impulses and contacts, and a pleasant stay in Hamburg.
Thank you very much.
