Programme

Global Cooperation in 2025 is facing unprecedented disruption. The Trump Administration has launched a full-scale attack on the normative and legal basis for global cooperation, from WHO and the Paris Agreement to Agenda 2030 and the SDGs. It has canceled its participation in Just Energy Transition Partnerships and brutally shreddered USAID whose contribution to many global efforts was significant.

In Germany, the incoming Chancellor Friedrich Merz, has pledged to leverage Germany's development cooperation to enhance geopolitical influence, curb migration, facilitate the return of migrants, and promote exports through tied aid. It remains to be seen what of these policies will make it into the coalition agreement, and what the budgetary consequences of the new course will be.

The inaugural "Berlin Forum on Global Cooperation", organized by the Heinrich Böll Foundation and Humboldt University Berlin, will focus on Germany’s engagement with the Global South in this era of disruption. Through keynotes, fishbowls, and several deep dives, we will explore Germany’s role in global cooperation amid shifting geopolitics, and seek a transformative way forward.

09:00 – 09:30 | Arrival and Registration [Foyer]

09:30 – 09:50 | Welcome [Plenary Hall Großer Saal 1]

Welcome by:
 - Dr. Imme Scholz, President, Heinrich Böll Stiftung
 - Prof. Dr. Markus Hanisch, Chair, Centre for Rural Development (SLE), Humboldt University Berlin

09:50 – 11:00 | Keynotes 
María Fernanda Espinosa & Carlos Lopes [Plenary Hall Großer Saal 1]

Global Cooperation in an Age of Disruption

(09:50–10:30) María Fernanda Espinosa followed by Q&A
Former President of the UN General Assembly, former Foreign and Defense Minister of Ecuador, currently Executive Director of Cities Alliance and Chair of Global Women Leaders for Change and Inclusion.

(10:30–11:00) Prof. Carlos Lopes followed by Q&A
Economist and policy strategist; former Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa; High Representative of the African Union for Partnerships with Europe.

11:00 – 11:30 | Break [Foyer]

Light refreshments available in the foyer.

11:30 – 12:30 | High-Level Panel
Germany’s Role in Global Cooperation [Plenary Hall Großer Saal 1]

This session discusses Germany’s evolving role in global cooperation amid budget constraints, shifting alliances, and new geopolitical expectations.

 Panelists:

• Jochen Steinhilber, Director General at the Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany
• Gregor Darmer, CEO Global Perspectives Initiative
• Reinhard Bütikofer, Former Member of the European Parliament
• María Fernanda Espinosa, Former President of the United Nations General Assembly; Former Minister of Foreign Affairs and of Defense, Ecuador
• Prof. Carlos Lopes, Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance, University of Cape Town, South Africa
  
  Moderation: Dr. Imme Scholz, President, Heinrich Böll Stiftung Berlin 

12:30 – 14:00 | Lunch Break & Networking [Cafeteria & Terrasse]

Enjoy Colombian and Japanese cuisine on the terrasse (€8.00–9.50, in cash).

Join us in the cafeteria for a market of opportunities, networking and exchange.

14:00 – 16:00 | Deep Dives

Deep Dive 1 – Development finance on the brink: What is the way forward? [Großer Saal 2] Engl.

Room: Großer Saal 2
Format: World Café

Budget constraints and shifting priorities are reshaping the landscape of development finance. This interactive deep dive will bring together a constellation of diverse actors, including experts and practitioners from different fields, to discuss key questions: 
Why does a financial gap persist in development cooperation? What root causes and past mistakes have led to the current challenges? What strategies are needed to mitigate the immediate funding cuts and build a more resilient financing framework in the long-term? How can we redesign development finance to genuinely serve marginalised people and ensure that no one is left behind? 

Designed as a participatory session, the deep dive will focus on leveraging the expertise in the room and connecting actors from different sectors. Participants will collaboratively explore the challenges of the development finance system and they will discuss alternative strategies to ensure a more sustainable and effective development finance system that leaves no one behind.

Keynote 

• Remo Gassmann, Program Director, Global Development Policy, hbs Washington

Deep Dive 2 – International climate cooperation: Germany’s role in times of uncertainty [Kleiner Saal 1+2] Engl.

Room: Kleiner Saal 1+2
Format: Keynote & Fishbowl Discussion

Germany has historically played a central role in international climate cooperation, but how well is it positioned to navigate current challenges? This deep dive will explore Germany’s evolving role in global climate governance, assessing its capacity to act in times of environmental crises and geopolitical shifts.

A diverse group of experts will interactively engage in a panel with the participants, discussing international climate collaborations and lessons learned from past decades. The session aims to identify key priorities for Germany’s future engagement in climate partnerships, fostering a critical dialogue on what must happen next.

Keynote Videoinput

• Veena Balakrishnan, Political Scientist, Intersectional Environmentalist and Co-founder Youth Negotiators Academy

List of Panelists

• Dr. Grace Mbungu, climate and energy expert, research coordinator at the Climate Change Program of the Global Sustainability Strategy Forum
• Caterina Bittendorf, German Youth Delegate UNFCCC
• Dr. Karsten Sach, environmental policy expert and head of the division for international cooperation at the German Federal Ministry for the Environment
• Berthold Schilling, energy expert, managing director Klimaunion

Deep Dive 3 – From crisis to resilience? The future of humanitarian aid [Conference Room 1] Engl.

Room: Conference Room 1
Format: Group Work

In a year marked by drastic cuts to global humanitarian aid, the gap between rising needs and available resources has never been more evident. UN-OCHA predicts that over 300 million people will require urgent humanitarian assistance in 2025. Yet only 5% of those forecasted needs are currently funded. This highlights the alarming rupture between the scale of global suffering and the response efforts. These massive cuts are forcing operations to scale back, staff to be laid off, and the humanitarian community to confront the difficult decision of whose

survival to prioritize. Against this backdrop of funding shortfall that is tightly bound to broader concerns over institutional legitimacy and moral, this deep dive at the Berlin Forum on Global Cooperation (BFGC) serves the purpose of developing an outlook on the future of humanitarian aid amid ongoing political disruptions. 

Keynote 

• Maliha Fairooz, Feminist Humanitarian Network (FHN)

Deep Dive 4 – Wie muss sich die deutsche internationale Zusammenarbeit neu aufstellen? (Hybrid Session) [ENG/DE] [Plenary Hall Großer Saal 1] Engl.

Room: Plenary Hall Großer Saal 1 [Hybrid Session online]
Translation: German with simultaneous translation to English available
Format: Fishbowl Discussion

German international cooperation is more under debate than ever. The incoming black-red coalition has agreed on extensive changes to its objectives and organizational structure in its coalition agreement. It speaks of a values-based policy of interests and intends to intensify bilateral relations with countries of the Global South and develop them into a global network. A new North-South Commission is to support this effort. Strategic priorities are to include “economic cooperation and securing access to raw materials, tackling root causes of displacement, and cooperation in the energy sector.”

However, the budget for international cooperation was more contentious than ever during the coalition negotiations. Much will only be resolved during the budget negotiations. Proposed cuts to “voluntary contributions to international organizations” and an “appropriate reduction of the ODA quota” are contrasted by the willingness to provide “our fair share of international climate finance.” Adequate funding for humanitarian aid is also promised.

In this Deep Dive, we want to discuss—together with leading experts in a fishbowl format—what impact the planned reforms could have, and how Germany’s international cooperation (IZ) must be restructured and improved across ministries.

In this Fishbowl discussion, we’ll explore the potential impact of these shifts with leading experts and ask:

• What role should the private sector play in international cooperation?
• Does the new geopolitical landscape call for a stronger European approach?
• How can the long-term financing of Germany’s global engagement be secured?

With:

• Ute Sudmann, Development Policy Officer, Germanwatch
• Frederike Kaiser, Member of Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft (BAG) Globale Entwicklung
• Jochen Steinhilber, Director General for policy issues of development cooperation at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
• Tobias Bischof-Niemz, Board Member, Enertrag
• Prof. Dr. Theo Rauch, Honorary Professor of Economic & Social Geography, formerly Prof. Humboldt University of Berlin

              Moderation: Robert Kappel, University of Leipzig, Blog Weltneuvermessung

16:00 | Break [Foyer]

Light refreshments available in the foyer.

16:20 – 16:50 | Presentation Deep Dives [Plenary Hall - Großer Saal 1]

17:00 – 17:45 | Closing Keynote – Prof. Adam Tooze [Plenary Hall - Großer Saal 1]

Sustainable Development and the Crisis of U.S. Hegemony

Economic historian Adam Tooze discusses the implications of the U.S. withdrawal from the 2030 Agenda, and what this means for Europe and multilateralism going forward.

In the early days of the Trump administration, on 4 March 2025, the US representative declared during a supposedly routine vote at the United Nations General Assembly: ‘The United States strongly opposes the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals.’

By withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement and rejecting the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals, the USA is not only calling into question the consensus on international development and cooperation that has grown since the 1970s - it is also denying the integration of environmental aspects, such as climate protection, into the development discourse. This discourse experienced its breakthrough with the UN conference in Rio in 1992 and its groundbreaking agreements and has characterised international cooperation ever since.

How can the current moment be placed in this historical context? What significance does it have - especially for Europe, which has played a key role in shaping the sustainable development agenda from the outset? And how should Europe, and Germany in particular, as the continent's most important economic power, respond to these challenges - especially in its relationship with the Global South?

17:45  – 19:00  | Final Words, Closing & Departure [Terrasse and Cafeteria]

Please join us for a closing with Brezels in the Cafeteria.

Short bios

María Fernanda Espinosa
is a diplomat, politician, and academic from Ecuador with more than 30 years of experience in international organizations, the Ecuadorian government, NGOs, and academia. She served as President of the 73rd United Nations General Assembly (2018–2019), Ecuador’s Foreign Minister, Defense Minister, and Minister for Culture and Natural Heritage. She is widely engaged in various initiatives and has worked closely with the Heinrich Böll Foundation for many years as Co-Chair of the project "Debt Relief for a Green and Inclusive Recovery," which develops proposals for a sustainable solution to the debt crisis.

Prof. Carlos Lopes
teaches at the Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance at the University of Cape Town. The renowned development economist has held leadership positions at the United Nations, including as Political Director for Secretary-General Kofi Annan and as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). In 2018, Prof. Lopes was appointed the African Union’s Special Representative for Partnerships with Europe.

Jochen Steinhilber
is the head of department at the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), responsible for multilateral policy and human rights. Previously, he worked for the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. He will present how BMZ analyzes current challenges and the responses it has formulated.

Gregor Darmer
is the CEO of the Global Perspectives Initiative, which just last week presented an interesting report titled "World in Transition: Germany and the Global South." In his presentation, he will share the key messages of this report.

Reinhard Bütikofer
has had a long political career: he was a Member of the European Parliament for the Green Party until the last legislative term and was always one of the most important foreign policy voices within the Greens. He will analyze the challenges from his perspective and articulate the key priorities that German and European politics must set toward the Global South.

Prof. Adam Tooze
is a renowned historian and economics expert. He teaches as a professor of history in New York and is a co-editor of the economics magazine Surplus. His research focuses on global economic and financial history, the crisis of the liberal order, and the geopolitical challenges of the 21st century. Tooze is the author of several award-winning books, including Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World and Shutdown: How Covid Shook the World’s Economy, in which he analyzes the interconnections between economics, politics, and global crises. With his sharp analyses and pointed commentary, he is one of the most influential voices in the international debate.

Livestream >>

Information: 
Elena Gnant
Referat Globalisierung und Transformation
E: gnant@BOELL.de