Four Summits for a New Global Agenda
G7 Summit, Financing Conference, SDG Summit and Climate Change Conference - What are the governments prepared to do?
What do Schloss Elmau in Bavaria, the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa and the metropolises of New York and Paris have in common? They will all be hosting summit meetings in 2015, where state leaders must demonstrate whether they have the courage to reach agreement on a global agenda for a fair future for all. It begins with the G7 summit in June.
Under German presidency, the powerful G7 heads of state will discuss about world economy, foreign policy, security and development policy. Here, the first political signals will be set to answer the question: Is it possible to end global hunger by 2030?
We are convinced it is! A prerequisite is that the focus lies on the needs of those who produce the majority of food in developing countries: smallholder farmers.
Successes in fighting hunger
In the year 2000, during the optimistic mood of the turn of the millennium, heads of state and government adopted a Millennium Declaration and eight Millennium Goals with a timeframe of 2015. The results have been mixed. Of course there were successes – such as in combating infant mortality or in the promotion of primary education. The number of hungry people decreased across the world, in some countries the number of those in poverty was significantly reduced. But a true breakthrough is yet to materialise. The gap between rich and poor continues to widen. And globally there are still 795 million people suffering from hunger. Every ten seconds, a child dies from the consequences of malnutrition or undernutrition. Now there should be a new global agenda.
Four summits for a new global agenda, beginning with the G7
- G7: At the summit meeting of G7 heads of state in June at Schloss Elmau, the first political signals will be set.
- Hunger, poverty, climate: The summit at Addis Ababa will focus on questions of financing and the form of development, and on the fight against hunger and climate impact.
- SDG: In September, the heads of state should agree on 17 goals for sustainable global development.
- Climate: Finally, in Paris in December, an internationally binding climate agreement should be agreed. Learn more: our climate demands
Global responsibility: it's everyone's obligation
Fair also means: acting responsibly and fighting corruption. It remains to be seen whether government heads are ready to accept global responsibility and put their national interests to one side.
- In particular, the industrial nations need to recognise that government negotiations, whether on trade, agricultural or energy policy, can have impacts in other countries.
- Developing countries must not be permitted to evade responsibility, as corruption and poor governmental leadership hinder each forward step.
- In turn, the emerging nations should not repeat the mistakes of the industrial nations, but should follow environmentally and socially acceptable paths. All nations must commit to overcoming the extreme inequality that exists in the world.
#ZeroHunger in 2030: what needs to happen?
As far as feeding the world population is concerned, in the planned »post 2015 agenda« there is an ambitious target: By the year 2030 there should be no more hunger. The human right to food would then be a reality for all. That is right and good. Welthungerhilfe has been campaigning for exactly this for more than 50 years. It is not acceptable that people go hungry because governments procrastinate over negotiations.
A better future for all: Now is the time to take action!
We need a long-term, verifiable commitment from governments to invest more in the fight against hunger – both financially and strategically. As such, the focus must lie on rural areas and small farmers in developing countries, as three out of every four hungry people live in the countryside. If smallfarmers produce more, generating new jobs in rural regions and, at the same time, trade and agricultural policies enable fair market access, hunger and poverty can actually be rapidly reduced.
Four summits in 2015 offer the chance for a better future for all – but also the risk that nothing will changes. That cannot be allowed.