Berlin Forum on Global Cooperation 2025

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 shredded USAID whose contribution to many global efforts was significant.

In Germany, a new coalition government is going to shape the country’s international cooperation. Budgetary pressures loom large on all aspects of its system of international cooperation, and the consensus on the need for and benefits of international cooperation is under attack.

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

Programme: 

09:30 - Welcome & Keynotes + Q&A
The State of Global Cooperation 2025

• Prof. Carlos Lopes, Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance, University of Cape Town, South Africa
• Maria Fernada Espinosa, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ecuador, President of the UN General Assembly 2017-19 (tbc)

11:00 - Fishbowl-Discussion with the keynote speakers and:
Germany's role in global cooperation

• Jochen Flasbarth, State Secretary at BMZ (tbc)
• Tanja Gönner, Managing Director of the BDI (tbc)
• Luisa Neubauer, Fridays for Future (tbc) 
   
• Moderation: Imme Scholz, Director, Heinrich Böll Stiftung Berlin

12:30 - Lunch Break & Networking 

13:30 - Deep Dives
Three Deep Dives into aspects of Germany's North-South cooperation in the economic transformation:

1. Development finance on the brink: What is the way forward?
2. International climate cooperation - The role of Germany in times of uncertainty
3. From crisis to resilience? The future of Humanitarian Aid

16:00 - Closing Session
“Popcorn”  with young voices (Centre for Rural Development graduates) from breakout groups

16:30 - Keynote + Q&A
The end of US hegemony? Europe’s role in global cooperation

• Adam Tooze, Columbia University

17:30 - Networking

Cooperation: 
With The Centre for Rural Development (SLE) at the Humboldt Universität of Berlin.

Information: 
Elena Gnant, Globalisation and Transformation Unit
E: gnant@BOELL.de

Your Participation in the event

» Participation on site
at the the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Conference Center, Schumannstr. 8, 10117 Berlin

Please register in advance. Unfortunately, the number of seats for this event are limited. If we are at capacity, the conversation will be transmitted via video to other rooms.

» Online participation in ZOOM
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» Towards Greater Accessibility
At the Heinrich Böll Foundation, we are constantly striving to remove barriers. Whether in our building, in the release of publications or at online events. All information on this can be found under the following link: https://www.boell.de/de/auf-dem-weg-zur-barrierefreiheit

» Livestream
Alternatively, you can follow the event via the livestream without registering.