The German city of Hamburg is hosting a major conference on sustainable development this week, attracting around 1,600 participants from more than 100 countries.
The first Hamburg Sustainability Conference opened on Monday, aiming to convene experts to discuss the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz – a former mayor of the city – attended the opening of the conference and said it would “make an important contribution to achieving the sustainability goals, because it will build alliances between countries and alliances between the economy, the social civil society and science possible. “
The aim of the conference was to “strengthen mutual trust within the global community while demonstrating that global challenges can be overcome with strong international partners.”
A number of national leaders, mainly from the South, are present, along with Ajay Bang, President of the World Bank.
Organizers hope the event can become the sustainability industry’s counterpart to the Munich Security Conference, the world’s largest foreign and security policy gathering.
Themes covered include climate-neutral shipping, sustainable battery production and climate finance.
The conference is organized with the support of the German Ministry of Development and the UN Environment Programme.
The SDGs are a broad set of goals agreed in 2015 to address global challenges. The 17 categories include poverty, hunger, gender equality, climate change, sustainable production and economic growth.
