Uniting the World: Hamburg's Sustainability Conference Fosters Innovative Partnerships for an Eco-friendly Tomorrow
Hamburg Sustainability Conference 2025 Kicks Off with Ambitious Goals
The Hamburg Sustainability Conference (HSC) is set to return for its second edition on June 2 and 3, 2025, with a focus on fostering new global alliances and collaborative international cooperation to accelerate sustainable development.
In its inaugural edition in 2024, the HSC made significant strides, including the Hamburg Declaration on the Decarbonisation of Global Shipping, the Hamburg Declaration on Green Aviation, and the first governments joining the Global Battery Alliance. This year, the conference aims to take the next step by advancing significant new initiatives and alliances.
The conference is global in scope and will bring together approximately 1,600 participants from more than 110 countries. It will focus on sectors such as mobility and logistics, global health, biodiversity, and digitalisation, and is related to topics like policy, finance, international cooperation, investment, the United Nations (UN), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), sustainable finance, blended finance, and sustainable development.
The HSC is supported by a strong alliance, including the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Michael Ofto Foundation, and the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg.
Geopolitical Tensions and the Need for Collaboration
In the face of profound shifts in international relations, rising geopolitical tensions, and increasing fragmentation, the HSC 2025 emphasizes the importance of trustful and collaborative dialogue between the Global South and Global North. Despite cuts in development cooperation by some provider countries, the conference underscores the need for continued and strengthened cooperation, creating synergies and alliances like the Hamburg Sustainability Platform (now SCALED) to mobilize private capital for sustainable development.
Approximately 67% of respondents in a survey conducted by UNDP ahead of HSC 2025 identified geopolitical tensions as the greatest challenge to global cooperation in the year ahead. The conference aims to address this challenge by promoting collaboration and forging partnerships to achieve the SDGs.
High-Level Participants and a Diverse Program
The HSC will feature high-level participants such as Joyelle Clarke, Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment and Climate Action and Constituency Empowerment, St Kits and Nevis; Rebeca Grynspan, Secretary-General, UNCTAD; Cindy McCain, Executive Director, WFP; and Maropene Ramokgopa, Minister of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, South Africa.
The conference program offers a diverse range of events, including the opening of the first day by the German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Reem Alabali-Radovan, the First Mayor of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, Peter Tschentscher, and UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner. The second day will be opened by the German Vice-Chancellor and Federal Minister of Finance, Lars Klingbeil, with a keynote address followed by a Q&A session.
On June 4, HSC Future Economy Day will take place, focusing on the challenges of achieving a just and sustainable transformation of the economy. Hamburg Sustainability Week 2025, which runs from June 1 to 6, will offer a comprehensive program aimed at engaging the people of Hamburg and the wider public.
Detailed information about the conference program and the list of speakers can be found on the HSC homepage. Livestreams of selected sessions can also be found on the HSC homepage. For those interested in publishing news, events, jobs, and thought leadership, information can be found on the EB Publishing platform.
The HSC 2025's objectives are to catalyze international cooperation, investment scaling, and cross-sector alliances to advance sustainability goals while deliberately building bridges across geopolitical divides to sustain development momentum. This includes the signing of the Hamburg Declaration on Responsible AI for the SDGs and the establishment of the Global Alliance against Inequality.
The conference will focus on three key objectives: reforming the international financial architecture, mobilising new investments to achieve the global SDGs, and driving transformation in critical sectors. With its ambitious goals and diverse program, the Hamburg Sustainability Conference 2025 promises to be an important event in the global push towards sustainable development.
- The Hamburg Sustainability Conference (HSC) 2025 is focusing on fostering new global alliances to accelerate sustainable development, addressing areas such as biodiversity, digitalization, global health, and mobility and logistics.
- Amidst geopolitical tensions, the HSC 2025 emphasizes the importance of collaboration between the Global South and Global North, underlining the need for continued cooperation to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
- The conference aims to advance significant new initiatives, alliances, and agreements in sustainability, finance, and policy-and-legislation, including the signing of the Hamburg Declaration on Responsible AI for the SDGs and the establishment of the Global Alliance against Inequality.
- High-level participants, including Joyelle Clarke, Rebeca Grynspan, Cindy McCain, and Maropene Ramokgopa, will attend the conference, which offers a diverse range of events like keynote addresses, Q&A sessions, and discussions on the future economy.
- The conference will focus on reforming the international financial architecture, mobilizing new investments to achieve the global SDGs, and driving transformation in critical sectors, aiming to be a significant event in the global push towards sustainability.
- The HSC 2025's objectives intersect with the Silicon Valley innovation community, the United Nations (UN), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), climate-change, biodiversity, environmental-science, science, business, policy-and-legislation, politics, general-news, finance, and international cooperation.
