Coordination of foreign and security policy issues as the core task

Close and informal coordination based on mutual trust on foreign and security policy challenges and crises is a key aspect of the G7 Foreign Ministers’ agenda. The G7 forms a unique platform for providing key impetus for conflict resolution and dealing with strategic challenges on the basis of our shared values. We intend to build on this during Germany’s Presidency. For, unfortunately, the current crisis issues will not decrease in number in 2022.

Effective liberal democracies with a strong set of values

What is more, Germany has set itself the goal of further strengthening the G7’s set of values. To this end, we intend to anchor more firmly key human rights issues, for example in spheres such as artificial intelligence, gender equality as well as accountability for human rights violations. At the same time, we want to work to ensure that the liberal democracies remain effective and really do offer people more freedom, security and sustainable prosperity.

Prevention and transformation agenda as a cornerstone: Climate crisis as one of three main focuses

It is not only the climate crisis that demonstrates the importance of joint, prompt and forward-looking action. We therefore intend to use the G7’s influence for a robust prevention and transformation Agenda:

1. The further escalation of the climate crisis is not only inflicting terrible suffering on people but also aggravating conflicts in many regions of the world. Climate policy is preventive security policy and thus a key component of our foreign policy and our G7 Presidency. We intend to greatly expand the G7’s commitment to climate change mitigation. Energy and climate partnerships offer a genuine opportunity for sustainable prosperity, especially for emission-intensive countries or those which are heavily dependent on fossil fuels. We also have to focus within the G7 framework on anticipatory humanitarian assistance as an instrument for mitigating, among other things, the consequences of the climate crisis as well as on developing a better common understanding of the link between climate and security.
2. During our G7 Presidency we want to strengthen multilateralism. We can only tackle crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic by working together. And we will have to react to future crises in good time, with a united front and based on scientific findings and advice from experts. The United Nations offers the right framework for this. That is why strengthening the global health architecture and ensuring sustainable global vaccine equality are also on the agenda of the G7 Foreign Ministers.
3. As partners with the same values, the members of the G7 share a desire to make our democracies more resilient. Disinformation campaigns, for example, pose a genuine threat to our open societies. We therefore also want to put projects aimed at ensuring better cyber security in selected partner countries outside the G7 and future investments in joint global infrastructure on the Agenda.

Milestones of the 2022 Presidency

As traditional milestones for the G7 Foreign Ministers process in 2022, two meetings at ministerial level, one in late May 2022 and a second in the autumn of 2022, are planned. Just like any other year, there will also be a meeting of the G7 Foreign Ministers on the margins of the UN General Assembly in September 2022, which, as is customary, will focus on current issues with a multilateral Dimension.

Strengthening relations with partners outside the G7 who share our values

The G7 states do not remain on their own: Germany, too, will invite guest countries which share values such as freedom and the rule of law. At the two forthcoming Foreign Ministers’ Meetings, we will initially focus on African countries and then, at the second meeting, on countries from the Pacific region.