Germany's and Korea's global priorities in the field of sustainable development are converging. This convergence offers considerable opportunities and potential for the expansion of international cooperation between the two countries. This applies in particular to the important areas of development policy and international climate finance.

Germany's and Korea's development policies and actions face a difficult global geopolitical and economic environment as well as a worrying decline in human development worldwide. Moreover, the consequences of climate change are visible in all parts of the world and often have catastrophic effects on developing regions. Both countries face the challenge of responding to this changing environment and effectively communicating these changes in their contributions to promoting sustainable development at home and through international cooperation.

Both countries have significantly increased their Official Development Assistance (ODA) budgets over the last decade. Korea is expected to continue its gradual growth path, while Germany seeks to consolidate its ODA budget. Korea and Germany also face the challenge of improving the effectiveness of ODA, as the scale of global development challenges - and in particular the need for climate finance - far outstrips the growth of available financial resources. Therefore, both countries are also exploring how ODA can be used to unlock additional funding and investment from the private sector.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainability reaches its critical halfway point at a special United Nations Summit in September this year. In this challenging year, this conference will bring together stakeholders, academics and practitioners from Korea and Germany interested in the global agenda for sustainable development, development policy and international climate finance.

Agenda

Opening

• Thomas Kalinowski, Ewha Womans University
• Niels Keijzer, IDOS

Welcome Messages

• Inhan Kim, Vice President for International Affairs and Professor at the Department of Political Science & International Relations, Ewha Womans University
• H.E. Mr. Michael Reiffenstuel, German Ambassador
• Kyooho Lee, Deputy Director General of Development Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea

Keynote speeches

Global trends in international climate finance

• Suh-yong Chung, Korea University

Dynamics of global development policy

• Stephan Klingebiel, IDOS/Ewha

Panel 1: Trends in Global Development Policy

• Minah Kang, Ewha Womans University & KAIDEC
• Niels Keijzer, IDOS
• Min Joung Park, Sookmyung Women’s University

Chair

• Jae Sung Kwak, Kyung Hee University

Panel 2: Sustainable Development, Green ODA and International Climate Finance

• Hakseok Ryu, GGGI, Korea
• Mariya Aleksandrova, IDOS
• Andreas Reumann, Green Climate Fund (GCF)

Chair

• Hyung-ju Kim, National Institute of Green Technology (NIGT)

Concluding remarks

• Stephan Klingebiel, IDOS, Ewha Womans University Frontier 10-10 Professor
• Thomas Kalinowski, Ewha Womans University