A Good Life for All

The situation we are currently living in can be viewed from two perspectives. The first perspective is that the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated a trend that had already begun with the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009. While there had been progress in the fight against extreme poverty, hunger, child mortality and social inequality up to that point, a steady decline set in afterwards, which is now picking up speed. Despite the Paris Climate Agreement of 2015 having been signed into international law, greenhouse gas emissions are continuing to increase unchecked. We can no longer shut our eyes to the harm being caused to humankind and to nature. Moreover, the pandemic that swept across the world last year has even more mercilessly exposed the social, ecological and financial fault lines.

The second perspective is that people often excel during times of crisis. They find unconventional solutions to urgent problems and inspire others to get involved. Thus, the dramatic pressure of this pandemic is also driving long overdue processes of change – such as digitalisation – that will increase resilience to external shocks in the future.

A crisis of such historic proportions as the coronavirus pandemic reminds us only too clearly that we cannot let up in our efforts to bring about socio-ecological change. The countries of the Global North in particular have a special responsibility in this regard. Over decades, they have established an economic consumption-based model that is based on continuous growth, exploitation of resources and people, and shifting the social and environmental impacts onto others. The United Nations Agenda 2030 must now be the basis for all our actions. Its 17 goals for sustainable development are not just about improving people’s living conditions: they are also about dignity and humanity – the foundations for coexistence in our one world.

In Germany, Europe and around the world, we are working to bring about a change in mindset towards a fair and sustainable global community: through our work in development education, through our political action, and through our engagement with our partners and for their concerns.

We have to halve global greenhouse gas emissions within the next 100 months. In light of the challenges this target poses, we have developed our strategy with a time horizon that spans the whole decade. To achieve our goals, we have to be a trustworthy and reliable partner: globally and in Germany. We have therefore made it our mission to try out new types of collaboration with partners and in networks. We want to inspire more and more young people about the areas we are involved in and work with them to make socio-ecological change possible. We are bringing fresh ideas to the increasingly difficult financial environment and are continuously improving the way we work. We will regularly check if we are on the right track.