Economic Transformation for Shared Progress
education to equip workforces with the necessary skillsets for a green economy. In particular, the Youth7 calls for investments in the future of our countries by increasing funding for the innovative and future-proof education of our youth. Lastly, we can only master current and future crises is the global community works closely together. For this, we need strong and viable multilateral institutions. Hence, the Youth7 calls for strengthening such institutions and in particular supports a reform of the WTO with respect to the dispute settlement mechanism and the concern for climate protection in international trade. During the Youth7 process and our advocacy efforts, we have been able to establish a multitude of connections to engagement groups and govern- ment. We hope that these links will prevail beyond the current presidency and ensure a more impactful involvement of future Youth7 and Youth20 Dele- gations. In preparation for Japan’s upcoming G7 Presidency, we have shared our experiences with the Japanese colleagues and supported them in becoming involved institutionally in the G7 process as early as possible. Japan faces some quite similar problems as Germany: on the one hand, an indus- trial economy reliant on natural resources, a highly skilled workforce and an ageing population; on the other, it has a lot of work to do on gender equality, youth participation and mental health. In view to our joint advocacy work, it is incumbent on young people and their allies to stand up for the much-ne- glected issues that do not directly translate into economic priorities. However, we are optimistic as the continuation of our common task is in good hands. We wish our colleagues the best of luck!
with Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK), talking about international research and education collabora- tion and German trade policy, respectively. These meetings were fruitful, established connections for future Youth7 teams, and enabled us to raise our concerns about the leaders’ and respective minis- terial communiqués. All the G7 documents had one thing in common: While they were well intentioned, we found a frightening ignorance of youth-specific issues, a lack of concrete commitment, and no qual- itatively creative measures beyond some more-or- less of the status quo. As the German G7 Presidency ends, we can draw a positive conclusion regarding the Youth7 process. Nonetheless, there are several areas where we expect an increased effort from the G7 in the future. As of today, efforts to transition our econ- omies towards a sustainable future in line with the 1.5°C goal are falling short. Therefore, the Y7 maintains its call for differentiated and fair carbon pricing as well as a rapid increase in public and private climate financing to transition towards a green global economy. At the same time, we must acknowledge the disproportionate responsibility the G7 countries have had in advancing this climate crisis in the past. Therefore, the Youth7 continues to call for appropriate support for countries in the global South for climate adaption and to foster their green economic transition. Furthermore, we call upon the G7 leaders to reit- erate their commitment and finally adhere to the 0.7% ODA goal set by the OECD. The efforts to transition our economies must be supported by
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