Hamburg Sustainability Conference

The Hamburg Sustainability Conference (HSC) is a high-level global forum designed to accelerate progress on the 2030 Agenda. Bringing together governments, civil society, youth, and the private sector, the Conference promotes collaborative, action-oriented solutions to global challenges.

 The 2025 edition focuses on three themes: reshaping the international financial architecture, unleashing investments for the SDGs, and leveraging transformation in fragile and crisis-affected contexts. Through a mix of plenaries, interactive formats, and stakeholder dialogues, HSC offers a space for forging partnerships and driving the systemic change needed to secure a sustainable future.

Cities Alliance will be represented by its President, María Fernanda Espinosa, who will contribute to key discussions across the official programme:

Monday, 2 June, 17:00 - Building a Common Future: Scaling Innovations for Future Generations: convened by the UN University Centre for Policy Research. The session will explore how the multilateral system can evolve to reflect long-term thinking and intergenerational fairness, building on the 2024 Pact for the Future and the UN80 reform initiative. The panel will highlight examples of long-term governance mechanisms from around the world and examine how such innovations can inform reforms within the UN system to respond to rising global risks and opportunities.

Panel: 

• Maria Fernanda Espinosa, President of Cities Alliance, former President of the UN General Assembly

• Sophie Howe, former Commissioner for Future Generations for Wales
• Neshan Gunasekera, CEO of the World Future Council 
• Guy Ryder, Under-Secretary-General for Policy, Executive Office of the Secretary-General, United Nations

Moderator: Joe Ageyo, Journalist (Kenya)

Venue: New Alliance Talk, Commerzsaal

Tuesday, 3 June, 18:00. Empowering Municipalities with Private Capital for Sustainable Urban Development: The session will examine how to align climate and development finance with the needs of informal communities, which are often excluded from formal planning and investment frameworks. Drawing on lessons from the Global South, the discussion will bring together multilateral banks, national and local governments, and civil society to explore practical tools and policy approaches that enable inclusive urban finance and advance resilience at the local level.

The session will be followed by a joint statement, in which partners will pledge to deepen collaboration and further engage national and local governments and private investors in targeted dialogues leading up to COP30.

Opening Remarks: Niels Annen,  State Secretary, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany

Panel:

• Akihiko Nishio, Vice President of Development Finance, World Bank
• Maria Fernanda Espinosa, President of Cities Alliance, former President of the UN General Assembly
• Olusegun Alebiosu, Chief Executive Officer, FirstBank Group, Nigeria

Moderator: Bishwas Baral, Editor, Kathmandu Post

Further Statements:

• Ambroise Fayolle, Vice President, European Investment Bank
• Mark Bowman, Vice President, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
• J. Cleo Kawawaki, Director General, Asian Development Bank

Closing: Anaclaudia Rossbach, Executive Director, UN-Habitat

Venue: New Alliance Talk 

Hamburg Sustainability Conference 2025 - Watch Live