As Germany heads into the election season, on April 6, the ACG hosted a Kaffeepause with Politico’s Chief Europe Correspondent Matthew Karnitschnig.
With a new U.S. administration and a more assertive and capable European Union, there is now a once-in-a-generation opportunity to design a new transatlantic agenda for global cooperation based on our common values, interests, and global influence. Against the backdrop of a new geopolitical and economic reality, a strong transatlantic relationship to sustain peace and security is undeniably relevant. A Feminist Foreign Policy questions the traditional understanding of state security and calls for a people-centered approach to security and peace. On March 31, the Centre for Feminist Foreign Policy, 1014, with the support of the ACG hosted a discussion with Pam Campos Palma, political strategist, former military intelligence analyst, and Director of Peace and Security at the Working Families Party; and Verity Coyle, Senior Advisor and Nonresident Fellow with Stimson’s Conventional Defense program; and moderated by Kristina Lunz, Executive Director of the Centre for Feminist Foreign Policy.
Each week, the ACG hosts a Kaffeepause, or coffee break, on Clubhouse. Journalists are invited to discuss the latest developments within the political landscape in Berlin. On March 29, the ACG hosts a hybrid event on both Clubhouse and Zoom, with Andreas Kluth, Opinion Columnist for Bloomberg.
Late last month the Sustainable Finance Committee, which advises the German federal government on the development and implementation of its Sustainable Finance Strategy, released a report outlining more than 30 policy recommendations to be taken to establish a sustainable financial system. Digitalization, globalization, climate concerns, and more recently the coronavirus pandemic are driving change around the world. In order to address these trends, companies must innovate and adapt to survive. The finance sector can play a role in facilitating this transformative process by doing more to address sustainability and the social impact of investing. On March 26, the ACG hosted a discussion about Germany’s model for sustainable finance with one of the members of the Sustainable Finance Committee, Dr. Gerald Podobnik, the CFO of the Corporate Bank division of Deutsche Bank.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect lives around the world, it is becoming clear that the pandemic and its economic fallout are having a regressive effect on gender equality. Sociologist Jutta Allmendinger recently claimed the pandemic will set Germany back 30 years in terms of the equality achieved between men and women. Mothers, in particular, are disadvantaged by existing containment strategies. On March 23, the Thomas Mann House, WZB Berlin Social Science Center, and the American Council on Germany hosted a discussion with Jutta Allmendinger, President of WZB Berlin Social Science Center, and Richard V. Reeves, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution; and moderated by Birte Meier, Journalist, ZDF, whose residency at the Thomas Mann House in Los Angeles to work on “Equal Pay in California and what Germany can learn from it” was interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.