Delegations of research performing and research funding organizations from 38 nations and six continents, including ministries of education and research, funders, university and research leadership, libraries and national-level library consortia, scientists and scholars, gathered at the 16th Berlin Open Access Conference (B16), held 6-7 June 2023 in Berlin. The statement that follows represents the strong consensus of all delegations present at the meeting. The global open access transition must advance at a far greater pace. Inequity is incompatible with scholarly publishing. Academic self-governance is an imperative in scholarly publishing. Author choice and author rights must be fully enabled. Publishers can restore our trust in their commitment to the integrity of scholarly communication by working with all members of the global research community to effect complete and immediate open access according to points stated above. Please read the full statement from the URL: https://oa2020.org/b16-conference/b16-final-statement/ posted by Dr. J. K. Vijayakumar , Director Library Services & Professor American University of Antigua Antigua, West Indies Member, IATUL Board of Directors 2023-26