Deandrea Hamilton

Editor

September 20, 2024 – There are ambitious aspirations for the UN’s Summit of the Future, which the Secretary General today said should welcome invigorating ideas and strategies for member countries and global institutions eager to see greater international harmony.

“The Summit of the Future was born out of a cold, hard fact: international challenges are moving faster than our ability to solve them. We see out-of-control geo-political divisions and runaway conflicts – not least in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan and beyond, said Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary General in his press conference held on Wednesday in New York.

“Runaway climate change. Runaway inequalities and debt. Runaway development of new technologies like Artificial Intelligence – without guidance or guardrails.  And our institutions simply can’t keep up.”

The Summit, which opens on September 20, 2024 touts as its mission, a move to produce an “inter-governmentally negotiated, action-oriented Pact for the Future with chapters on Sustainable development and financing for development; International peace and security; Science, technology and innovation and digital cooperation; Youth and future generations; and Transforming global governance.”

It is a massive mission by any measure.

Guterres said without a “spirit of compromise” the meetings will fall short of the goals to redefine the synergy necessary for nations to walk hand in hand into the future.

“Crises are interacting and feeding off each other – for example, as digital technologies spread climate disinformation that deepens distrust and fuels polarization.  Global institutions and frameworks are today totally inadequate to deal with these complex and even existential challenges,” said the Sec Gen.

He pointed to an outdated outlook that was in desperate need of new vigor and unflinching commitment in order to demonstrate the countries of the UN can work together.

“The peacebuilders of the 1940s could not have predicted the changes that have swept over humanity over the past eight decades:  The catastrophic consequences of climate change. Space exploration in all its dimensions. The internet, smartphones and social media – all boosted by Artificial Intelligence.  Like our founders, we cannot know precisely what the future holds.”

The institutions of today were crafted in a bygone era, he reminded and over the three days of the meeting, which are broken down into Action Days and Summit Days, the Secretary General is appealing for the kind of synergy which leads to problem-solving strategies all nations can commit to following.

“But we don’t need a crystal ball to see that 21^st century challenges require problem-solving mechanisms that are more effective, networked and inclusive; That serious power imbalances in global institutions must be adjusted and updated; And that our institutions must draw on the expertise and representation of all of humanity.

Change will not happen overnight. But it can start today.”

For the over 7,000 people registered to participate in the Summit of the Future, there is anticipation for a few breakthrough alterations in pacts.

“The strongest language on Security Council reform in a generation – and the most concrete step towards Council enlargement since 1963.  The first set of governance measures for new technologies, including Artificial Intelligence, in all their applications — with the UN at its centre.  A major advance in reform of the International Financial Architecture with the most significant language yet strengthening the role of developing countries. A step change in financing the Sustainable Development Goals and a commitment to advance our SDG Stimulus, multiplying the resources available to developing countries. The list goes on.

It would be tragic if all of this would be lost.”

The future for our grandchildren, he surmised, cannot be the one that was built for our grandparents.

“I hope Member States will do everything possible to get the Pact for the Future, the Global Digital Compact and the Declaration on Future Generations over the finish line.”

In 2020, the UN turned 75 and marked the occasion by starting a global conversation about hopes and fears for the future.  This was the beginning of a process that would eventually lead, four years later, to the convening of the Summit of the Future, a major event this September, which will take place at UN Headquarters, just before the annual high-level debate of the General Assembly.

The event will consist of sessions and plenaries based around five main tracks (sustainable development and financing; peace and security; a digital future for all; youth and future generations; and global governance), and other topics that cut across all of the work of the UN, including human rights, gender equality and the climate crisis.

The immediate outcome will be a finalised version of a Pact for the Future, with a Global Digital Compact and a Declaration for Future Generations in annex, all of which are expected to be adopted by Member States during the Summit.