Written by Suzana Elena Anghel.
The United Nations Summit of the Future took place in New York from 22 to 23 September 2024 in the absence of the leaders of the five UN Security Council permanent members. The focus was on revitalising multilateralism and adapting UN policies to ‘the needs and interests’ of current and future generations. In a sign of continuity and commitment to agreed targets, the UN members reaffirmed their commitment to the implementation of Agenda 2030 and its 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs).
The summit adopted a ‘Pact for the Future’, a ‘Global Digital Compact’ and a ‘Declaration on Future Generations’, despite Russia’s last-minute attempts to derail the process. These three ‘soft law’ milestone agreements place inter-generational responsibility (a key commitment in the 1945 UN Charter) and long-term thinking at the core of the UN’s future action and policies. Intense inter-governmental negotiations led by three pairs of co-facilitators (Germany and Namibia for the pact, Sweden and Zambia for the compact and the Netherlands and Jamaica for the declaration) with input from stakeholders including the EU, preceded the summit. This allowed buy-in from both developing and developed countries, ultimately building the widest possible consensus on the pact. The pact now includes 56 actions intended to strengthen the inter-generational bond, anticipate risk and futureproof policies at the UN, regional and national level.
Futureproofing policies, an EU priority, made it into the pact. In time, this could lead to increased synergies between the EU and the UN, as it begins to implement the pact.
In the run-up to the summit, UN members made progress on institutional reform and bolder language was included on Security Council reform. Institutional reform remains a key long-term challenge, impacting the UN’s ability to deliver on its core mission: world-wide development, poverty eradication and peace and stability.
Read the complete briefing on ‘Summit of the Future: Focusing on inter-generational responsibility in UN action‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.
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