5 Things to Know About the UN’s Landmark Summit of the Future: Global Issues

1 What is the Summit of the Future?

In 2020, the UN turned 75 and marked the occasion by launching a global conversation about hope and fear for the future.

This was the beginning of a process that would eventually, four years later, lead to the convening of the Top of the futurea key event in September, which will take place at UN headquarters, just before the General Assembly’s annual high-level debate.

The Summit was conceived at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the idea arose at the UN that countries and people were pulling apart instead of working together to confront this global threat that affected us all.

“We were really confronted with the gap between the aspirations of our founders, which we were trying to celebrate on the 75th anniversary, and the reality of the world as it is today,” said Michele Griffin, the Summit’s policy director. “The challenges we were facing, the threats, but also the opportunities and the imperfections in how we were responding.”

UN Member States responsible for Secretary-General António Guterres to envision a future of global cooperation. His response to their call was: “Our common agenda”, a groundbreaking report with recommendations for renewed global cooperation to address a wide range of risks and threats, and a proposal to hold a forward-looking summit in 2024.

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

The immediate result will be a final version of a Pact for the futureimmediately Worldwide Digital Compact and a Declaration for future generations These are all expected to be adopted by member states at the summit.

2 Why is the Summit important?

Because these themes have been addressed before, and groundbreaking agreements such as the Paris Agreement about climate and the Sustainable Development Goals While no agreement has been reached, there is widespread perception that the UN structures, many of which were established decades ago, are no longer fair or effective enough.

The Top of the future offers an opportunity to better deliver on the promises already made, prepare the international community for the future and restore confidence.

“The most important ingredient in international cooperation is trust,” says Michele Griffin. “Trust in each other. A sense of our shared humanity, our interconnectedness. And the summit is meant to remind all of us, not just governments and not just people who are at the UN in New York in September, but everyone, that we have to work together to solve our biggest shared problems.”

3 Who are the key players?

The summit is preceded by two Action dayswhich will also be held at the UN Headquarters, where representatives from civil society, the private sector, academia, local and regional governments, youth, Member States and many more will have the opportunity to delve into the key themes of the event.

“You look at the UN and you think governments are the key players,” Griffin says. “And they are. They are the ones at the table, but they are doing it on behalf of their people.”

“Civil society actors, young people, have been involved all along and will be at the summit,” Ms Griffin explained. “The private sector will be here in recognition of the enormous role they play in shaping people’s lives and opportunities today. This summit is for everyone and by everyone, and everyone should see themselves reflected in it.”

4 What happens now?

The summit organizers stressed that the conclusion of the event does not mark the end of the discussions and issues raised during the four days.

Michele Griffin describes it as the beginning of a process: “Most of the seeds we plant at this summit will take time to grow and flourish,” she says, “and we must all be involved in holding governments accountable for meeting their commitments on the international stage.”

After the Summit, the focus will shift to implementing the recommendations and commitments contained in the Pact for the Future. In November, Azerbaijan will host the UN Climate Conference (COP29), where climate finance will be high on the agenda; in December the UN Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries in Botswanawhere solutions for sustainable development will be sought; and next June, efforts to reform the international financial architecture (including bodies such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which decide how and under what conditions loans, grants and technical assistance are provided to developing countries) will be intensified in Spain, during the International Conference on Financing for Development (Ffd4)

5 How can I participate?

Trade Now is the UN’s global campaign to encourage all people to advocate for a better, more peaceful and sustainable future. The platform aims to increase the number of people who speak out and make a positive difference, whether it’s through volunteering in their local communities, participating in local decision-making or simply changing their personal consumption habits to be more environmentally conscious.

In the run-up to the summit, the UN Youth Bureau is also mobilizing young people and allies by #YouthLeidena call to world leaders to make global policymaking more representative of the communities they serve.