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During some days this September (22-24.09), the UN’s Summit of the Future convened in the UN’s headquarters, serving as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to enhance cooperation on critical challenges, will address gaps in global governance and reaffirm devotion to already existing commitments. The European Union has already a feasible and comprehensive plan for a “green and social deal”…
Background
The Summit is a high-level event, bringing world leaders together to forge a new international consensus on how we deliver a better present and safeguard the future. Effective global cooperation is increasingly critical to our survival but difficult to achieve in an atmosphere of mistrust, using outdated structures that no longer reflect today’s political and economic realities. This once-in-a-generation opportunity serves as a moment to mend eroded trust and demonstrate that international cooperation can effectively achieve agreed goals and tackle emerging threats. The world leaders will need to adopt the Pact for the Future, which will include a Global Digital Compact and a Declaration on Future Generations as annexes.
The UN General Secretary acknowledged before the summit both correctly and philosophically: “we cannot build a future for our grandchildren with a system built for our grandparents”.
The Pact aims to reinvigorate multilateralism and accelerate the implementation of existing commitments, especially the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Climate Agreement, through actionable deliverables.
The aim of the Summit is twofold: a) accelerate efforts to meet our existing international commitments, and b) take concrete steps to respond to emerging challenges and opportunities; the aim is to be achieved through an action-oriented outcome document called the Pact for the Future. The result will be “creating a world and international system” that are better prepared to manage the facing and expected challenges for the sake of all humanity and for the future generations. Hence the summit’s three possible outcomes include the Pact for the Future, the Declaration on Future Generations and the Global Digital Compact.
Thus, Professor Jeffrey Sachs highlights the urgency and gravity of the global situation, including ongoing conflicts and crises confronting our planet and societies. The Professor also addresses global governance shortcomings, the role of the United Nations, and the importance of a redefined international financial architecture to achieve progress towards the global goals.
Reference and source: https://www.un.org/en/summit-of-the-future/about
Some suggestions
Germany and Namibia, co-facilitators of the Summit, announced the release of the zero draft of the Pact for the Future. The draft is intended to serve as a starting point for the intergovernmental deliberations this year, with the ultimate aim of adopting an ambitious, concise, action-oriented Pact for the Future.
More in: https://www.un.org/en/summit-of-the-future/pact-for-the-future-zero-draft
Besides, the “summit of the future” will also discuss the current challenges, opportunities and pathways on biodiversity’s conservation and attaining the targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, KMGBF adopted in 2022. As soon as the biodiversity conservation challenges are most visible in the three main ecosystems: terrestrial, aquatic and urban, it is urgent to discuss the current situation, the opening opportunities and ways to an optimal biodiversity conservation both for attaining the targets of the KMGBF and preserving the world-wide sustainable future.
More on KMGBF in: https://www.fao.org/biodiversity/kunming-montreal-global-biodiversity-framework/en
Main source: https://euelections.eeb.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Online-Pact-for-Future-1.pdf
Ahead of the summit, the SDSN has held a high-level-two-day “pre-summit of the Future Conference” as part of the annual International Conference on Sustainable Development.
The event was held at Columbia University in September 20-21 and featured discussions on five core topics of the “summit of the future”, including: 1) sustainable development and SDG financing; 2) peace and security; 3) governance of cutting-edge science, technology, and innovation; 4) youth and future generations; and 5) the future of multilateralism and global governance.
EU-wide commitments: aims and perspectives
According to the European Environmental Bureau, there are a dozen of continental commitments that could be under discussion at the summit:
= Embracing the “vision of living well” within the planetary boundaries: it means to continue prioritizing green and just transition towards climate neutrality, zero pollution and thriving nature in the next EU-wide political cycle.
= Charting an ecological transformation with the following flagship actions: – preparing an Action Plan for 2030 with commitments for the ecological transformation needed by 2040 and 2050 and addressing areas of insufficient progress; – addressing the legislative gaps, ramp up ambition and addressing barriers to tackling the existential threats to households and humankind.
= Reduce resource use and seize circular economy, CE opportunities while shifting to a wellbeing economy. The following flagship actions shall, be taken: – fast track the CE by resource use and material footprint reduction targets and resource efficiency measures; – refocus the economy on wellbeing and healthy people by, e.g. replacing the Stability and Growth Pact with a Wellbeing and Sustainability Pact and adjusting the European Semester to put environmental and social justice goals at the heart of EU economic governance; – create the fiscal space for countries to make investments in the transition.
= Fast-track towards a one-planet economy with supporting social-economy sectors to become resilient and competitive on sustainability. The following flagship actions are revealed: – ramp up support for skills development, training, job creation and research in key sectors of the green and climate neutral economy; – invest in smart electricity grids and wider infrastructure to help vanguard sustainable companies prosper; – design and launch a policy package for sustainable food systems; – strengthen chemicals legislation and implementation to support human health, catalyze innovation and avoid toxic supply chains.
= Drive system change through investments, fair taxation and distribution. Flagship actions include: – commitment to a Social and Green Investment Plan for the Green Deal transition, inviting all people and businesses; – reforming taxation and pricing systems to ensure fairness and distribution, putting in practice the polluter pays principle.
= Making all nature-safe and sustainable choices as easy as possible for people and business.
Flagship actions include: -the use of supply-demand policies, and increasing policy coherence and cooperation across all levels of government to create the right “service and product environment”, i.e. the physical, economic, political and socio-cultural context within which citizens operate to make their choices; – citizens should be able to choose the sustainable options by default, whether for mobility, housing, energy, food or other necessary consumables; – revise sustainable public and corporate procurement policy to champion the market transformation.
= Promoting a “just transition” and developing a new social contract to leave no-one behind with the following flagship action: commit to an EU-wide strategy and results-orientated social protection plan with monitoring via the European Semester to address inequalities and end poverty, ensure minimum income for all, systematically social proof policies to take account of gender, economic and other inequalities.
= Strengthening environmental democracy and give a voice to youth and others too often forgotten with the following flagship actions: -support and promote the adoption of an additional Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights recognizing the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment; – implement a European Civil Society Strategy and civic dialogue, with a focus on younger generations and marginalized groups, as well as innovations in participatory democracy.
= Show solidarity and embrace responsibilities, as well as support and manifest solidarity across an enlarging EU. The following flagship actions revealed: -roll out the green and just transition in candidate countries to support fossil-fuel independence, decent work, health and security with due legal, – administrative and financial support; – the EU’s expected enlargement shall not deter reforming EU governance and decision-making.
= Commit to global justice and drive partnerships to face common challenges; the following flagship actions are revealed: – taking responsibility for and scale back Europe’s negative externalities and resource exploitation; – provide a lead on global diplomacy for multilateral solutions and green-deal type partnerships and systematically push for the respect for the international rule of law.
= Implement existing commitments while enforcing the EU legislation to protect the rule of law and peoples’ health with the following flagship action: – setting up an Implementation and Enforcement Action plan, with strong focus on an unerring commitment to upholding the rule of law across the EU.
= Strengthen EU governance and trust in the European integration projects; the following flagship actions suggested: – adopting the EU strategy to combat disinformation by “weeding-out inappropriate influence by vested interests, and strengthen public accountability; – appointing a Commission Vice president for the European Green Deal & Social Investments, as well as a VP for Just Transition and a specific Commissioner for Youth and Future Generations.
General source and reference: European Environmental Bureau publication in https://euelections.eeb.org/