The Summit of the Future in 2024
Major global shocks in recent years – including the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ukraine war, and the triple planetary crisis, among others – have challenged our international institutions. Unity around our shared principles and common goals is both crucial and urgent.
The Summit of the Future is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to enhance cooperation on critical challenges and address gaps in global governance, reaffirm existing commitments including to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the United Nations Charter, and move towards a reinvigorated multilateral system that is better positioned to positively impact people’s lives. Building on the SDG Summit in 2023, Member States will consider ways to lay the foundations for more effective global cooperation that can deal with today’s challenges as well as new threats in the future.
Summit of the Future: What would it deliver?
How would a Pact for the Future that adopts the proposals of the Secretary-General change our world?
Road to the Summit of the Future
2015
2030 Agenda
The 2030 Agenda is agreed by UN Member States as a plan of action for people, planet, prosperity and peace outlined through 17 Sustainable Development Goals and related targets.
2020
UN75 Declaration
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Member States issued the UN75 Declaration that included 12 overarching commitments along with a request that the Secretary-General report back to the General Assembly with recommendations to address current and future challenges.
2021
Our Common Agenda
The Secretary-General responded to this call with Our Common Agenda, a wake-up call to speed up implementation of the SDGs as well as recommendations to address strategic gaps in global governance arrangements. It called for a Summit of the Future to forge a new global consensus on multilateral solutions to current and future problems.
2023
SDG
Summit
Marking the mid-point of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, the SDG Summit in 2023 will be convened on 18-19 September 2023 to “mark the beginning of a new phase of accelerated progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals”.
2022-2024
Summit of the Future
Having welcomed the submission of Our Common Agenda, the General Assembly passed a resolution in 2022 (A/RES/76/307) to hold the Summit of the Future on 22-23 September 2024. Practical consultations on preparations for the Summit begin in February 2023 and a Ministerial meeting will take place this year. The Summit of the Future will build upon the SDG Summit and breathe new life into the multilateral system so that it can deliver on the promises of the United Nations Charter and the 2030 Agenda.
2024
Pact for the Future
An action-oriented Pact for the Future will be endorsed by Heads of State/Government at the Summit, showcasing global solidarity for current and future generations.
Basis of the Summit
The 75th Anniversary of the United Nations was marked in June 2020 with a declaration by Member States that included 12 overarching commitments along with a request to the Secretary-General for recommendations to address both current and future challenges. In September 2021, the Secretary-General responded with his report, Our Common Agenda, a wake-up call to speed up the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and propel the commitments contained in the UN75 Declaration. In some cases, the proposals addressed gaps that emerged since 2015, requiring new intergovernmental agreements. The report, therefore, called for a Summit of the Future to forge a new global consensus on readying ourselves for a future that is rife with risks but also opportunities. The General Assembly welcomed the submission of the “rich and substantive” report and agreed to hold the Summit on 22-23 September 2024, preceded by a ministerial meeting in 2023. An action-oriented Pact for the Future is expected to be agreed by Member States through intergovernmental negotiations on issues they decide to take forward.
Work on the Summit has already commenced in 2023
The Secretary-General updated the General Assembly in August 2022 and February 2023 on progress relating to Our Common Agenda discussing the Summit.
He will also release a series of Policy Briefs starting in March 2023 in anticipation of Member State preparations.
Practical consultations on preparations for the Summit began in February 2023, spearheaded by co-facilitators, the Permanent Representatives of Germany and Namibia to the UN.
Meetings and consultations are taking place on a broad array of proposals, including with Member States, regional groups, the UN system, and multi-stakeholder partners.
A Ministerial meeting is planned for September 2023 to prepare for the Summit of the Future.
Intergovernmental Consultations
Intergovernmental Consultations on the Preparatory Process of the Summit of the Future led by the co-facilitators of Germany and Namibia.
Modalities for the Summit of the Future:
- 18 April 2023: Decision revising the Date of the Summit of the Future Ministerial (A/77/L.63)
- 8 September 2022: Modalities resolution for the Summit of the Future (A/RES/76/307)
Roadmap for the Preparatory Process of the Summit of the Future (last version)
- Appointment of Summit of the Future Co-facilitators 10 October 2023
- PGA Letter Summit of the Future 30 August 2023
- Letter dated 30 August 2023 on Scope of the Summit
- Scope of the Summit A/77/L.109 adopted as Decision 77/568 1 September 2023
- Letter dated 12 May 2023
Letters from the co-facilitators:
- Letter dated 13 November 2023:
Invitation to representatives of MGoS and civil society to a virtual consultation on 13 December 2023 - Letter dated 19 October 2023:
Informal consultations on the preparations of the Pact for the Future on 19 October 2023 - Letter dated 20 April 2023:
Concept note on informal consultations on the scope and elements of the Summit of the Future - Letter dated 18 April 2023:
Informal consultations with representatives of major groups and other stakeholders on 27 April 2023 concerning the report of the High-Level Advisory Board on Effective Multilateralism (HLAB) - Letter dated 18 April 2023:
Informal consultations with Member States on 27/28 April 2023 concerning the HLAB report - Letter dated 30 March 2023:
Informal consultation with Member States on 20 April 2023 concerning the scope and elements of the Summit of the Future - Letter dated 3 March 2023:
Informal consultation with major groups and other stakeholders on 16 March 2023 concerning strengthening the international response to complex global shocks - Letter dated 3 March 2023:
Informal consultation with Member States on 16 March 2023 concerning strengthening the international response to complex global shocks - Letter dated 2 February 2023:
Informal consultation with major groups and other stakeholders on 15 February 2023 concerning the roadmap for the preparatory process - Letter dated 2 February 2023:
Informal consultation with Member States on 14 February 2023 concerning the roadmap for the preparatory process - Letter dated 4 January 2023:
Preparatory process of the Summit of the Future
Further information on mandates and the schedule of General Assembly plenary and related meetings can be found on the President of the General Assembly’s website for the 77th Session.
Areas of Potential Action
Member States will ultimately decide the outcome of the Summit of the Future, but the Secretary-General has outlined an ambitious agenda for their consideration. These are further elaborated in the Secretary-General’s Our Common Agenda Policy Briefs.
- Account for the future: practical steps to take account of the long-term impact of our decisions, fulfilling a long-standing commitment Member States have made to future generations;
- Better respond to global shocks: put in place a stronger international response playbook for complex global shocks, maximizing the use of the Secretary-General’s convening power in the form of an Emergency Platform;
- Meaningfully include young people: systematically include young people in global decision-making;
- Measure human progress more effectively: agree on metrics beyond GDP so that decisions on debt relief, concessional funding, and international cooperation take account of vulnerability, well-being, sustainability, and other vital measures of progress.
- Agree on a vision of digital technology as a motor for human progress that can deliver full benefits while minimizing potential harm;
- Commit to integrity in public information: achieve an information ecosystem (notably online) that is inclusive and safe for all, perhaps via a code of conduct;
- Reform the international financial architecture: to ensure it delivers more effectively and fairly for everyone and particularly the Global South, including through objectives that are aligned with the SDGs, debt sustainability, a global financial safety net, and more;
- Advance the peaceful and sustainable use of outer space: update norms governing the use of and behaviour in space so that it is peaceful, secure and sustainable for the benefit of all;
- Agree a new agenda for peace: update our understanding of all forms and domains of threats and adapt our toolbox to prevent and manage hostilities on land, at sea, in space, and in cyberspace;
- Transform education: achieve a fundamental shift in how education is seen and treated including in relation to the purpose of education; the learning environment; the teaching profession; harnessing digital transformation; investing in education; and multilateral support for quality education for all.
- UN 2.0: adapt basic UN practices on data, communications, innovation, strategic foresight, performance and results, and more, so it is better positioned to support all the above and face the challenges of tomorrow.
Member States may also elect to include in the Pact ideas and proposals from the forthcoming report of the Secretary-General’s High-Level Advisory Board on Effective Multilateralism.
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