“Multilateral solutions for a better tomorrow” – that was the motto of the United Nations Summit of the Future, which took place in New York on 22 and 23 September 2024 during the 79th session of the UN General Assembly. During the Summit, the Heads of State and Government agreed on a Pact for the Future. This Pact gives the international community a shared handbook for accelerating the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and for managing important issues that affect all of our lives and futures. These include our approach to new technologies, artificial intelligence and new weapons systems, as well as greater cooperation in the digital sphere. Another core element of the Pact is the issue of intergenerational justice. The reform of the UN system, particularly the UN Security Council, is also an important topic. Germany, together with Namibia, played a pivotal role in the negotiations on the Pact.

The road to the UN Summit of the Future

The idea for a Summit of the Future emerged during the UN’s 75th anniversary in 2020, when the UN member states asked the Secretary-General for his recommendations on how to address current and future global challenges such as climate change and sustainable development, in the form of a “common agenda”. In response, in September 2021, the Secretary-General presented the report Our Common Agenda, which contained among other things a proposal for a UN Summit of the Future.

Further information on the UN Summit of the Future can be found here.

What issues does the Pact for the Future address?

• Chapter 1: Sustainable development and financing for development: What adjustments and further efforts by states and the United Nations are needed if we are still to reach the 2030 Agenda’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?
• Chapter 2: International peace and security: How can the collective security system be adapted to secure and preserve peace now and in the future?
• Chapter 3: Science, technology and innovation and digital cooperation: How can we shape the digital space in a positive way for humankind, preserving human rights and enabling the attainment of the SDGs?
• Chapter 4: Youth and future generations: How can young people be better integrated into global decision-making processes? How can the international community safeguard the interests not only of present but also of future generations?
• Chapter 5: Transforming global governance: How can the international financial system be shaped more fairly? How can space be utilised for the benefit of all and how can risks be reduced? How can the United Nations Security Council be reformed to ensure it is fit for its role in managing international conflicts?

Find the Pact for the Future here.

How did Germany help to prepare the Summit of the Future?

The German Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York led the negotiations on the Pact for the Future together with her colleague from Namibia. In numerous sittings and talks, Germany and Namibia drew together the disparate threads, sounded out compromises and brought about a consensus on the content of the Pact for the Future. Members of civil society and other stakeholders such as private businesses were closely involved in the negotiating process from the start.

On 12 September 2024, Federal Chancellor Scholz joined forces with Namibian President Mbumba and UN Secretary-General Guterres to host an online Global Call in preparation for the Summit of the Future. The three leaders used this occasion to promote the Pact for the Future together with several dozen heads of state and government from every region of the world. Recordings of the event, which was broadcast live on UN Web TV, and of the individual video messages can be accessed at www.SOTFGlobalCall.org.

The Foreign Ministers of the UN member states met on 21 September 2023 for a preparatory ministerial. They were in agreement that, in light of the complexity of current crises, solutions can only be found when countries work together, and that the Summit for the Future needed to generate impetus for a reform of the multilateral system, particularly the international financial architecture. Germany was represented by Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.