UN adopts ‘Pact for the Future’ aimed at bolstering multilateralism

New York — The UN General Assembly adopted a “Pact for the Future” on Sunday, which UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres described as a landmark agreement that is a “step-change towards more effective, inclusive, networked multilateralism”.

The pact, which also includes an annex on working towards a responsible and sustainable digital future, was adopted without a vote at the start of a two-day Summit of the Future. The agreement came after some nine months of negotiations. In the adopted version of the pact, the leaders pledge to strengthen the multilateral system to “keep pace with a changing world” and to “protect the needs and interests of current and future generations”.

“We are here to bring multilateralism back from the brink,” Guterres told the summit.

He had pushed for the summit and the pact, which covers themes including peace and security, global governance, sustainable development, climate change, digital co-operation, human rights, gender, youth and future generations. It lays out about 56 broad actions that countries pledged to achieve.

“The Pact for the Future has been adopted by member countries by consensus at UN Headquarters in New York. The adoption will help pave the way for greater international co-operation for our common future,” a UN official account wrote on X.

The pact says: “We recognise that the multilateral system and its institutions, with the United Nations and its Charter at the centre, must be strengthened to keep pace with a changing world. They must be fit for the present and the future — effective and capable, prepared for the future, just, democratic, equitable and representative of today’s world, inclusive, interconnected and financially stable.

“Today, we pledge a new beginning in multilateralism. The actions in this Pact aim to ensure that the United Nations and other key multilateral institutions can deliver a better future for people and planet, enabling us to fulfil our existing commitments while rising to new and emerging challenges and opportunities.”

Global crises have spotlighted the need for UN reform and overhauling international financial systems. These challenges include ongoing wars in Ukraine, Gaza, and Sudan; lagging climate change mitigation efforts; widespread national debt issues; and concerns over technology advancing without governance.

On Sunday, President Cyril Ramaphosa told the summit: “Wars, conflict, and the spectre of emerging conflicts are ever-persistent features of our time. Climate change is an existential threat. It is reversing economic growth and development gains in the Global North and Global South alike. The Covid-19 pandemic that wreaked havoc across our world was one of the worst zoonotic disease outbreaks, but it was not the first, nor will it be the last. 

“It was a stark illustration of our extreme vulnerability to pandemics and other global public health emergencies. 

“The wound of inequality cuts deep, exacerbating poverty, unemployment, deprivation and destitution. These challenges transcend borders. They affect everyone.

“Through this Summit of the Future, we must therefore forge global consensus on the causes of these challenges. We must agree on actions to confront and overcome the threats we all face.”

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he was counting on the adopted pact.

“The Pact for the Future can serve as a compass for us. A compass whose needle points towards more co-operation and partnership, instead of towards more conflict and fragmentation,” he said.

Russia’s deputy foreign affairs minister Sergey Vershinin criticised the negotiations and adoption of the pact.

Russia failed in its bid to include an amendment — backed by North Korea, Syria, Nicaragua, Belarus and Iran — that would have spelt out that “the United Nations and its system shall not intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state”.

With Staff Writer

Reuters