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The head of the United Nations urged divided countries on Wednesday to compromise and agree on a blueprint for tackling global challenges from conflict and climate change to artificial intelligence and reforming the UN and global financial institutions.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters that discussions on the “Future Pact” were at an end and failure to reach the necessary consensus among all 193 UN member states “would be tragic.”
A year ago, Guterres sounded the alarm about the safety of people and the planet and called world leaders to the Summit of the Future at this year’s global meeting to unite and act to reform the UN and other institutions established after World War II and deal with new global threats. It took place on Sunday and Monday, before the start of the annual high-level meeting at the UN General Assembly.
Negotiations on the 30-page pact, now in its fourth revision, have been going on for months, and in recent interviews and at a press conference on Wednesday, the secretary general faced questions about the lack of vision, and what is different from the UN document. adopted in recent years which has not been implemented.
“It’s very simple,” the UN leader replied.
All previous “extraordinary and important declarations” were about what was needed to meet the challenges of the 21st century, he said. The Summit of the Future is about meeting these challenges, which will require the reform of global institutions established after World War II including the United Nations.
Guterres emphasized that in every area – from climate to AI – “there are serious problems of governance,” and this is the Future Summit.
The draft Pact of the Future says world leaders are gathering “at a time of profound global transformation,” and warns of “rising catastrophic and existential risks” that could push people everywhere “toward a future of perpetual crisis and destruction.”
But the draft says leaders will come to the UN “to protect the needs and interests of present and future generations through action on the Pact for the Future.”
It includes 51 actions on issues including eradicating poverty, combating climate change, achieving gender equality, promoting peace and protecting civilians, and revitalizing the multilateral system to “seize the opportunities of today and tomorrow.”
Guterres pointed to “potential breakthroughs” in the pact including “the strongest language on Security Council reform in a generation,” and the most concrete steps to expand the 15-strong body since 1963.
He also mentioned the first steps to manage new technologies including Artificial Intelligence, “major progress” in the reform of international financial institutions, and the commitment to increase resources for developing countries to achieve the UN’s development goals by 2030.
Urging member states to get the Future Pact “over the finish line,” Guterres said, “We cannot create the right future for our grandchildren with a system built for our grandparents.”
US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters Tuesday that a priority for the Biden administration at this year’s Future Summit is “creating a more inclusive and effective international system.”
He said that the Group of 77 which currently represents 134 developing countries at the UN, the 27 members of the European Union and the United States all agreed to the fourth revision of the Future Pact.
But the US ambassador said Russia objected on 15 different issues, Saudi Arabia had problems with climate language, and other countries objected to language on reforming international financial institutions including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
“I think the Summit of the Future will make a difference,” Thomas-Greenfield said. “There are still some major differences. … But I’m still hopeful that we’ll get there.”
