The U.N. General Assembly approved a blueprint Sunday to bring the world’s increasingly divided nations together to tackle 21st-century challenges from climate change and artificial intelligence to escalating conflicts and increasing inequality and poverty.
The 42-page “Pact of the Future” challenges leaders of the 193 U.N member nations to turn promises into real actions that make a difference to the lives of the world’s more than 8 billion people.
The pact was adopted at the opening of the two-day “Summit of the Future” called by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who thanked leaders and diplomats for taking the first steps and unlocking “the door” to a better future.
“We are here to bring multilateralism back from the brink,” he said. “Now it is our common destiny to walk through it. That demands not just agreement, but action.”
The top UN official demands action
The U.N. chief challenged the leaders: Implement the pact. Prioritize dialogue and negotiations. End “wars tearing our world apart” from the Middle East to Ukraine and Sudan. Reform the powerful U.N. Security Council. Accelerate reforms of the international financial system. Ramp up a transition from fossil fuels. Listen to young people and include them in decision-making.
The pact’s fate was in question until the last moment. There was so much suspense that Guterres had three prepared speeches, one for approval, one for rejection, and one if things weren’t clear, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
“No one is happy with this pact," said Russia's deputy foreign minister, Sergey Vershinin.
The summit opened with him proposing amendments that would have significantly watered down the pact. Speaking on behalf of Africa’s 54 nations – which opposed Russia’s amendments – the Republic of Congo countered with a motion not to vote on the amendments. That motion was approved to applause. Russia only got support from Iran, Belarus, North Korea, Nicaragua, Sudan and Syria.
Assembly President Philémon Yang then put the pact to a vote and banged his gavel, signifying the consensus of all 193 U.N. member nations that was required for approval.
Russia has made significant inroads in Africa – in countries like Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Central African Republic – and the continent’s rejection of its amendments along with Mexico, a major Latin American power, was seen as a blow to Moscow by some diplomats and observers.
Yang announced ahead of speeches by world leaders that they would be muted after five minutes – a rare occurrence at the United Nations, where words are the backbone. Among those who kept talking after their mics were silenced: Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Kuwait emir Sheikh Meshal Al Ahmad Al Jaber and Irish President Michael Higgins.
Talk of the future is dark
The Pact of the Future says world leaders are gathering “at a time of profound global transformation,” and it warns of “rising catastrophic and existential risks” that could tip people everywhere “into a future of persistent crisis and breakdown.”
Yet, it says, leaders are coming to the U.N. at a time of hope and opportunity “to protect the needs and interests of present and future generations through actions in the Pact for the Future.”
The pact includes 56 actions on issues including eradicating poverty, mitigating climate change, achieving gender equality, promoting peace and protecting civilians, and reinvigorating the multilateral system to “seize the opportunities of today and tomorrow.”
Secretary-General Guterres singled out a number of key provisions in the Pact of the Future and two accompanying annexes, a Global Digital Compact and Declaration on Future Generations.
The pact commits world leaders to reform the 15-member Security Council, to make it more reflective of today’s world and “redress the historical injustice against Africa,” which has no permanent seat, and to address the under-representation of the Asia-Pacific region and Latin America.
It also “represents the first agreed multilateral support for nuclear disarmament in more than a decade,” Guterres said, and it commits “to steps to prevent an arms race in outer space and to govern the use of lethal autonomous weapons.”
The Global Digital Compact “includes the first truly universal agreement on the international governance of artificial intelligence,” the U.N. chief said.
The compact commits leaders to establish an Independent International Scientific Panel in the United Nations to promote scientific understanding of AI, and its risks and opportunities. It also commits the U.N. to initiate a global dialogue on AI governance with all key players.
The pact’s actions also include measures “to mount an immediate and coordinated response to complex shocks” including pandemics, Guterres said. And it includes “a groundbreaking commitment by governments to listen to young people and include them in decision-making.”
As for human rights, Guterres said, “In the face of a surge in misogyny and a rollback of women’s reproductive rights, governments have explicitly committed to removing the legal, social and economic barriers that prevent women and girls from fulfilling their potential in every sphere.”