The United Nations Summit of the Future, to be held from 22 to 23 September 2024, will bring world leaders together to forge a new international consensus on how we deliver a better present and safeguard the future.

The speed and complexity of developments have outpaced our systems for cooperating and coping.

The benefits and opportunities of progress are spread unevenly, with the majority of people left behind.

The risks and threats are also unevenly felt, disproportionately impacting the most vulnerable.

This once-in-a-generation opportunity serves as a moment to mend eroded trust and demonstrate that international cooperation can effectively tackle current challenges as well as those that have emerged in recent years or may yet be over the horizon.

We already have the “what” in the form of many existing agreements and commitments, starting with the UN Charter and including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the 2030 Agenda, the Paris Agreement, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and many others.

The Summit of the Future will look at the “how” – how do we cooperate better to deliver on the above aspiration and goals? How do we better meet the needs of the present while also preparing for the challenges of the future?

The aim of the Summit is twofold: accelerate efforts to meet our existing international commitments and take concrete steps to respond to emerging challenges and opportunities.

This will be achieved through an action-oriented outcome document called the Pact for the Future.

The Pact will be negotiated, and endorsed by countries in the lead-up to and during the Summit in September 2024.

The result will be a world – and an international system – that is better prepared to manage the challenges we face now and in the future, for the sake of all humanity and for future generations.