As a result of the Summit of the Future held in September 2024, world leaders adopted a Pact for the Future that includes a Global Digital Compact and a Declaration on Future Generations. The Pact covers a broad range of themes including peace and security, sustainable development, climate change, digital cooperation, human rights, gender, youth and future generations, and the transformation of global governance.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres proposed the Summit for the Future as an attempt to persuade world leaders in the wake of the global Covid outbreak that cooperation and multilateralism had to be revived.

The pact, spanning 26 pages and 56 recommendations, says it is offering a new beginning for multilateralism and repeatedly asserts the primacy of international law. But the lack of new specifics has weakened its impact.

The document covers reform and expansion of the UN security council to make the body more representative of the 21st century, a UN role in governing artificial intelligence, the phasing out of fossil fuels in energy systems, reform of multilateral financial institutions, a recommitment to full nuclear disarmament and modernising UN peacekeeping so it evolves into war prevention.

The Russian delegation had tried to defer adoption of the agreement, arguing it represented western interests. This proposal was rejected on Sunday by an overwhelming majority.

The Secretary-General told the summit that the pact’s aim was “to bring multilateralism back from the brink at a time when the world [is] heading off the rails”.