With just six years remaining to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the world is significantly off course due to setbacks from the COVID-19 pandemic, rising conflicts, and escalating climate crises.
To regain momentum, massive investments in sustainable development and accelerated efforts in key areas like climate change, peace, security, and inequality are required, as outlined in the Sustainable Development Report 2024.
In response to these pressing challenges, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has convened the Summit of the Future, set for September 22-23 in New York. Themed “Multilateral solutions for a better tomorrow,” the summit will gather UN member states, agencies, NGOs, civil society, academic institutions, the private sector, and youth.
Facing unprecedented global challenges, the summit aims to build consensus on what the future should look like and the actions needed to secure it. Five main areas will be addressed: sustainable development and financing, global peace and security, digital cooperation and governance of technologies like AI, youth and future generation empowerment, and reform of the UN’s structure.
Sustainable development will focus on the challenge of financing, especially for low-income nations. Achieving peace will require managing great-power competition within a UN-led framework. Transparent governance of digital technologies, improved access to education, and greater representation within UN leadership are also critical goals.
The report, launched alongside the summit, suggests solutions to these global issues in collaboration with the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN).