After The Summit Of The Future Charting A Path For Global Climate

Leo Migdal

-Dec 3, 2025, 7:57 AM

after the summit of the future charting a path for global climate

Saturday, 12 October 2024 00:10 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}} Opening of the Summit of the Future by the UN Secretary-General – Credits: UN Photo/Loey Felipe The global community stands at a critical juncture, as countries around the world are facing escalating climate impacts, environmental challenges, economic disparities, and the need for sustainable development. After the first overarching progress assessment under the Paris Agreement and the recent Summit of the Future, are we steering the correct course? With the end of this decade rapidly approaching, there is an urgent need to develop a vision for the future that goes beyond 2030 and unifies climate action, sustainable development, and a reconfiguration of... The Summit of the Future After years of preparation, the United Nations’ Summit of the Future took place last month from 22 to 23 September 2024.

Billed as a once-in-a-generation high-level event, the Summit brought together world leaders and non-governmental actors in New York City to adopt a Pact for the Future, including a Global Digital Compact and a Declaration... This Pact aims to update global governance for the realities of today and the challenges of tomorrow, building on the United Nations Secretary-General’s statement that “we cannot create a future fit for our grandchildren... Youth and future generations are highlighted as key actors and stakeholders, and a Global Digital Compact is annexed as “the first comprehensive global framework for digital cooperation and AI governance.” As an overarching commitment,... Under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the SDGs are supposed to be achieved by 2030, a process that is supposed to be accelerated during the “Decade of Action” from 2020 to 2030. Similarly, implementation of the Paris Agreement has begun in 2020, with Parties due to update their respective contributions (the Nationally Determined Contributions or NDCs) by early 2025, ahead of the global climate change conference... These NDCs should be informed by the first Global Stocktake, an assessment of the state of global climate action that was finalised and adopted by all Parties at the end of 2023.

Both the Pact for the Future and the Global Stocktake highlight the “current slow pace of progress in addressing climate change” and find that the world is “not yet collectively on track towards achieving... Climate-vulnerable developing countries, including Sri Lanka, are at the forefront of climate change and exposed to some of the most direct and dangerous impacts. At the same time, they are often facing increasing macroeconomic challenges, constraints, and debt distress, further limiting their fiscal space and the ability to engage in long-term planning. The current global financial architecture has been criticised for its inadequacies in addressing these issues, and. There is a growing call to restructure this architecture to be more equitable and supportive of sustainable development, aligning with principles of climate justice and international cooperation. Both the Global Stocktake and the Pact for the Future take up this call for accelerated financial system reform to meet the urgent challenge of climate change, allow countries to borrow sustainably for their...

Changing systems and the need for transformation How can we envision the future of global climate action and sustainable development, and what does that mean for developing countries such as Sri Lanka? The SDGs and the Paris Agreement have been pivotal in shaping global efforts toward sustainability and climate action: but the SDG target year of 2030 is approaching quickly, and more ambitious action is required... Foresight-driven planning involves anticipating future challenges and opportunities, enabling policymakers to develop proactive and effective strategies while accounting for uncertainties and emerging risks. In this context, concepts such as transformative adaptation or long-term resilience are gaining prominence, although it remains ambiguous how exactly to define and operationalise them. Fostering transformative adaptation and long-term resilience requires systemic and whole-of-society approaches. Implementing individual actions or technologies—for example, building flood defences or shifting to renewable energies—is important, but there is also a need for a deeper systemic change that considers all actors across the various value...

These approaches would go beyond incremental adjustments and seek to alter the underlying social, economic, and environmental frameworks to address root causes of vulnerability and empower systems and institutions to dynamically respond to the... (The writer works as Director: Research & Knowledge Management at SLYCAN Trust, a non-profit think tank based in Sri Lanka. His work focuses on climate change, adaptation, resilience, ecosystem conservation, just transition, human mobility, and a range of related issues. He holds a Master’s degree in Education from the University of Cologne, Germany and is a regular contributor to several international and local media outlets.) All the content on this website is copyright protected and can be reproduced only by giving the due courtesy to 'ft.lk' Copyright � 2004 Wijeya Newspapers Ltd. The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) 2024 witnessed a pivotal moment in international diplomacy as world leaders came together at the Summit of the Future.

This high-level meeting, designed to tackle some of the most pressing challenges of our time, marked the adoption of the Pact for the Future. The summit was a critical step toward reimagining global governance and ensuring that nations collaborate effectively to address both current crises and those on the horizon. The Pact, seen as a monumental framework for guiding international cooperation, reflects the urgency and ambition required to safeguard the future for generations to come. With its broad spectrum of themes—ranging from peace and security to climate change and digital cooperation—the agreement is poised to reshape the trajectory of global policymaking. A New Era of Multilateralism: The Pact for the Future The Pact for the Future is a testament to a renewed commitment by the global community to address interlinked challenges and uphold the United Nations’ core principles.

It is a call for comprehensive action across multiple dimensions, including sustainable development, human rights, gender equality, and the inclusion of youth and future generations in policy discussions. It also introduces transformative shifts in global governance, aiming to create more inclusive and equitable systems for international cooperation. In his opening remarks, Secretary-General António Guterres underscored the urgency of this moment, stating, “We are here to bring multilateralism back from the brink.” He highlighted the necessity for deep reforms to make global... He noted that “the climate crisis is destroying lives, devastating communities and ravaging economies,” emphasizing the critical need for a just phase-out of fossil fuels—a sentiment echoed throughout the discussions at the summit. Largely focusing on climate change, key measures include net-zero by 2050, SDG financing, and reversing biodiversity loss, will the Pact for the Future deliver real change? The skater girl doesn’t skate.

The punk doesn’t rage. Identity now comes prepackaged, flattened into moodboards, starter packs, and TikTok’s endless... Stepping into a C2 elevator feels less like entering a quiet campus space and more like being swallowed by a wall of competing announcements. The 2025 UN climate talks wrapped on Saturday, Nov. 22 after negotiations pushed into overtime. The resulting decision secured some important wins, both inside and outside the negotiations.

But it omitted some of the big-ticket items many hoped to see. With efforts to halt temperature rise severely off track and climate disasters becoming ever-more destructive, the summit (COP30) aimed to establish clear pathways to deliver past pledges and put the world on a safer... A key question was how countries would address lagging ambition in their new climate commitments (NDCs). Hopes that countries would commit to roadmaps to end fossil fuel use and halt deforestation were ultimately dashed after opposition from petrostates. The final decision only included new voluntary initiatives to accelerate national climate action, though the Brazilian Presidency intends to move forward with fossil fuel and deforestation roadmaps outside of the formal COP talks. Building resilience to climate impacts took center stage, with COP30 securing a new target to triple finance for climate adaptation.

The COP also laid out practical solutions to increase finance for the low-carbon transition. In an era of trade wars and tariffs, negotiators also agreed for the first time to hold discussions on how trade policies can help — or hinder — climate action. Against the backdrop of the Amazon, nature also saw advances, including a new fund for tropical forest conservation. Indigenous Peoples and other local communities were recognized like never before. And outside the formal negotiations, the summit saw a raft of new pledges and action plans from cities, states, countries and the private sector. It is clear that we are moving from negotiations to implementation, and from wrangling over what to do to how to do it.

These victories matter. It shows that international cooperation can still deliver, despite deepening divides on climate action and a difficult geopolitical context.

After The Summit Of The Future Charting A Path For Global Climate

People Also Search

Saturday, 12 October 2024 00:10 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}} Opening Of

Billed As A Once-in-a-generation High-level Event, The Summit Brought Together

Both The Pact For The Future And The Global Stocktake

Changing Systems And The Need For Transformation How Can We

These Approaches Would Go Beyond Incremental Adjustments And Seek To