Futures Digest 5 Is The Pact For The Future Enough For A Better

The Pact for the Future, recently adopted by world leaders at the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), covers a broad range of topics, including peace and security, sustainable development, climate... The Pact reaffirms world leaders’ pledge “to reinvigorate global action to ensure the future we want and to effectively respond to current and future challenges” and commits to 56 actions to this end. It also includes a Global Digital Compact and a Declaration on Future Generations as annexes, and it is stated to be action-oriented. In a previous article, we highlighted how the Pact drew insights from earlier processes, its main contents and commitments, and what may immediately catch the eye of a futurist—such as the focus on future... As we navigated this significant milestone, we wondered what the futures community thinks about it and gathered insights and perspectives. Jerome Glenn, CEO and Co-Founder of The Millennium Project, applauds the Pact as a “massively complex and quite comprehensive normative statement that recognizes existential risks and the potential of global transformation to a better...

He further highlights notable omissions: “There was not a word about synthetic biology—potentially a bigger impact on the future of civilization than the industrial revolution. Most children born today will see the year 2100, and nearly all of their lives will be augmented by Artificial Superintelligences—no evidence of this kind of insight is anywhere.” When expected topics are covered by the Pact, such as governing AI at an international level, the results appear unsatisfactory in some instances. Glenn remarks that the “Global Governance of the transition from Artificial Intelligence (AI) we have today to Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) we could have within this decade is the most complex and difficult management... Its urgency is not mentioned anywhere except for some mild statements in the Global Digital Compact.” These include enhancing AI governance for humanity’s benefit, governing AI in the public interest, ensuring that it fosters... Additionally, he suggests carefully defining the criteria for selecting the experts of the panel and establishing the UN coordination office in the form of a collective intelligence system.

Erik F. Øverland, President of the World Futures Studies Federation, reflects on the significance of this Pact and how to move forward, suggesting that “The Futures of Humankind are the Futures of Truth. Let’s move beyond current dichotomies like modernism vs postmodernism, Natural vs Artificial, and establish a sound foundation for Humankind Commons.” Is the #PactfortheFuture Enough for a Better Tomorrow? While exploring the implications of this significant milestone adopted by the UNGA, HÉCTOR CASANUEVA and I gathered feedback from the #futures community to understand their perspectives. It seems that concerns remain, but there is also a sense of hope regarding the potential impact of the Pact.

Read more on Futures Digest #5: https://lnkd.in/dWKMC4tT Many thanks to all those who contributed their thoughts and insights to this important discussion: Jerome Glenn on behalf of The Millennium Project, Erik Ferdinand Øverland on... Subscribe to #FuturesDigest for free: https://lnkd.in/dsqGneHR What an excellent summary Mara Di Berardo and HÉCTOR CASANUEVA 💎 Futures Digests is your go-to source for global news and research in futures studies and foresight. Stay informed on the latest trends and insights shaping the future. The conference, organized by the Finland Futures Research Centre (FFRC) and the Finland Futures Academy at the University of Turku, in partnership with VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd, provided a lively space...

Themed “Mutual Shaping of Socio-Technical Transformations,” it placed foresight at the centre of critical dialogues on ethics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and the evolving futures of work. The conference convened a multidisciplinary group of participants to explore how emerging technologies both shape and are shaped by societal dynamics. Throughout three days, the meeting served as a powerful platform for knowledge exchange and co-creation. Over 330 participants from 40 countries shared tools, methods, and visions of how foresight can support governance, democracy, and collective resilience in uncertain times. Each day featured rich exchanges of ideas through keynote speeches, academic presentations, and participatory workshops. During the keynote sessions, I was particularly delighted to hear reflections on the ethical assessment of foresight, presented as a compass to ensure that technologies are developed to enhance, rather than harm, humanity, and...

I was also particularly interested in discussions on the power of certainties and uncertainties, which suggested that good futurists should highlight what might change, what is likely to remain stable, and what is beginning... The conference also offered a wide range of sessions and workshops covering topics such as governance, education, management, environment, and industry, to name a few, allowing participants to explore diverse perspectives and engage in... Among these, The Millennium Project’s special session on “The Radical and the Resilient: Narratives to highlight the road to desired futures of work,” (Di Berardo et al. 2025), held on June 11, 2025, offered a unique opportunity to explore socio-technical futures of work through narrative foresight and collective intelligence. The activity was part of a broader foresight project called T-winning Spaces 2035, funded by the Research Council of Finland and Next Generation EU. Its main objectives are to increase understanding of the sustainability challenges of future digital remote work and to explore how these challenges can be addressed through optimal spatial solutions and practices for households and...

The Special Session was organized in collaboration with the FFRC, the Finnish Society for Futures Studies, Aalto University, and the Helsinki Node of the Millennium Project. By integrating narrative foresight, embodied participatory techniques, and collective sense-making, it aimed to generate grounded, situated, and plural visions for the futures of work that acknowledge both technological dynamics and lived human experiences. The workshop was designed to elicit situated socio-technical imaginaries about the future of work through group engagement with actor-based, radical narratives set in 2035. A Futures Clinique (Heinonen & Ruotsalainen, 2013) was applied to facilitate the session, a special structured format designed to engage groups in exploring future uncertainties, disruptions, and opportunities for innovation. The method’s primary aims are to promote futures thinking and preparedness, to stimulate provocative dialogue, and to leverage collaborative creativity in order to generate new insights, ideas, and actionable responses to complex future-oriented topics. By using the metaphor of a medical clinic to explore future-oriented challenges, participants are invited to act as “doctors” and take topics as “patients” facing uncertainties or disruptions, while moderators serve as “diagnostic enablers.”...

The Futures Clinique held in Turku aimed to further develop a narrative-based foresight methodology grounded in imaginaries of work, and to examine how situated, affective, and socio-culturally embedded narratives can reveal systemic tensions and... The Pact for the Future is an unwise effort to bestow additional responsibilities on an organization that is unable to manage its current responsibilities. Instead of attempting to restore the U.N. to centrality in world affairs, the Secretary-General should be calling for reassessment, retrenchment, and refocus. Hubristic efforts like the unrealistic Pact for the Future merely divert the U.N. and, as it falls short of promised goals, further erode its reputation.

Each September, world leaders travel to New York to attend the United Nations General Debate. While the speeches garner the most attention, more substantive work is conducted in side meetings and high-level meetings where governments finalize and agree to various statements and agreements.REF The resulting political statements are generally... On September 22–23, 2024, the 79th session of the General Assembly will feature the Summit of the Future at which governments are expected to endorse the Pact for the Future, which includes a Global... Proposed by Secretary-General António Guterres, the Summit of the Future aims to “reinvigorate the structures and the trust necessary for effective global governance.”REF The scope of this effort is extraordinary: for example, a huge... Predictably, the text is replete with affirmations of the leading role of the United Nations in addressing these issues and requests for the Secretary-General to develop plans to implement the commitments outlined in the... This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

As the world risks failing to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Summit of the Future produced the Pact for the Future – a set of commitments made by world leaders to rescue... While some experts welcomed the pact as “a crucial step towards unlocking economic opportunities for developing nations”, others cast doubt on its ability to produce any change. Only 17% of the 169 SDG targets are on track to be met by 2030. The lingering effects of the coronavirus pandemic and ongoing climate change, armed conflicts, drought and hunger crises in countries such as Sudan, Somalia, Nigeria, Sudan, Yemen, Ukraine and Gaza are increasing the danger of... In light of some of these crises, the latest Global Hunger Index states that the goal to end hunger over the next six years now appears to be unreachable. However, the Summit of the Future, held in New York in September, approved the Pact for the Future in an attempt to rescue the SDGs.

See also: Pact for the Future: redefining global governance amidst crisis and opportunity | Experts’ Opinions The U.N. General Assembly has approved a blueprint to bring the world’s increasingly divided nations together to tackle 21st-century challenges. Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks to the United Nations General Assembly during Summit of the Future, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024 at U.N. headquarters.

(AP Photo/Frank Franklin II) Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev speaks to the United Nations General Assembly during Summit of the Future, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024 at U.N. headquarters. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II) Prime Minister of Iceland Bjarni Benediktsson speaks to the United Nations General Assembly during Summit of the Future, Sunday, Sept.

22, 2024 at U.N. headquarters. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II) European Council President Charles Michel speaks to the United Nations General Assembly during Summit of the Future, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024 at U.N. headquarters.

(AP Photo/Frank Franklin II) Nature Sustainability volume 7, page 1081 (2024)Cite this article A new start for multilateralism is what UN Member States are focusing on, but achieving it won’t be easy and won’t be enough to deliver sustainable development. Addressing the multifaceted root causes of discrimination, inequalities and injustice across scales should be the priority. From 20 to 23 September 2024, in New York, world leaders will gather for the Summit of the Future, a high-level convening proposed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), António Guterres, in... In the report, the Secretary-General emphasized the role of trust and solidarity at all levels as levers to advance the Sustainable Development Goals agenda, among other agreements.

He also reminded the international community of the promise of the UN Charter against the backdrop of war and violence that are hindering ongoing multilateral efforts to leave no one behind. What should we expect from the summit? All Member States have agreed that the outcome of the summit would be a ‘Pact for the Future’, drafted and at its third revision2. The pact aims to reaffirm the role of multilateralism to deliver a better future for people and the planet; it also aims to reaffirm the three interlinked pillars of the UN, sustainable development, peace... Poverty and environmental problems feature as urgent priorities, along with the need to reduce inequalities, address discrimination and improve participation of women in political and economic life. So far, the draft points to a commitment of Member States to 60 actions about sustainable development and financing for development, international peace and security, science, technology and innovation and digital cooperation, youth and...

With the resurgence of war, and the rapid diffusion of populist and nationalist movements, geopolitical tensions are at record high, but the pact gives hope that the international community remains united and committed to... Humanity is at an undeniable crossroad — our survival as a species is at stake. This has been said many times. Wars tear down what has taken effort to build. They bring human loss and desolation. Climate change is worsening human well-being today and jeopardizes the wellness of future generations.

Endless grabbing of natural resources at a pace nature cannot sustain is rapidly making humanity poor and unsafe.

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