In September last year, UN Member States adopted a forward-looking outcome document of the 2024 Summit of the Future (SoF), seeking to deliver a better present and safeguard the future. Intergovernmentally agreed in advance, the Pact for the Future and its annexes – the Global Digital Compact and the Declaration on Future Generations – aim to enhance multilateralism for international peace and security, strengthen inclusive innovation and cooperation to bridge the digital divide, and enhance the global system for current and future generations. 

This Policy Brief traces the Pact’s origins, reflects on the global commitments it articulates, and discusses efforts to advance their implementation.

Building towards a Pact

The impetus for the Summit of the Future and its outcomes originated in a landmark report UN Secretary-General António Guterres issued in 2021. ‘Our Common Agenda’ was developed in response to a mandate in the political declaration adopted on the occasion of the UN’s 75th anniversary in September 2020, in which Heads of State and Government recognize that global challenges are interconnected and can only be addressed through reinvigorated multilateralism, as demonstrated by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the declaration, Member States resolve to: leave no one behind; protect our planet; promote peace and prevent conflicts; abide by international law and ensure justice; place women and girls at the center; build trust; improve digital cooperation; upgrade the UN; ensure sustainable financing; boost partnerships; listen to and work with youth; and be prepared.

Responding to these 12 commitments while seeking to accelerate the achievement of the SDGs, ‘Our Common Agenda’ outlines actions in four overarching areas: strengthening global governance; a focus on the future; renewing social contracts; and ensuring a UN fit for a new era. It spells out many of the ideas behind the commitments that eventually found their reflection in the Pact for the Future and its annexes.

To support Member States in their deliberations, the Secretary-General published 11 policy briefs developing and refining the ideas initially laid out in the ‘Our Common Agenda’ report. Issued between March and September 2023, the policy briefs cover: 1) the needs of future generations; 2) improving the international response to complex global shocks through an emergency platform; 3) more systematic participation by young people in decision-making processes; 4) metrics that go beyond gross domestic product (GDP); 5) global digital cooperationon maximizing and sharing the benefits of digital technology through a global digital compact; 6) reform of the global financial architecture; 7) the peaceful, secure, and sustainable use of outer space; 8) a New Agenda for Peace; 9) information integrity; 10) transforming education; and 11) UN 2.0.

Consultations on the Pact for the Future commenced in November 2023, shortly after the SDG Summit reaffirmed a shared commitment to turn the world to 2030. The talks continued up until September 2024 when the Pact was adopted together with the Global Digital Compact and the Declaration on Future Generations, negotiated in parallel.

The Pact’s commitments

The 64-page outcome document pledges “a new beginning to multilateralism” and recognizes sustainable development as its central objective. The Pact for the Future formulates 56 commitments in the areas of: sustainable development and financing for development (FfD); international peace and security; science, technology, and innovation (STI) and digital cooperation; youth and future generations; and transforming global governance.

To advance sustainable development and FfD, Member States commit to:

  • Take bold, ambitious, accelerated, just, and transformative action to implement the 2030 Agenda while leaving no one behind and placing poverty eradication at the center;
  • Advance efforts to end hunger and eliminate food insecurity;
  • Close the SDG financing gap in developing countries;
  • Ensure that the multilateral trading system (MTS) continues to be an engine for sustainable development; and
  • Invest in people to end poverty and strengthen trust and social cohesion.

Other actions include: building peaceful, just, and inclusive societies; achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls; and strengthening climate action while restoring, protecting, conserving, and sustainably using the environment.

Among other commitments to safeguard international peace and security, countries undertake to:

  • Redouble their efforts to build and sustain peaceful, inclusive, and just societies and address the root causes of conflicts;
  • Protect civilians in armed conflict;
  • Ensure that people affected by humanitarian emergencies receive the support they need;
  • Promote cooperation and understanding between Member States; and
  • Advance the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons.

On STI and digital cooperation, Member States agree to, inter alia:

  • Seize the opportunities presented by STI for the benefit of people and planet;
  • Scale up the means of implementation to developing countries to strengthen their STI capacities; and
  • Ensure that STI contribute to the full enjoyment of human rights by all and improve gender equality.

The Global Digital Compact outlines additional commitments and actions aimed at: closing all digital divides and accelerating progress across the SDGs; expanding inclusion in and benefits from the digital economy for all; fostering an inclusive, open, safe, and secure digital space that respects, protects, and promote human rights; advancing responsible, equitable, and interoperable data governance approaches; and enhancing international governance of artificial intelligence (AI) for the benefit of humanity.

With respect to youth and future generations, the Pact provides for:

  • Investing in the social and economic development of children and young people so that they can reach their full potential;
  • Promoting, protecting, and respecting the human rights of all young people and fostering social inclusion and integration; and
  • Strengthening meaningful youth participation at the national and international levels.

The Declaration on Future Generations specifies further guiding principles, commitments, and actions for building a stronger, more effective, and resilient multilateral system, underpinned by transparency, confidence, and trust, for the benefit of present and future generations.

Actions on transforming global governance, as outlined in the Pact, encompass efforts to:

  • Reinvigorate the multilateral system to tackle the challenges, and seize the opportunities, of today and tomorrow;
  • Reform the UN Security Council;
  • Revitalize the work of the UN General Assembly (UNGA); and
  • Strengthen the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the Peacebuilding Commission, and the UN system.

Member States also commit to accelerate reform of the international financial architecture to: address the challenges of today and tomorrow; strengthen the voice and representation of developing countries; mobilize additional financing for the SDGs; improve borrowing conditions for developing countries; strengthen its capacity to support developing countries more effectively and equitably; and better meet the challenge of climate change.

Other commitments include going beyond gross domestic product (GDP), improving the international response to complex global shocks, and strengthening partnerships and international cooperation, including for the exploration and peaceful use of outer space.

Implementing the Pact: All hands on deck

It should come as no surprise that implementing this broad range of commitments calls for all hands on deck. Both the UN Secretary General and the UNGA President have listed the implementation of the Pact for the Future among their priorities for 2025. While the UNGA’s Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) did not give the Secretary-General the USD 8.5 million appropriation he had requested for 2025 to begin carrying out the Pact for the Future, it did approve an additional USD 2.9 million appropriation for him to do so. 

As the UN turns 80 this year, in March, the UN Secretary-General announced the UN80 initiative to advance UN reform. The initiative builds on ongoing efforts, including the Pact for the Future and UN 2.0. A dedicated internal Task Force, led by Under-Secretary-General Guy Ryder, will develop proposals in three key areas: identifying efficiencies and improvements; reviewing the implementation of mandates from Member States; and a strategic review of deeper, more structural changes and programme realignment.

Following up on the Pact and the Global Digital Compact, the UN Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD) – a subsidiary body of ECOSOC – recently announced the establishment of the Multi-Stakeholder Working Group on Data Governance at All Levels.

To support Member States in advancing the implementation of the Pact, UNGA President Philemon Yang is convening three informal interactive dialogues between March and July 2025. Held on 28 March, the first dialogue focused on means of implementation to provide actionable pathways to operationalizing the commitments contained in the Pact, the Global Digital Compact, and the Declaration on Future Generations. The need to strengthen national leadership and ownership of the Pact emerged as one of the key takeaways.

A dialogue on monitoring and evaluation in May will discuss monitoring the Pact’s implementation at the national level and explore potential monitoring mechanisms to evaluate progress. The dialogue on looking ahead to 2028 in July will focus on laying groundwork for the Pact’s review process set for 2028, including its possible structure, reporting strategies, and alignment with other intergovernmental frameworks.

This year’s regional forums on sustainable development, convened by the UN’s five regional commissions ahead of the July session of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), featured discussions on regional priorities for the implementation of the Pact for the Future. In turn, HLPF 2025 will contribute to the follow-up of the Summit of the Future and its Pact for the Future. At least some of the 37 voluntary national reviews (VNRs) could be expected to report on their efforts to advance the Pact in the context of national SDG implementation.

Looking ahead

The Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4), scheduled to take place in Sevilla, Spain, from 30 June to 3 July 2025, is expected to contribute to reforming financing at all levels, including supporting reform of the international financial architecture and addressing financing challenges that stand in the way of the much-needed investment push for the SDGs.

The Second World Summit for Social Development in Qatar in November, aimed at advancing social development globally and providing renewed momentum for implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its SDGs, is similarly expected to build on the core principles captured in the Pact for the Future.

The Pact for the Future is an inherently forward-looking document that takes into account younger – and future – generations. Even though financing for development is shrinking and inequalities are on the rise, it is the hope shared by many that FfD4 and the World Social Summit will serve as critical opportunities for multilateralism to deliver on the promises of the Pact.