World Leaders Adopt UN Pact for the Future

Key leaders from various states gathered in September 2024 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York for the Summit of the Future, described by UN as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reimagine the multilateral system and steer humanity on a new course to meet existing commitments and solve long-term challenge.

One of the key outcomes of the Summit was the adoption of Pact for the Future, an agreement among UN member states designed to turbo-charge the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. The key action themes of the Pact are as follows:

• Sustainable development and financing for development
• International peace and security
• Science, technology and innovation and digital cooperation
• Youth and future generations
• Transforming global governance 

Action 29 highlights the need to fortify science, technology and innovation in developing countries. It states that, “Science, technology and innovation are critical to support and enable sustainable growth and climate action and accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. It is imperative that we collaborate to bridge the science, technology and innovation gap within and between developed and developing countries, to support developing countries to peacefully harness science, technology and innovation to achieve sustainable development, particularly those in special situations, as well as those facing specific challenges.”

Aside from the Pact for the Future, the Summit's outcome documents also contains two annexes. The first one is the Global Digital Compact which outlines principles for an open and human-centered digital future, while the second annex is the Declaration on Future Generations that calls for recognizing the rights of future generations in decision-making processes.

Read the outcome documents for more information.