The United Nations and its “Pact for the Future”
The United Nations and its “Pact for the Future”
The United Nations (UN) often seems like it is operating in an alternative reality, however it is essential for critical thinkers concerned about current affairs to take note of the UN’s grandiose summits, and its the staged deliberations and pronouncements. It is important to acknowledge that there are thousands of globalist technocrats that spend their every waking minute designing how the UN may assert its authority over member countries to meet its global agendas.
This week the UN has convened its annual general assembly of member countries in New York at “The Summit of the Future.” UN officials are heralding the assembly’s latest adopted document, entitled “Pact for the Future.” These are imposing titles; let’s unpack this.
The Summit of the Future
The UN Summit of the Future took place on September 20th through 23rd, bringing world leaders together with the expressed objective “to forge a new international consensus on how we deliver a better present and safeguard the future.” The aim of the series of meetings was to accelerate efforts to meet existing international commitments associated with the UN 2030 Agenda, and to take “concrete steps” towards forging new partnerships and international cooperation. The Summit was designed to showcase the UN’s action-oriented document, the Pact for the Future.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated at the outset, “We are here to bring multilateralism back from the brink. Now it is our common destiny to walk through it. That demands not just agreement, but action.”
Guterres observed, “Our world is going through a time and turbulence and the period of transition, but we cannot wait for perfect conditions. We must take the first decisive steps towards updating and reforming international cooperation.”
The UN head urged member countries before their deliberations, “I have one overriding message today: an appeal to Member States for a spirit of compromise. Show the world what we can do, when we work together.”
The opening ceremonies and speeches were all wonderfully choreographed. FYI: the UN produced two websites to document the four days of meetings and their successes here and here.
The Pact for the Future
In the first two days, the countries adopted a 42-page document that was developed through a year-long process of drafting and editing by UN officials and bureaucrats from countries around the world. The Pact for the Future is to be the new playbook for the UN and its member counties in reaching the goals set out in the UN 2030 Agenda. (Details of this foundational global agenda are here: The UN’s 2030 Agenda.)
The document outlines challenges and action statements about everything from world poverty to climate change – and it also tackles world governance and the means to achieving an international consensus on the many challenges before us today. There is a pledge for a “new beginning in multilateralism” that will strengthen international institutions and organizations and place the UN at the centre of the global dialogue to “keep pace with a changing world.” The document contains two appendices -- commitments towards digital cooperation on AI issues, and a focused promise to youth and future generations.
My suggestion is to bookmark and/or download the document: The Pact for the Future.
This is now the reference document for member countries to mark progress and demonstrate their commitment to the international efforts to “save the planet.” Canada, under our present Trudeau government, is a vocal champion of the Pact for the Future.
In adopting this UN document all countries are recommitting to doing everything they can to meet the UN’s 2030 Agenda. A total of 193 countries have made “a pact” to move faster towards achieving the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as well as the climate change commitments found in the Paris Agreement. In the UN’s words, this pact is “an urgent pivot.” Countries have agreed to action that will “turbocharge the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by improving the “how” of global cooperation to in turn enable us to deliver on the “what” by: (a) getting the Sustainable Development Goals back on track, while also (b) responding to new opportunities and risks.”
The UN celebrated the adoption of the new document in two press releases which detail the various elements agreed upon. Read World leaders adopt pivotal UN Pact for the Future and United Nations adopts ground-breaking Pact for the Future to transform governance.
With the announcement of the successful adoption of the pact document, Antonio Guterres urged all countries to stay committed to the UN’s agenda and he remarked, “Let’s keep the SDGs commitment alive.” He stated, “The world has the wealth, the technology, and the know-how to achieve the SDGs.”
Guterres positioned the adoption of the pact document as the approval to double down on the efforts of the UN and member countries to implement the SDGs. He spoke specifically of the challenges to jump start an accelerated set of initiatives that will impact climate change. He was looking for all countries to put forward more aggressive climate action plans that will ensure the world meets the goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Guterres stated, “This requires aligning national energy strategies with a 1.5-degree world, ending fossil fuel subsidies and putting a price on carbon.”
The pact has countries recommit to the Paris Agreement with actions like tripling the global renewable energy capacity and doubling the global average annual rate of energy efficiency improvements in the next five years. The pact commits to accelerating efforts globally towards net zero emission energy systems. It also reaffirms the global pledge “transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems in a just, orderly and equitable manner.”
Here are the points identified in the UN media releases and backgrounders relating to sustainable development, climate, and financing for development. The official text reads:
The entire pact is designed to turbo-charge implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.
The most detailed agreement ever at the United Nations on the need for reform of the international financial architecture (ed. – cue the UN’s financier Mark Carney) so that it better represents and serves developing countries, including:
Giving developing countries a greater say in how decisions are taken at international financial institutions;
Mobilizing more financing from multilateral development banks to help developing countries meet their development needs;
Reviewing the sovereign debt architecture to ensure that developing countries can borrow sustainably to invest in their future, with the IMF, UN, G20 and other key players working together;
Strengthening the global financial safety net to protect the poorest in the event of financial and economic shocks, through concrete actions by the IMF and Member States;
and accelerating measures to address the challenge of climate change, including through delivering more finance to help countries adapt to climate change and invest in renewable energy.
Improving how we measure human progress, going beyond GDP to capturing human and planetary wellbeing and sustainability. (ed. – this is veiled reference to the “One Health” approach)
A commitment to consider ways to introduce a global minimum level of taxation on high-net-worth individuals.
On climate change, confirmation of the need to keep global temperature rise to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels and to transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
In summary, the UN member countries are to tax more (carbon taxes and increased personal taxes) to fund a green transition away from fossil fuels within the next 25 years.
The Pact for the Future is an ambitious document with many goals, however it is vague and short on details as to the path forward to achieve the goals and grand UN vision. Richard Gowan, UN director at the Crisis Group, stated in an end-of-summit interview, “It is important that UN members work out a proper implementation plan for the actionable parts of the pact, as we have often seen world leaders sign off on fine-sounding pledges at the UN and then fail to follow through on them.”
Gowan commented, “The pact is far from perfect, and many people may feel it lacks the depth and urgency required to deal with the global polycrisis. But I think that we should be grateful diplomats could work out a deal at all in the current bleak environment.”
What has been committed to with the pact?
The pact is a country’s recommitment to global treaties and agreements of the past. So, what does the recommitment obligate countries to do? What has been agreed to when there is the signal by the UN that efforts must be doubled and tripled in some cases?
Renowned American physician research Dr. Meryl Nass has been vocal in her criticisms of the UN, WHO and WEF global agendas. She views the Pact for the Future as a new treaty with a new set of objectives for countries to reach for, and for the collective to achieve. For weeks she has been arguing that the United States must not agree to the document. Dr. Nass has produced a very thorough review of the pact, deconstructing the technocrats’ bureaucratese and gobbledygook. This is a must-read to fully understand the document: 37 statements from the Pact for the Future with my deconstruction, in 13 slides.
In part, Dr. Nass has made the following conclusions:
The pact acknowledges that essentially no progress has been made on the SDGs since they were established in 2015, but what that means for the UN and its member countries is they need to “turbocharge” their efforts to accomplish them all by 2030.
The pact’s language is so poorly crafted in some places that the meaning cannot be understood.
It seeks to have nations obey commitments apparently made in many earlier documents, but never states exactly what those commitments are.
It therefore seems to be simply one more puzzle piece in a complex and massive set of international agreements that were crafted to include specific passages that together will transform the way the world is governed.
Dr. Nass contends the document is vague and confusing by design – so that the public will not be able to decipher the ongoing work of the UN and its agencies. But the intent is clearly stated within the pact document, in fact on the first page: “global transformation.” The UN views the drive to its 2030 Agenda as a means to a new world order. The document is clear: “Global transformation is a chance for renewal and progress grounded in our common humanity.” On page 28, action 38 proclaims: “We will transform global governance.”
In her analysis, Dr. Nass connects the dots on the suggested world order:
The UN is at the apex to manage intergovernmental processes – including international tax cooperation to achieve sustainable development goals.
Member countries are to urgently implement agreed commitments on climate change, environment, and sustainable development – including financial commitments to support developing countries.
Member countries are to implement a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach.
Verily, the innocuous statements within the Pact for the Future are not innocuous.
The UN has not indicated the pact document is a new treaty, but it does seem the countries are leaving the summit meetings with a new set of objectives and with new, more aggressive policies to enact.
Dr. Nass is on Substack and can be found here.
A sidenote: Canada’s participation was led by PM Justin Trudeau
The Canadian prime minister was recognized as the co-chair of the UN Sustainable Development Goals Advocates group. As such, he was active in the initial “Action Days” meetings with his praise for the UN’s effort in addressing global challenges and finalizing the Pact for the Future.
PM Trudeau co-hosted a general discussion with Haiti’s acting prime minister, Garry Conille, about “solutions that are Haitian-led” to meet the challenges of the crises in his country. Trudeau also co-hosted an event with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen about climate change, carbon pricing and industrial decarbonization. In this session, the PM recounted the Canadian experience with the imposition of carbon taxes (but presumably he did not tie the success the government has had with hiking the taxes with the results shown in reducing carbon emissions.)
At his turn at the UN podium on Sunday, PM Trudeau reinforced remarks made earlier in the day by the UN lead Guterres in calling on member countries to collaborate and set “differences aside to confront the serious global challenges and to deliver on a Pact for the Future.” Trudeau also took his speaking time to reaffirm Canada’s commitment to the 2030 Agenda, observing that “rich countries, such as Canada, have a duty to fight climate change.” He made a commitment (or it could have been a recommitment of previous announcements) of $5 billion from Canada towards the success of the UN efforts.
Canadians should have no illusions that our country’s leader made any impact at the meetings. He was a sidenote. Trudeau appeared to be, at best, tolerated and, more likely, persona non grata – if one were to judge respect for him by the sparse audience who turned up to hear him speak.
A concluding thought
What was to have been a “summit of the future” was in reality “an emergency session on today’s crises.” There was little talk of the pact and members’ aspirations when Israel and Hezbollah forces were intensifying their bombings and the humanitarian crisis in Sudan was worsening by the day.
Speaking of the influence the UN might wield, its head Guterres hopefully told the UK’s international paper The Financial Times last week, “We will not solve all the problems of the world … The challenges are huge and probably many would give up but I can tell you we will not give up. We have no power, we have no money, the United Nations, but we have a voice and we have some convening capacity,”
Then, at one point early in the week of meetings, Guterres was urging members to find solutions lest the crises becomes “a powder keg that risks engulfing the world.” By Wednesday, he was exclaiming, “Hell is breaking loose in Lebanon” and that the UN-patrolled operations “have expanded in scope, depth and intensity.”
There was no consensus on a path forward, and little agreement at the assembly hall. It is becoming clearer that the UN organization is strained and buckling under the pressure of the multiple global conflicts unfolding in Ukraine, Gaza, Lebanon, and Sudan.
It was an unlikely world leader that perhaps best summed up the dark mood of the assembly. Gustavo Petro, the socialist president of Columbia, rambled, but was punchy in speaking of the disorder in the world, his belief that the “democratic project of humanity is dying”, of the “barbarism” of the Hamas-Israel war, and the threat posed by a “global oligarchy” of the richest one per cent, who is responsible for climate change poisoning the earth and for the deepening social inequity. Petro’s observations were provocative and he had everyone’s attention when he invoked the author Ernest Hemingway: “Bells are tolling for you, for us, for humankind and life, and for all of life. The end has begun.”
It was not the celebration of a promising future that the UN had planned. However, not to be lost in the troubled state of those summit meetings is the fact that there was an outcome document adopted by 193 countries. There are now thousands of UN officials ready to follow up on the commitments made with the adoption of The Pact for the Future.
For paid subscribers, let’s continue this conversation below. I will share resourceful links, postscripts, and readers’ comments.