The UN’s Summit of the Future will place future generations at the center of global decision-making. The summit aims to secure the rights and well-being of billions yet to be born this century by addressing key issues like inequality, climate change, and sustainable development.

In 2025, the Ministry for the Future, a global body advocating for future generations, will push for policy reforms that could reverse the damage caused by climate change. This may sound like a sci-fi plot, and in a sense, it is.

Kim Stanley Robinson’s novel The Ministry for the Future portrays such an organization coming to life after the Paris Agreement on climate change in 2015. However, this September’s Summit of the Future at the UN headquarters could bring that fiction closer to reality.

At the core of the Summit’s discussions will be a Pact for the Future, a broad commitment to ensuring that long-term strategies benefit both current and future generations. Central to this Pact is the proposal for a Declaration on Future Generations, which is expected to pass during the summit.

Among its key features is the appointment of a Special Envoy for Future Generations, a UN role designed to promote long-term thinking and share insights from the UN Futures Lab.

But with the world facing pressing crises, from hunger to economic disparity, world leaders must prioritize the well-being of people who won’t be born for decades. This highlights the essence of sustainable development, which aims to meet today’s needs without hindering the ability of future generations to meet theirs.

Sustainable Development Focuses On Tomorrow

The concept of sustainable development is not new. It has long been part of the UN’s vision, emphasized in the 1945 UN Charter. The organization has since passed nearly 400 resolutions referencing future generations, illustrating its ongoing commitment to preserving the world for those who will come after us.

António Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, has pointed out that, despite this commitment, world leaders “violate this principle daily.” He insists that without securing the needs of those alive today, the future cannot be safeguarded.

Guterres stresses that the interests of young people today should not be ignored in favor of future generations. In fact, the two go hand in hand. The voices of youth, who are often expected to inherit the problems created by today’s leaders, deserve to be heard now. “Young people shouldn’t bear the burden of advocating for our descendants,” he explains, but they do deserve a dedicated seat at the table.

For over a decade, the UN has prioritized the inclusion of youth in global decision-making. The UN Youth Envoy has played a crucial role in ensuring youth voices are heard at significant international events.

A new role, the Assistant Secretary-General for Youth Affairs, was established in December 2023 to further strengthen youth involvement in areas such as human rights, sustainable development, and global security.

With these initiatives, the UN is making it clear that young people, alongside future generations, are at the heart of their mission. While today’s hardships demand immediate action, securing a better tomorrow must remain a priority.

As the world faces existential challenges like climate change, the decisions made now will ripple far into the future. This summit could mark a significant step toward ensuring that the generations yet to come are not forgotten in the race to fix the problems of today.