Summit for the Future

We need to Sum-It all from Past and Present 

'Once-in-a-generation opportunity', that's how United Nations describes the 'Summit for the Future' to be held in New York at UN Head Quarters on 22-23 September 2024. The Summit is described as 'a high-level event, bringing world leaders together to forge a new international consensus on how we deliver a better present and safeguard the future." Though this sounds like typical UN words, it is welcome and much needed events that have crippled the sustainable development amidst the two major on-going arm-conflicts, continued war on nature that has resulted in triple crisis-climate, biodiversity, pollution, and major trade-war between China and USA.

The 78th UN General assembly (UNGA) held last year from 19-26 September, having dealt with the theme of 'Rebuilding trust and reigniting global solidarity: Accelerating action on the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals towards peace, prosperity, progress and sustainability for all', noted dismally that 'the achievement of the SDGs is in peril'. It recognised that most of the SDGs are either moving much too slowly or have regressed below the 2015 baseline. Millions of people have fallen into poverty, hunger and malnutrition are becoming more prevalent, humanitarian needs are rising, the impacts of climate change are becoming more pronounced leading to cross boundary migration and terrorism. That has resulted in inequality, weakened international solidarity and a shortfall of trust among nations.

2023 UNGA closed by stating, 'we look forward to the Summit of the Future in 2024 as an important opportunity to, inter alia, accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs'.

So what is expected from Summit of the Future in 2024? The aim of the Summit is two dimensional . First accelerate efforts to meet our existing international commitments, and second take concrete steps to respond to emerging challenges and opportunities.

The world leaders will adopt the Pact for the Future, which will include a Global Digital Compact and a Declaration on Future Generations as annexes. Pact of the future will include new international consensus on how we deliver a better present and safeguard the future.

Declaration on Future Generation will be the most and directly relevant to the Youth Movement initiated by Green TERRE Foundation, under Smart Campus Cloud Network ( SCCN) and its unique efforts to localise SDGs and particularly Net Zero in the University campus. Climate Change is one of the greatest challenges of our time. The emissions of greenhouse gases continue to rise globally. All countries, particularly developing countries, are vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change. The mitigation efforts to reduce human induced emissions by 50 % by around 2030 and 100 percent by 2050 and adaptation to climate change through resilience and disaster management represent an immediate and urgent priority.

Recognising that regression of SDGs and Climate Crisis would lead to increased inequality which would further impact the youth in short team and in long term, Green TERRE Foundation would keenly follow up the developments from youth's perspective and report the happenings to the social media of SCCN. END