Experts say the United States should resist the UN's proposed “Pact for the Future,” which seeks to re-center the international forum as a driving force on an issue where no change has been attempted so far.
“The Future Summit, at which UN member states are expected to ratify the Future Agreement, is an attempt by the secretary-general to 'reinvigorate global action' and 'further develop the framework for multilateralism so that it is fit for the future,'” said Brett Schafer, a fellow on international regulatory affairs at the Heritage Foundation's Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom.
“He should rather call for a reassessment, a reduction and a refocusing,” the U.N. Donations Committee Between 2019 and 2021, the UN made significant contributions to global economic recovery and development. “For example, the international response to COVID-19 is deeply flawed, peacekeeping operations are in retreat, negotiations are stalled over differing priorities, and human rights violators hold sway in the Human Rights Council and the UN General Assembly.”
The Future Summit comes ahead of the UN General Assembly's High-Level Week, and Schafer argued that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has been working towards it for the past three years through annual reports focused on climate and pollution issues.
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The agreement will expand its scope to focus on “global shocks” such as “disruptions to activities in cyberspace” and “disruptions to global flows of goods, people and capital.”
The agreement also aims to change the way countries discuss wealth and productivity, proposing the development of new measures beyond GDP and decentralizing financial governance and voting power from organizations like the IMF and World Bank to help developing countries scale up.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke at a press conference at the United Nations Visitors Plaza in New York City on April 19, 2022. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Guterres expressed great concern and interest in how the world will manage “global commons” such as the high seas, atmosphere, Antarctica and outer space, as well as global public goods – endeavors based on the common interest among nations.
Schaefer warned that while these efforts seem altruistic, they are too much for the UN to handle, citing past failures in similar efforts, and would hand the UN yet another tool to intimidate opponents such as the United States.
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“Rather than focusing on areas such as humanitarian assistance where the UN can make a unique and valuable contribution, this agreement gives additional responsibilities to an organization that is unable to fulfill its current mandate,” Schafer said.
“The Future Agreement would join a long list of UN declarations that have served as diplomatic and rhetorical clubs to attack the United States,” he added. “The prudent course for the United States would be not to support the Future Agreement at the upcoming summit.”
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani speaks at the 78th United Nations General Assembly at UN Headquarters in New York City on September 22, 2023. (Brian R. Smith/AFP via Getty Images)
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield expressed concerns about the agreement at a press conference on Wednesday, warning that member states remain concerned about the pact.
“Over the past few months, the entire UN membership has been working to put together a deal for a future that we can all agree on, but we know we're not there yet,” Thomas-Greenfield said.
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“As I said, negotiations are ongoing,” she said. “I think we've accomplished a lot and brought a lot of our common priorities to the table. There are still some big differences.”
Thomas-Greenfield warned that a deal requiring consensus would never be “100% satisfying” to members, and the agreement would likely contain elements “that we can't all agree on,” which she believes members would raise during the vote on the deal itself.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield speaks after a UN Security Council meeting at UN Headquarters on August 24, 2023. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
“We are still hopeful that an agreement can be reached,” she said, noting that the United States was “disappointed that some countries broke their silence yesterday on some issues because we were so close to an agreement.”
“The G77 has agreed not to remain silent,” she revealed. “The EU has agreed not to remain silent. We have agreed not to remain silent. But unfortunately there are still some countries that are trying to put things in the agreement that they know are going to be difficult to achieve.”
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“I think you're all aware that Russia has broken its silence on probably 15 different issues,” she said. “Of course, they don't like any mention of sanctions. We've heard that Saudi Arabia has broken its silence on climate-related issues, and other countries have broken their silence on issues related to reform of international financial institutions.”
“We had issues with the language, but we got to a point where we could accept the language, even though we didn't think it was perfect, so it's still an ongoing negotiation,” she added.
