The Summit of the Future (SoF) begins on 22 September at the headquarters of the United Nations in New York. The Summit is an initiative of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (pictured above; photo credit Kiara Worth / UNFCCC) to improve the UN system and strengthen multilateralism. The high-level event brings world leaders together to forge a new international consensus on how we deliver a better present and safeguard the future and should result in several agreed-upon outcomes, including a Pact for the Future, a Global Digitalization Compact and a Declaration on Future Generations. 

More than a dozen ICLEI Member delegates from local and regional governments will travel to New York to participate in the Summit and Climate Week NYC. 

ICLEI President Katrin Jammeh, Mayor of Malmö, Sweden is leading ICLEI’s delegation. On the occasion, she said, “Leaders from cities, towns and regions in the ICLEI Network are at the Summit of the Future to demonstrate their commitment to meaningful, transparent global cooperation. International collaboration is more vital than ever for our survival, and without it we will not meet our sustainability goals or be able to adequately respond to emerging challenges and opportunities.” 

“Our network’s members have demonstrated that they are deeply committed to advancing global sustainability through multilateral collaboration and alignment,” she continued.

You can follow developments at the Summit of the Future and Climate Week NYC with ICLEI USA.

Why is the UN Secretary-General organizing a Summit of the Future?

During his first term as the UN Secretary-General between 2017 and 2021, Antonio Guterres mobilized “Our Common Agenda” as a global campaign for the 75th Anniversary of the UN in 2020, including the proposal to convene a summit to improve the UN system and strengthen multilateralism as one of its follow-up activities.

Through the evolution of the global political agenda and with the outcomes of the 2023 SDG Summit, the idea of the Summit of the Future is embraced as a UN-wide effort, which included UN Member States in drafting the official outcomes and the ecosystem of UN organizations to support its organization and mobilization of stakeholders as appropriate.

What is the agenda and expected outcomes of the Summit of the Future?

The official outcomes of the SoF, pre-negotiated by diplomats and Ministers include;

• the Pact for the Future;
• the Declaration on Future Generations; and
• the Global Digital Compact.

The draft Pact for the Future that will be negotiated includes a “request the Secretary-General to provide recommendations on ways to strengthen the engagement of local and regional authorities at the United Nations by the end of the seventy-ninth session for Member States’ consideration,” which would be key for establishing a structured, coordinated and systematic approach for the inclusion, direct financing, monitoring, reporting and capacity building of local and other subnational governments across the Rio Conventions and the SDG Agenda. 

The successful implementation of these outcomes depends on the ownership by the Member States and their stakeholders at the UN-regional, national, subnational and local levels; the relevant efforts by the UN Security Council, UN General Assembly as well as governance bodies of the UN organs, such as the Economic and Social Council including the High-Level Political Forum, the UN Environment Assembly, UN-Habitat Assembly and Conference of Parties of the multilateral agreements including Rio Conventions focusing on climate (UNFCCC), biodiversity (CBD) and desertification (UNCCD); and the next UN Secretary-General, upon the completion of the second term of Antonio Guterres in 2025.

The SoF consists of Action Days with stakeholders on 20-21 September and an official Summit on 22-23 September for statements and adoption of pre-negotiated outcomes by the Heads of State and Governments. The SoF Action Days is built around youth on 20 September and digitalization, sustainability and peace on 21 September.

How were local and regional governments involved?

At the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the Local Authorities Major Group is represented at the Major Groups and Stakeholders Coordination by the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) on behalf of the Global Task Force of Local and Regional Governments (GTF).

In October 2023, following the SDG Summit, the UN Secretary-General launched the Advisory Group on Local and Regional Governments (AGLRG), emphasizing the need for local and regional perspectives to enhance multilateral institutions and tackle global challenges, with a one-year mandate until the end of the Summit of the Future. The outcomes of the AGLRG will be announced at the World Assembly of GTF on 19th September.

How did ICLEI engage in the process?

ICLEI is engaged at the UN General Assembly as an ECOSOC Special Consultative Status accredited organization. As one of the founding members of the Global Task Force of Local and Regional Governments in 2013 and building on the legacy of 1992 Agenda 21, ICLEI represents the GTF as the Focal Point at the Rio Conventions (UNFCCC-CBD-UNCCD) and related processes.

ICLEI actively supported GTF engagement at the AGLRG. Ten out of 14 local and regional leaders are governing ICLEI member cities or regions. Among them, Makati City Mayor Abi Binay, Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante and Utrecht Mayor Sharon Dijksma are particularly involved in ICLEI network pursuant to their role with ICLEI’s Global Executive Committee and ICLEI‘s role as Focal Point to the Local Governments and Municipal Authorities (LGMA) Constituency, which is the voice for cities and regions in the Rio Conventions agenda.

ICLEI supported Mayor Binay in connecting the work of AGLRG to the advocacy at the UNFCCC COP28 in Dubai in November 2023; Mayor Dijksma in connecting the work of AGLRG with the outcomes of UNFCCC COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh in November 2022 and the Shaping Our Future Conference in Utrecht on 12 June 2023; and Mayor Plante in connecting the work of AGLRG with the outcomes of CBD COP15 in Montreal and upcoming CBD COP16 in Cali in October 2024.

ICLEI Member Delegation in New York (expected)

ICLEI will have a delegation throughout the Summit and Climate Week NYC, including:

1. Katrin Jammeh, Mayor, Malmö, Sweden; ICLEI President 
2. Minna Arve, Mayor Turku, Finland; ICLEI First Vice President 
3. Mohamed Sefiani, Mayor, Chefchaouen, Morocco; ICLEI Vice President
4. Marjorie Kauffmann, Secretary of State for Environment and Infrastructure, State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil; ICLEI Vice President
5. Valerie Plante, Mayor, Montreal, Canada; Member, ICLEI GexCom Advisory Board; Member, UN Secretary-General Advisory Board for Local and Regional Governments
6. Sharon Dijksma, Mayor, Utrecht, the Netherlands; Member, UN Secretary-General Advisory Board for Local and Regional Governments
7. Jeni Arndt, Mayor, Fort Collins, USA; Member, ICLEI GexCom
8. HY William Chan, Councillor, Sydney, Australia; Member, ICLEI GexCom
9. Irene Galindo, Deputy Mayor, Los Cabos, Mexico; Member, ICLEI GexCom
10. Ravi Bhalla, Mayor, Hoboken, USA; Member, Board of ICLEI US
11. Nicola Armacost, Mayor, Hastings-on-Hudson , USA; Member, ICLEI North America RexCom
12. Julio Cesar Quiñonez, Mayor, Tegucigalpa, Honduras; Member, ICLEI MECS RexCom
13. Eckart Würzner, Mayor, Heidelberg, Germany
14. Kumsil Kang, Climate Ambassador, Gyeonggi, S.Korea
15. Erion Velliaj, Mayor, Tirana, Albania; Member ICLEI Europe RexCom
16. Eric Adams, Mayor, New York City, US

This blog post includes contributions from Yunus Arikan, ICLEI’s Director of Global Advocacy, and Goksen Sahin, Senior Expert Advocacy, ICLEI Europe.