LATER THIS MONTH, leaders from around the globe will meet in New York for the United Nations’ Summit of the Future. This meeting isn’t just another political event; it is an important opportunity to rethink how we deal with the world’s biggest problems, like climate change, inequality and the destruction of our environment.
The Summit of the Future was proposed by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as part of the UN’s “Our Common Agenda,” which aims to strengthen international cooperation in the face of escalating global challenges. The summit is not about creating new policies, but about sending a clear message that we need to rethink our approach to global issues.
The UN hopes that world leaders can agree a “Pact for the Future”; a new set of priorities for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals: a world without poverty, injustice or environmental harm. As such, the summit is also an opportunity to change how we think about, and decide on, our future.
The organisers of the ‘Summit of the Future’ acknowledge that current policies are not delivering the results we need. Short-term thinking has led to widespread poverty, inequality, environmental damage and social injustice. The summit calls for a new perspective, moving away from narrow economic interests toward a broader approach that values long-term sustainability and equity.
Most people, including politicians, will agree that governments and businesses find it difficult to make decisions for the long term, tending instead to focus on short-term wins, like boosting GDP or securing political power. It is their — and our collective — inability to “think long” that has led to widespread overuse of natural resources and growing inequality, both within and between countries.
The summit provides a chance to shift this mindset.
Our most pressing current global problems — climate change, biodiversity loss, poverty and extreme inequality — are deeply interconnected. To solve these problems effectively, we need to understand and recognise that they interact with each other.
Such a ‘systems thinking’ approach can help us understand that solving one problem, like reducing pollution, can have a ripple effect in other areas, like improving health or reducing inequality. Similarly, it will illustrate that trying to address climate change through technology alone will do nothing to address the policies and choices that created the wider environmental crisis.
The upcoming UN summit highlights the importance of this broader perspective. It reminds us that solving one problem in isolation won’t work. If we are to achieve real and lasting change, we need to start addressing the roots of these problems, together.
Real change isn’t just about what happens at the summit. It’s also about putting in place the right policies and structures that enable and direct change. And it’s about empowerment: giving people the tools and confidence to get involved.
At present, many people feel powerless and disconnected from our political processes. The complex forces at work and the scale of global changes lead people to feel unsure of their place in the world, or how they can make a difference.
But there is plenty of evidence that when people and communities are equipped to act — with knowledge, opportunities and skills — they can make a significant impact, especially when connected to broader global movements. Building confidence and critical thinking in communities helps create active citizens who drive change locally and globally. These engaged citizens become leaders, shaping a fairer and more sustainable world, from the bottom up.
Practitioners and academics have shown time and again that real change happens when people work together. Change in the world happens through collective interactions and collaboration. Complex problems require collaboration and a diversity of skills and strategies. Likewise, local actions, when people and ideas are connected to form networks, can create a new, larger-scale system replacing the old and dysfunctional ones. And by making connections, local initiatives inspire local action elsewhere.
When people work together like this, they can create a tipping point in society — a moment when small efforts combine to spark significant change. History shows that these moments can lead to major shifts in how we think and act as a society.
While the UN Summit is crucial for shaping a new vision for a better world, the real challenge is turning ideas into action. It’s one thing to discuss change; it’s another to make it happen.
For those not attending the summit, the question becomes: How can we help? The answer is clear: take small, meaningful actions in our daily lives. Whether it’s cutting down on plastic use, supporting local green projects, ending the use of chemicals in our gardens, or raising awareness about global issues, every action counts.
When these individual efforts connect to larger movements, they create ripples of change that can spread globally.
The UN Summit of the Future is more than just a meeting of leaders; it’s a call for everyone to get involved in shaping a better world. It reminds us that challenges like climate change, pollution and inequality are interconnected, and require collective action.
The summit encourages us all to think creatively, act purposefully, and help each other to build a fair and sustainable future, for people and planet.
Hans Zomer is CEO of Global Action Plan, an environmental NGO focused on behaviour change.
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