United Nations Summit of the Future: Russia is not supporting the pact

The two-day Future Summit concludes in New York on 23 September

Preparations for 2021 began when UN Secretary-General António Guterres presented a program entitled "Our Common Agenda," setting out his views on the prospects for multilateral global cooperation. One of the points was to organize such a summit. In September 2022, the UN General Assembly approved the modalities for its organization. As stated in the Assembly resolution, the objectives of the Summit are to reaffirm the UN Charter, to strengthen the multilateral approach to global politics, to accelerate the implementation of existing commitments, to agree on solutions to concrete problems and to rebuild trust among countries^[1].

"We are here to pull multilateralism back from the brink. I appeal to this Summit: consider the deepest reforms to make global institutions fairer, more legitimate and based on the values of the UN Charter," said Guterres at the opening of the Summit. - I called for this Summit because our world is going off track and we need tough decisions to get back on track."

According to Guterres, conflicts around the world - from the Middle East to Ukraine to Sudan - are expanding and multiplying, the collective security system is threatened by geo-political divisions, resources that could offer opportunity and hope are being invested in death and destruction, and existing multilateral institutions are failing to respond effectively to today's challenges. The UN Secretary-General has therefore concluded that there is a need to reform the global governance system by reviewing the composition and working methods of the UN Security Council, whose authority is waning, to revitalize international financial organizations.

"We cannot wait for ideal conditions. We must now take the first decisive steps to renew and reform international cooperation to make it calmer, fairer and more inclusive", urged Guterres. The documents adopted at the Summit were a first step, he said.

The summit adopted three agreements - The Pact for the Future, the Global Digital Compact and the Declaration for Future Generations

The Summit endorsed three agreements that have been brought together in a single document: the Pact for the Future (to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as soon as possible and to implement the Paris Climate Agreement), the Global Digital Compact (which for the first time registers an agreement on the international governance of artificial intelligence, for which an international AI think tank should be set up) and the Declaration for Future Generations (which calls for the protection of our descendants from the scourge of war, and commits the parties to take into account the interests of our descendants when making decisions).

The main agreement—the Pact for the Future—is divided into five parts, covering 56 actions.

1. Sustainable development and its financing covers 12 actions.

This section is linked to the SDGs for 2030. Next is the fight against hunger and food security. The signatories to the Pact have committed to assist developing countries to achieve the MDGs financially to make the multilateral trading system an engine for sustainable development to invest in human capital; to build peaceful, just and inclusive societies; to ensure gender equality; to step up efforts to combat climate change and protect the environment; and to develop culture and sport.

"We will plan for the future and strengthen our joint efforts to give strong impetus to the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and beyond," reads the 12th paragraph.

2. International peace and security includes 15 actions.

Summit participants pledged to redouble efforts to build peaceful, inclusive and just societies, to protect all civilians in armed conflict, and to assist all those facing humanitarian emergencies. The signatories pledged to work towards the peaceful settlement of disputes, to implement the judgments of the International Court of Justice, to make peace operations more effective, and to combat threats at sea, terrorism, and transnational crime. It also sets out the countries' desire for a world free of nuclear weapons, their commitment to disarmament and the elimination of risks associated with new technologies.

3. Science, technology and innovation, digital cooperation covers six actions.

The promise is that new technologies will be used for the benefit of people and the planet, to help developing countries strengthen their scientific, technical and innovative capacities and to protect the knowledge of indigenous peoples, traditional and local communities.

4. Young people and future generations - four actions.

"Today's generation of children and young people is the largest in history, most of them living in developing countries. They are active agents of change for the better, and we welcome the important contribution of young people to peace and security, sustainable development and human rights," the chapter begins. But many children and young people around the world are being deprived of the opportunity to reach their full potential and enjoy their human rights. This is why it promises to invest in the social and economic development of young people, to protect their rights and to strengthen their participation at national and international levels.

5. Transforming global governance - 19 actions.

While the organisation has shown remarkable results in the 80 years since the UN was created, today it faces unprecedented pressures, the chapter says^[2]

"We need to restore confidence in global institutions to make them more representative and responsive to the needs of today's world and more effective in fulfilling the commitments we have made to each other and to our peoples," the signatories of the declaration promised. - We are talking about the reform of several UN institutions, and at the heart of this is the reform of the Security Council, which has been on the table since 1990 without success. The pact sets out the rough parameters for Security Council reform. In particular, it is necessary to redress the historical injustice against Africa, and to increase the representation of under-represented and unrepresented regions and groups, such as Asia and the Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean".

The issue of veto power is raised separately.

"We will intensify our efforts to reach agreement on the future of the veto, including a discussion on the issue of limiting its application and scope of use," the pact says.

Seven countries vote against the Pact for the Future, including Russia, Belarus, Iran, North Korea, Nicaragua, Syria and Sudan

143 countries voted in favor of the final document, 15 abstained, and seven voted against, including Russia, Belarus, Iran, North Korea, Nicaragua, Syria, and Sudan. The countries that voted against, except Sudan, proposed an amendment to the text to add another paragraph to the pact. The gist of it is that the UN should not interfere in the internal affairs of states; in this context, the Secretary-General should assess the organization, its funds, and programs to see how they are fulfilling this commitment and whether there is any duplication of effort. This proposal was not adopted.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin, who represented Russia at the Future Summit, said that it was impossible to agree on the document as there were no intergovernmental negotiations on it, and several delegations did not support the text^[3].

 "There has not been a single meeting where delegations have come to the same table and negotiated the draft text in parts and paragraphs. From the very beginning, the coordinators of the drafting of the text incorporated what was dictated to them mainly by the Western countries", said Vershinin. Russia was not allowed to come to the negotiating table to discuss controversial issues, he said, which made the process non-partisan.

"What has happened is a huge defeat for the UN, because the principle of the sovereign equality of states, as enshrined in the Charter, has been cynically sacrificed to one group of countries whose interests have been carefully protected all these months. And the negotiating coordinators alone decided what should be included in this or that document and in what form - and what should not. We do not recall such illegality in the UN platform", said the Russian representative, noting that none of the UN members are happy with the text. The best option, according to Moscow, would not be to accept a raw and non-consensual text, but to continue negotiations and keep them going until the text is acceptable to all.

Vershinin promised that if the amendment is not accepted, Russia will withdraw from the consensus on the pact and the GPA, in particular on the disarmament provisions and on the participation of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the work of the UN and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

What provisions did the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister find objectionable?

He focused on the points relating to disarmament.

Action 25. Towards a world without nuclear weapons

"Recognise that while the ultimate goal of States' efforts must remain general and complete disarmament under effective international control, the immediate objective is to eliminate the threat of nuclear war and to take measures to end the arms race and pave the way for lasting peace," it says.

Action 26. Implementation of disarmament commitments.

"We express our grave concern at the increasing number of actions that contravene existing international norms and fail to comply with disarmament, arms control and non-proliferation obligations," it states.

Three provisions of the pact mention NGOs: Action 43 (strengthening the UN's ECOSOC), Action 44 (strengthening the Peacebuilding Commission), and Action 46 (effective implementation of human rights and responding to new challenges). These provisions refer to NGOs' participation in consultations and the protection of such organizations from any form of intimidation and reprisals.

"In any case, we must stress that the Covenant is not a document that automatically creates new powers and obligations for Member States. It is only a declaration and a very vague one. New powers and obligations can only emerge through intergovernmental processes, which will be carried out fundamentally differently from how work on the Pact and its annexes has been organised", Vershinin concluded.
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