The Federal Chancellor attended the UN Summit of the Future in New York
The Federal Chancellor travelled to New York to take part in the United Nations’ Summit of the Future. Namibia and Germany spent the past two years preparing the summit and the "Pact for the Future".
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Federal Chancellor Scholz speaking about the Pact for the Future before the UN General Assembly. Germany and Namibia coordinated the negotiation process jointly.
Photo: Federal Government/ Marvin Ibo Güngör
On 22 and 23 September, the heads of state and government of the member states of the United Nations (UN) met for the Summit for the Future. Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz, too, travelled to New York to attend the summit.
Speeches and press statements
See here to read more about the Federal Chancellor’s speech he delivered at the start of the UN Summit of the Future.
You can read the Federal Chancellor’s speech he delivered at the start of the UN Summit of the Future here.
Pact for the Future
The Pact for the Future and the other results documents of the summit are available in English here.
Video
The Pact for the Future was adopted during the summit. It represents a new international agreement on how we can improve the present day and ensure a viable future for later generations.
The pact addresses three concerns in particular: the need to tackle pressing international issues, a faster implementation of the 2030 Agenda, and reforms of various parts of the UN system.
Germany and Namibia took the lead at the Summit of the Future
Germany and Namibia coordinated the negotiations for the Pact for the Future. Acting as co-facilitators, the two countries led countless conversations behind the scenes to prepare the summit and a draft final declaration – the Pact for the Future.
The two countries also jointly chaired the UN Summit of the Future. Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Namibia’s President Nangolo Mbumba both delivered speeches at the start of the Summit of the Future.
New York, 21–23 Sept 2024: The occasion for Scholz’s three-day visit was the UN Summit of the Future, which Germany has been preparing jointly with Namibia for almost two years.
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz talks to Namibia’s President Nangolo Mbumba, who co-led the negotiations. The two countries worked together on the “Pact for the Future” to reform the United Nations.
“In a time of great tensions and uncertainties, we need a pact for the future more than ever,” said Scholz at the opening of the Summit for the Future in the UN General Assembly. “The Pact for the Future can serve us as a compass, a compass whose needle points towards stronger collaboration and partnership rather than more conflicts and fragmentation.”
The UN member states adopted the Pact for the Future. Across 56 action points, the states undertake to cooperate more closely in almost all areas of multilateralism.
The Federal Chancellor had a packed schedule and held several bilateral meetings during his visit, including a face-to-face meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine.
He also spoke to leaders of the small island developing states. The island nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines is a member of the grouping, and Scholz met its Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves.
At the Museum of Jewish Heritage, which engages with the Holocaust, Scholz visited the special exhibition on hate speech, after which he spoke to young leaders of Jewish organisations.
The Federal Chancellor visited Bloomberg Tower and met Michael Bloomberg, who founded the Bloomberg company. Bloomberg set up the media group in 1981 and it is now considered one of the largest in the world.
At the Museum of Modern Art, the artist Thomas Schütte gave Scholz a personal guided tour of the exhibition.
Meeting with heads of state and government to discuss global governance.
Scholz and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock then attended a reception to mark the conclusion of the Summit of the Future.
The vote to approve the Pact for the Future marked the end of two years of tireless work by Germany and Namibia. The pact kicks off reforms affecting areas such as the architecture of international finance, cooperation on the UN Security Council, development cooperation, and compliance with international sustainability goals.
The pact is “a sign that the possibility exists for cooperation between the countries of the world in spite of all the challenges we face, the many sudden crises and of course the several wars with which we must concern ourselves,” said the Federal Chancellor in New York.
The UN Summit of the Future has special significance: For the first time since the 2005 World Summit, topics related to all of the UN’s three pillars were addressed and negotiated jointly at a UN Summit: development, peace and security, and human rights.