During the UN’s Summit of Future, held on September, 22nd and 23rd, 2024, global leaders underlined a fundamental concept: sustainable development must be the center of global economic politics. The main concept of this engagement is the multilateral trade system, which is fundamentale for reachment of the Sustainable Development Goals. At the Summit the Pact of Future was signed and it is a statement, which defines the strategies to face the global challenges of the next decades. At the center of the debate there was the necessity of a regulated, fair and inclusive international trade, in order to support a global balanced economic development. The Pact of Future underlined how a commercial system, based on non-discriminatory and transparent rules is essential to create the necessary prosperity conditions to set the agenda of sustainable development. One of the main points of the summit was the power of maintaining a stable multilateral commercial system given to the World Trade Organization (WTO). However, it is also the necessity of a WTO’s reform to make it easier and able to face new global challenges, such as climate change, the growing digitalization and the economic inequalities. This reform aims at reinforcing the WTO’s ability to guarantee that the rules of international trade favor every country, with a particular attention on the developing countries. The Pact of Future has also the introduction of special and different treatments to answer the development’s needs of each nation, especially the poorer ones. The Summit also wanted to promote the economic growth in the developing countries through a preferential access to the global markets, reducing inequalities and facilitating the WTO’s adhesion with policies that rise in investments. It was also established that the reform must face the global trade’s challenges.
But why does the Pact of Future represent a winning duo for the future?
While in the past, the deregulation of trade was seen just for the sake of it, now it is clear that commerce must be a way for the reachment of global sustainability. It is not only economic growth, but also involving everyone and preserving the resources for the future generation, which is a crucial theme in the debate about sustainability and global trade.
In a world where the natural resources are limited and the environmental challenges, like climate change and the loss in biodiversity are becoming serious, it is fundamental to reforming the way economies operate and integrate. The deregulation of the trade, which was considered a strategy to promote the economic growth, now aims at considering the long-term commercial politics’ consequences, which have to ensure the future generation to have a healthy and rich planet. For this reason, intergenerational sustainability plays a fundamental role. It means that natural resources and common goods must be managed in order not to compromise the future generations. For example, the sustainable agricultural activities, the conservation of water resources and the safeguard of ecosystems are not only ethical choices, but also strategic necessities to guarantee food security and high quality life for the future generation. Commercial politics must promote accessible opportunities, avoiding the progress to rise in the inequalities. It is essential to invest in clean technologies, renewable energies and professional education in order to help workers, coming from emerging economies, to adapt to a developing market. Moreover, it is fundamental to encourage the global dialogue, which must include governments, societies, local communities and the population, ensuring that the future generation’s necessities are integrated in the decisional process, as established in the Action 5 of the Pact.
The Summit of the Future 2024 has indeed shown that multilateral commerce is the key to face sustainable development’s challenges. Through a shared engagement, favoring a same, inclusive and transparent commercial system, the global leaders marked a clear path for the future years. Now the challenge is to make the Pact for the Future’s promises concrete actions, able to guarantee a sustainable and inclusive economic growth for everyone.
Mondo Internazionale APS - Riproduzione Riservata ® 2024