Our world is facing unprecedented challenges to sustainable development. Intensifying geopolitical tensions, accelerating technological change, climate disruption, armed conflict, economic fragmentation, and growing mistrust in institutions are reshaping the international landscape. At the same time, the United Nations is confronting significant political, operational, and financial constraints. Yet the UN remains indispensable for fostering international cooperation, setting global norms, and addressing today’s complex global challenges.

As the process to select the next United Nations Secretary-General is underway, questions of UN reform have taken on renewed urgency. The next Secretary-General is expected to assume office in January 2027. In this context, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network hosted a high-level conversation on the future of the United Nations, including the potential modernization of the UN Charter and the question of how the multilateral system can be made more representative, legitimate, and effective.

Moderator:
Professor Jeffrey Sachs, President of SDSN.

Opening remarks:
H.E. John Dramani Mahama, President of the Republic of Ghana.

Panelists:

• Ambassador Celso Amorim, Chief Advisor to the President of Brazil for Foreign Policy.
• H.E. Mr. Domingos Estêvão Fernandes, Permanent Representative of Mozambique to the United Nations.
• Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili, former Minister of Education and Minister of Solid Minerals of Nigeria.
• Augusto Lopez-Claros, Executive Director and Chair of the Global Governance Forum.
• Olav Kjørven, Senior Advisor at the Article 109 Coalition.