Multilateralism is weak (to put it mildly), but global summitry remains strong in 2025 nevertheless, with a string of meetings at heads of state/government level, and forceful progressive civil society presence and pressure.
Thus, for instance, feminists celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action at the Commission on the Status of Women in New York in March. The Financing for Development Conference (Sevilla) and the BRICS Summit in Rio issued statements with some achievements, such as to negotiate an international tax harmonisation in a process at the UN. On the Agenda 2030, the High-level Political Forum is underway at the moment in New York, with circa 40 countries reporting on their SDG performance notably on gender, on decent work and on health – some honestly and modestly, others with glorified or even false information. For the autumn, more negotiating conferences are in the pipeline – including a G20 Summit in Johannesburg, and the Climate COP 20 in Belem.
Ideally, the 2nd World Summit for Social Development to come together in Doha in November could make all these processes cohere, if it were to succeed to present a comprehensive rights-based agreement that is in line with the SDGs (and their follow-up) and formulates goals for human rights, economic and social equity, decent work, gender justice, and just transition within planetary boundaries. We could actually try to aim for a World Summit for Eco-Social Development, following the vision of a renewed eco-social contract.
To deepen our strategy as committed civil society, Global Summit Watch is convening a webinar of Monday 21 July in the Bahai Centre New York and online, 12:30 New York time. Do join.
Watching the 2025 global commitments pipeline
Multilateralism is weak (to put it mildly), but global summitry remains strong in 2025 nevertheless, with a string of meetings at heads of state/government level, and forceful progressive civil society presence and pressure.
Thus, for instance, feminists celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action at the Commission on the Status of Women in New York in March. The Financing for Development Conference (Sevilla) and the BRICS Summit in Rio issued statements with some achievements, such as to negotiate an international tax harmonisation in a process at the UN. On the Agenda 2030, the High-level Political Forum is underway at the moment in New York, with circa 40 countries reporting on their SDG performance notably on gender, on decent work and on health – some honestly and modestly, others with glorified or even false information. For the autumn, more negotiating conferences are in the pipeline – including a G20 Summit in Johannesburg, and the Climate COP 20 in Belem.
Ideally, the 2nd World Summit for Social Development to come together in Doha in November could make all these processes cohere, if it were to succeed to present a comprehensive rights-based agreement that is in line with the SDGs (and their follow-up) and formulates goals for human rights, economic and social equity, decent work, gender justice, and just transition within planetary boundaries. We could actually try to aim for a World Summit for Eco-Social Development, following the vision of a renewed eco-social contract.
To deepen our strategy as committed civil society, Global Summit Watch is convening a webinar of Monday 21 July in the Bahai Centre New York and online, 12:30 New York time. Do join.
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