Can the UN save our future?

​FILE PHOTO: UN General Assembly votes at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City, U.S. May 23, 2024.
FILE PHOTO: UN General Assembly votes at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City, U.S. May 23, 2024.
REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo

Today marks the first major day of the UN General Assembly, a forum where the UN’s 193 member states gather to debate global problems and work toward solutions. The event kicks off with the Summit of the Future — a two-day event that UN Secretary-General António Guterres says is a “once-in-a-generation chance” to reinvigorate international cooperation and forge a new global consensus on shaping our collective future.

GZERO will be on the ground delivering exclusive content from UNGA, but before we get to the high-level meetings and major speeches next week, here’s what to expect from the Summit of the Future:

Day one kicks off with the kids. The first day focuses on youth participation at the UN, a fitting start for a summit aimed at creating a better future. On the agenda is gender equality, sustainability, peace building, and digital equity. Climate change will be a central focus of the day, as the event coincides with Climate Week beginning in New York City, and comes ahead of the review of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (spoiler alert: they are off track).

Studies show that people 18 to 29 years old are more favorable toward the UN than those ages 50 and older, but that optimism is rarely translated into tangible power when it comes to UN resolutions and actions. GZERO’s Riley Callanan will meet with Assistant Secretary-General for Youth Affairs Felipe Paullier ahead of the summit to discuss why young people should care about the UN, and the role they can play in revitalizing the 78-year-old institution for a new generation.

Day two gets into the nitty-gritty with the aim of figuring out how the UN can harness international cooperation to actually create a better future. There are three key parts of the day: sustainability, peace building, and technology.

On technology, the UN is unveiling its“Governing AI for Humanity,” report, which lays out how the UN can create aframework for global AI governance. The aim: ensure AI development is humane, equitable, and harnessed to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

They are also expected to agree on the Global Digital Compact, which will task the UN with ensuring that AI is used safely and for global benefit, and with bridging the technological divide that exists between wealthy countries and the rest of the world. The difference: One is a framework, one is a global agreement. Both could be monumental in creating international governance over the technology that will likely shape the future.

Ian Bremmer, founder and president of both Eurasia Group and GZERO Media, served as a rapporteur for the UN High-Level Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence, and will be presenting the report and the Global Digital Compact alongside other experts at the event on Saturday.

We will be bringing you all of the highlights of UNGA in our newsletter, but if you want to really get a feel for what it's like to be on the ground, follow us onX,Instagram, andYouTube.

More from GZERO Media

A typewriter and a white sheet of paper with the words "Artificial Intelligence" printed on it.

Amid the DeepSeek mania that’s sweeping from China to the rest of the globe, the Chinese government is demanding that AI companies provide labels for any and all AI-generated media they produce.

- YouTube

Jack Ma, the billionaire founder of tech giant Alibaba, was once synonymous with entrepreneurship in China. But in 2020, he disappeared from public view after criticizing the country’s financial system amid President Xi Jinping’s crackdown on the tech sector. Recently, however, it seems Jack Ma may be back in the Communist party’s good graces. On GZERO World, Ian Bremmer spoke with China analyst and Sinocism author Bill Bishop about the meaning behind Ma’s apparent reemergence and rehabilitation.

Palestinians are fleeing their homes in response to Israel army evacuation orders in a number of neighborhoods following heavy Israeli strikes in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip on March 18, 2025.
REUTERS/Abd Elhkeem Khaled

The Israel-Hamas ceasefire ended overnight, as Israel resumed airstrikes on the Gaza Strip following Hamas’ refusal to release Israeli hostages. Over 300 fatalities have been reported, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

Congolese and Belgian citizens take part in a protest in Brussels, while clashes between M23 rebels and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo take place in DRC.
REUTERS/Yves Herman

Rwandan-backed M23 rebels have withdrawn from peace talks with the Democratic Republic of Congo that were set to start Tuesday in Angola, citing sanctions imposed by the European Commission on Rwandan officials for plundering mineral wealth in the DRC. Rwanda, meanwhile, has severed diplomatic ties with Belgium, which had urged the Commission to impose the sanctions.

French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, on March 17, 2025.
REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq

Amid Europe’s growing rift with President Donald Trump, a French lawmaker this weekend called on the United States to “give us back the Statue of Liberty” now that Americans “have chosen to side with the tyrants.” But French President Emmanuel Macron came out with a more concrete plan to split with Washington: He's urging allies to buy European missile systems, not American ones.