The passage on September 22, 2024 of the Pact for the Future at the United Nations was a moment for celebration as the world looks to address global crises, new and emerging issues,  accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals and reinvigorate multilateralism.  

Once the applause died down, the question on many people’s minds became “Now what?  How do we implement this Pact in the world of 2024 and beyond?” 

This will be the challenge.  The world now is very different than it was when the SDGs were adopted as a political framework. Rising fundamentalisms, polarization, and the erosion of values of inclusion and justice in favour of individualism and discrimination have left the world with seemingly much less appetite for ambition. 

“When they were adopted, the SDGs had broad-based support within countries, in civil society, and allowed many countries to advance the agendas of the goals.  In contrast, many of the underlying values that should underpin the implementation of the Pact for the Future- climate justice, gender justice, inclusion- are being eroded around the world, even within many faith institutions,” said Rudelmar Bueno de Faria, general secretary of ACT Alliance. 

Faith actors should be leaders in the moral aspects of the Pact, but too many faith actors espouse inclusion but exclude others based on their gender or sexual orientation, or their national origins.   

“Now is the time for faith leaders to stand up for the key values that will enable us to live into the Pact for the Future.  Solidarity and justice should be what we live as well as what we say,” said de Faria. 

The Pact for the Future may lack the vision or accountability mechanisms the world hoped for, but the door is now open for increased ambition as the appetite for the values and results of the Pact increase in nations and the public.  There is a big opportunity for the world to move forward, when it is ready. 

“I call for the full moral engagement of governments, faith actors, civil society, and the whole of society to advance the Pact for the Future, rooted in compassion, solidarity, justice, inclusion and justice. Together we can bring about a better world, a better future,” de Faria concluded.