Nordic Statement at Informal Consultations on Summit of the Future

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Excellencies,

I have the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of the Nordic countries, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and my own country Denmark.

We welcome the concept note shared by the co-facilitators and their efforts to present a draft decision on the scope and elements of the Summit of the Future.

We strongly support the co-facilitators’ proposed four clusters closely aligned with the UN75 commitments, which offer a tangible way for Member States to focus their discussions and constructively follow up on the processes and recommendations contained in the Our Common Agenda report.

The centrality of rebuilding trust and global solidarity which is proposed for the Chapeau follows the Secretar

y-General’s vision as set out in the Our Common Agenda report – and we believe this is critical to ensure a Summit of the Future that can help reinvigorate the multilateral system and strengthen global governance.

To this end, we furthermore welcome the proposal to draw on insights of the High-Level Advisory Board on Effective Multilateralism, which presented important recommendations to address gaps in global governance.

We would like to highlight three points, which we find essential to the scope of the Summit of the Future and the Pact for the Future:

Firstly, the purposes and principles UN Charter and international law, including the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, remain timeless, universal and an indispensable foundation for a more peaceful, prosperous and just world. International law and human rights remains our unshakable foundation, and must – as the co-facilitators propose – be at the centre of the Pact for the Future including all four clusters. As was emphasized in the Secretary-General’s Our Common Agenda report, we recall that international human rights law, underpins approximately 90 % of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Secondly, effectively mainstreaming gender equality across all clusters is not only important but necessary. None of our common commitments can be realized, if we leave half the world’s population unheard and excluded. We strongly commend the co-facilitator’s proposal to put women and girls at the centre, ensuring the full, equal and meaningful participation of all women and girls in aspects of the four clusters.

Third, as the centre of this year’s High-Level Week, we strongly support the ties made to the SDG Summit as well as the strong emphasis on securing sustainable financing to advance SDG implementation in the proposal. The global challenges and crises we face do not work in silos and therefore neither can we. Linking ongoing and upcoming processes is necessary to achieve meaningful progress and we encourage drawing links to the World Social Summit as well as an emphasis on the social aspects in the Pact for the Future – as key elements of Our Common Agenda

We stress the importance of meaningful inclusion of civil society, youth, women, the private sector and other non-state actors, including those in vulnerable positions, across all the clusters of the Pact and towards the Summit of the Future. We strongly encourage the continued consultation with non-state stakeholders.

The Ministerial Meeting in September is a key step in realizing the Secretary-General’s vision in the Our Common Agenda report of a future of global cooperation through inclusive, networked and effective multilateralism anchored in renewed solidarity between peoples and future generations. In our view, the Summit of the Future is not about what we must do in the future, it is about what we must do today, to secure the future we want – the achievement of the SDGs.

We look forward to continuing the constructive engagement among Member States to find a framework for the way forward, which ensures the best possible outcome of the Ministerial Meeting and the Summit of the Future next year.

Thank you.