The zero draft to create a pact for the future has landed. The hard part begins.

Germany and Namibia must be aspirational yet practical, forward thinking but attuned to present realities, ambitious but politically feasible. The way to strike such a sensitive balance is for the member states to understand the current challenges, to learn from the past 79 years of the UN’s life span and to project those lessons out a century from now. What steps will be taken at the September summit to set us on that positive path?

The draft can be a constructive point of departure to reach more ambitious levels of agreement. We are pleased to see robust recommendations regarding meaningful youth engagement in its dedicated chapter as well as the treatment of emerging technology — including lethal autonomous weapons — in the peace chapter. But this is just a start.

The Coalition for the UN We Need, which last year produced an interim people’s pact before the five chapters of the Pact for the Future were finalized, supports the principles articulated in the draft. It is also consistent with the Coalition’s open letter on the UN Summit of the Future, signed by more than 50 eminent people worldwide who called on governments to “scale up their commitments and collaboration, taking a long-term perspective to bring about a world that is more equitable, inclusive, secure and sustainable.”

As promised, the draft commits member states to the principles of human rights and gender equality. Vitally, the pact suggests that member states “commit to concrete steps to reinvigorate this system, fill critical gaps in global governance, and accelerate efforts to keep our past promises and agreements.” This focus will represent the work of the next seven months.

For people who have followed the preparations for the Summit, there are not many new substantive initiatives in the draft. Most of the text reflects internationally agreed language, without committing to specific governance reforms. Repeated phrases, such as “We commit to further developing . . .” and “We will work together to improve . . .” indicate a direction for improving international cooperation, but with the all-important details to be worked out in negotiations before the Summit or during the proposed two-year implementation period (with a stocktaking of progress on reform commitments to be held at the end of the General Assembly’s 80th session, in 2026 ).

One interesting note from the co-facilitators in the draft section on “Transforming Global Governance” indicates an intention to provide initial language for proposed Security Council reform by June 2024.

Fully aware of current political sensitivities, it is now time for civil society to engage member states as constructive partners more formally. Such active participation can catalyze the level of agreement and ambition among governments.

The next steps we propose:

• Generate excitement, political will and public support for cooperative and creative global solutions. Because of the daunting polycrisis we face, this can ensure a valuable outcome.

• Work with a wide range of experts to flesh out additional innovations, consistent with the “new approach” underscored in the draft. These could range from such low-hanging fruit as gender alternation of the president of the General Assembly to more aspirational calls, like enhancing the UN Environment Program and annual climate COPs or upgrading the Peacebuilding Commission into an empowered Peacebuilding Council.

• Build greater trust in the negotiations by allowing civil society access to the proceedings. This will help all diplomats as they forge a common ground, while providing citizens a window into an intergovernmental process.

• As the draft expresses, set in motion efforts “to review progress on the implementation of the commitments in this Pact.” This could go further, in line with a core recommendation of the Secretary-General’s High-Level Advisory Board on Effective Multilateralism to include a call for an a UN Charter review conference.

The draft represents a promising start upon which to build a successful Summit of the Future.