Global Cooperation in the Age of Sustainable Development
Global Cooperation in the Age of Sustainable Development
Vuk Jeremić, Jeffrey Sachs
Achieving sustainable development will be the overriding strategic challenge of this generation. Throughout most of history, the tasks of integrating economic development, social inclusion, and environmental sustainability were local or regional. In the 21st century, however, they are indisputably global. Only through global cooperation can individual nations overcome the interconnected global-scale crises of extreme poverty, economic instability, social inequality, and environmental degradation.
The crises of sustainable development have already become crises of national and global security. Every country faces increasingly complex challenges of energy, food, and water security. Every country faces the crisis of rising frequency and intensity of natural disasters, with a soaring number of floods, droughts, heat waves, extreme storms, and forest fires. Many countries face the unsolved problem of creating jobs for their young people, and many poor countries have populations growing too fast to meet their respective education and employment needs. Many of the today's conflicts -- in the Sahel, the Horn of Africa, Syria, and Western Asia -- are being stoked by droughts, famines, mass migration, and other manifestations of economic, social, and environmental unsustainability.
This is no time for despair, but for resolve. The United Nations must become the functional center of the global sustainable development effort, one that draws on every stakeholder through the UN's unique convening power and universally-recognized legitimacy. Sustainable development must become the daily work of UN Member States, private businesses, non-governmental organizations, universities and research centers, international financial institutions, and the UN organs themselves.
Horizons Discussion in Belgrade Explores Europe’s Future with Zachary Karabell
Belgrade, September 29, 2025 — The Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development (CIRSD) hosted another edition of its renowned Horizons Discussions series, featuring Zachary Karabell, prominent American author, investor, and founder of The Progress Network, in conversation with Vuk Jeremić, CIRSD President and former President of the UN General Assembly.
Read more
Global Preventive Diplomacy Initiative Launched in New York Ahead of UNGA 80
New York, NY — The Global Preventive Diplomacy Initiative (GPDI) was launched at an exclusive event organized by the Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development (CIRSD) on the top floor of New York’s iconic MetLife Building, bringing together diplomats, philanthropists, business leaders, academics, and thought leaders for a conversation on the future of conflict prevention and international cooperation. The launch came just days before the opening of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, which annually brings together heads of state and government for the High-Level General Debate — making New York the world’s diplomatic capital.
Read more
Eighty years after its founding, the UN finds itself at a critical juncture. Its purpose is on trial, and its mission urgently requires recalibration. The world it inherited from the scorches of the Second World War no longer exists, yet many of the organisation’s practices remain rooted in a bygone era – out of sync with today’s realities and detached from those it was created to serve.
Read more