The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have become the central organising framework for multilateral cooperation, helping to improve millions of lives worldwide.

Yet, progress remains off track. As geopolitical fragmentation deepens and trust between actors erodes, the question is how multilateralism can deliver of the promise of the SDGs. Current global dynamics, from stalled climate negotiations to institutional paralysis in key multilateral fora, suggest growing misalignment between the ambition of the SDGs and the political and economic conditions required for their implementation.

Capacity gaps, diverging national priorities, financing, trust and weakening incentives for cooperation raise concerns about whether the goals remain attainable under existing frameworks of global cooperation. Against this backdrop, this session examines what a “New Multilateralism” could look like and whether it can reinvigorate progress on the SDGs in an increasingly contested and multipolar world.

It will explore how global cooperation can be made more effective, more inclusive, and more resilient under current conditions. Using climate action as an entry point, the discussion will consider what it would mean to make global cooperation truly “fit for purpose” in an era defined by fragmentation, shifting power dynamics, and constrained multilateralism.

Fotocredits: istockphoto-metamorworks