UN Report Calls for More Globalization While Leaving No One Behind

Ahead of the July session of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), the UN has issued the UN Secretary-General’s annual report exploring the long-term impacts of current trends on the realization of the SDGs. This year’s report outlines the contours and consequences of globalization, calling for “more – not less” of it, but “embedded in the principle of leaving no one behind and governed by multilateral rules and collective action.”

The report describes the expansion of globalization over time, driven by advances in technology and policy choices. Noting that many developing countries have reaped great benefits from economic integration over the past three decades, it recognizes that economic integration “has outpaced efforts to cushion its negative effects,” such as “the distributional and environmental impacts of unregulated economic globalization both within and between countries.”

Consequently, “the strong political commitment of governments to trade liberalization, particularly since the 1990s, has given way to a more cautious outlook, influenced by rising geopolitical tensions,” including the introduction of tariffs and retaliatory measures by major actors, according to the report.

The report warns that unless “the prevailing geopolitical fissures in the global trading system” are addressed, waning support of states for multilateral cooperation and institutions could affect the implementation of global frameworks, “created to mitigate the economic, social and environmental costs of globalization.” These frameworks, whose overarching objective is to help ensure globalization delivers for everyone, include the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA), the Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, and the Global Digital Compact.

Dated May 2025, the report (E/2025/68) is titled, ‘Long-term impacts of current trends on the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals.’ It will inform the deliberations during the 2025 session of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) in July. HLPF 2025 will carry out in-depth reviews of SDG 3 (good health and well-being), SDG 5 (gender equality), SDG 8 (decent work and economic growth), SDG 14 (life below water), and SDG 17 (partnerships for the Goals) – the only Goal to undergo review annually. [Publication: Long-term Impacts of Current Trends on the Realization of the Sustainable Development Goals]