The UN Futures Lab was established by the Executive Office of the Secretary-General in 2023. It is a global network that empowers the UN system and beyond to use futures thinking and strategic foresight in planning, policymaking, and decision-making.
The UN Futures Lab is driven by a Global Hub – currently staffed in New York, Geneva, Nairobi, and Helsinki – which support teams, provide tools, and builds capacity to help shape a more resilient and anticipatory UN.
The way we all imagine the future matters.
Every “what if” sparks new ideas and drives us to create a better tomorrow. What if we embraced uncertainty and complexity with imagination? By exploring multiple futures, we gain fresh perspectives on present challenges and opportunities. We may not control uncertainty, but we can shape how we face it.
The UN Secretary-General’s Our Common Agenda report in 2021 proposed the establishment of the UN Futures Lab to support being better prepared for major global risks while ensuring that policy decisions consider their impact on future generations. Member States emphasized the need for a more anticipatory UN and called for regular updates on the progress of the UN Futures Lab.
Our impact starts with dynamic partnerships. Together we tackle uncertainty head-on by co-creating ways in which we can make sense of complexity and embrace the unknown.
Aligned with the principles of the UN Charter “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war” and the outcomes of the Summit of the Future that champion a more agile and forward-looking multilateral system, our work embeds long-term thinking and strategic foresight into policymaking, decision-making, and planning to ensure that the interests of future generations are taken into account in today’s decisions.
To deliver on the Declaration on Future Generations and build a brighter world for both current and future generations, we apply inclusive methods and draw on diverse voices across backgrounds, geographies, expertise, and age, including youth. We cannot know exactly what future generations will want, dream, need, or aspire to for people and planet – but we have a responsibility to try.
We are helping to shape the work of the Organization and fulfilling the Secretary-General’s commitments to Member States to deliver impact for people and planet.
The annual Report of the Secretary-General on the Work of the Organization 2025 is issued in response to Article 98 of the UN Charter, which mandates the Secretary-General to provide an annual report to the General Assembly and present how resources have been translated into results over the course of the past year.
Reference to our work is found on page 12-13 [all activities related to delivering on the Declaration on Future Generations] and on page 15.
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