Defining the future
Where Next?
As UNDP looks ahead to its next Strategic Plan, the world’s challenges are increasingly interconnected. In 134 countries, every 1°C rise in temperature leads to a 9.1% increase in extreme poverty. Half of global GDP and some two thirds of the SDGs depend on nature.
Yet within these complexities lie new opportunities, whether related to conflict, ecosystem collapse or digital disruption. The world can tackle these challenges in ways that transform societies and economies.
AI alone is projected to contribute $15.7 trillion to the global economy. Nature absorbs 54% of carbon emissions and ensures the stability of our food, water and global supply chains.
As we enter a rapidly changing and increasingly disruptive landscape, UNDP is constantly innovating and learning to support countries in navigating today’s development choices while anticipating future opportunities. By taking a systems perspective, we have the chance to accelerate progress across all dimensions of development, expanding people’s choices and creating better lives for all. By integrating efforts across sectors, UNDP’s portfolio approach helps countries leverage synergies across interventions and achieve greater development impact and value for money.
Thriving futures, built together. That’s a path we can all pursue.
Donors, funders, policymakers and experts confirmed that [UNDP’s portfolio approach] is the future of development
- Transition Collective
Future-smart UNDP
How global challenges and opportunities are interconnected
From evidence to action
With just five short years left to achieve the SDGs, UNDP is integrating summit and climate agreements into its next Strategic Plan. This plan will define our future and guide our support to 170 countries and territories, and hundreds of millions of people. It will help us navigate setbacks and meet growing demands for integrated development solutions across the SDGs by:
- Firing up ambition and innovation to move past current challenges and seize opportunities
- Tackling development challenges and opportunities together, not just one at a time, because they are all interconnected
- Transforming delivery to maximize impact and efficiency by making the most of our resources and managing multiple risks
An unprecedented 579 consultations across 115 countries with governments, civil society, the private sector and more are helping inform the upcoming Strategic Plan. UNDP listens to what our partners expect from us:
- Connect our global presence and local expertise for stronger results
- Leverage our networks and enable economies of scale in the UN Development System
- Join the dots to create integrated solutions
- Look at systems, not sectors – because development is a complex puzzle
- Stay ahead – keep upskilling, innovating and sensing change
For every generation
How can we leave future generations a legacy of choice rather than a burden of debt? That’s the question behind UNDP’s 2024 Signals Spotlight. It draws on UNDP’s Future Trends and Signals System, a network of some 440 staff continuously scanning the horizon for signals of change.
What they see is a world of possibility, of hope for responsible technological progress, for better-connected communities, for an equitable future.
Amid rapid change, our responsibility to future generations seems more urgent than ever. The Signals Spotlight highlights signs of hope that it’s a challenge we can meet. From circular economies and tech-enhanced health care to clean energy growth and multigenerational living, signals of change inspire hope that together, we can build better futures for all.
