A Bold New Idea for UN Reform

I spent the last week of May at a conference in Stockholm called the New Shape Forum. This was an ideas festival and prize competition and workshop all around new ideas for better organizing the world to confront catastrophic global risks.

The Global Challenges Foundation, which convened this, solicited new ideas for global governance and received several thousand ideas from all over the world. Of these submissions, 14 finalists were selected to present their ideas at the New Shape Forum.

And then those of us invited to the conference all got down to work. We identified the ideas we thought we could help refine and spent two days building upon them. At the end of the conference, three of those 14 ideas were selected as winners, and the winning ideas got $600,000 each.

My guest today, Natalie Samarsinghe is one of those winners. She is the executive director of the United Nations Association of the United Kingdom–though she wants to stress that this episode was recorded in her personal capacity, as was the idea she submitted.

She came up with a proposal for a novel kind of UN Reform —  not a reform of the Security Council, or the General Assembly. Rather, it is a proposal for how UN agencies can better design and implement programs and projects around the world.

You can find the other two winning ideas and other finalists at Global Challenges.org

This episode is presented by the Global Challenges Foundation, which recently convened the New Shape Forum in Stockholm. This was a platform where over 200 leading thinkers and experts discussed fresh ideas for improving global governance to tackle the world’s most pressing problems. Next, the Global Challenges Foundation is partnering with the Paris Peace Forum in November to present further developed and more holistic ideas for confronting global catastrophic risks.  Visit GlobalChallenges.org to learn more.

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A Conversation With Michael Møller, Director General of the UN Office in Geneva

I was a bit skeptical when my guest today told me that every person on the planet, in any 24 hour period, is somehow impacted by the work of the UN and other international entities in Geneva.

Still, Michael Møller would be in a position to know. He is the Director General of the UN Office in Geneva, which makes him a very senior UN official.  As he explains, the mundane routines of life — everything from brushing my teeth in morning to calling my grandmother in Montreal — is touched by work done in Geneva.

We discuss how he is trying to change the perceptions of the UN’s work in Geneva by explaining its relevance to everyday life on the planet. We also discuss the innovative “SDG Lab” launched by his office and the work of the UN Conference on Disarmament, of which Møller is the titular head.

I will be seeing Michael Møller in Stockholm next week where he will be delivering a keynote address to the New Shape Forum. This is a conference and ideas festival convened by the Global Challenges Foundation.

We kick off this conversation discussing what Michael Møller is looking forward to from the New Shape Forum and also he previews some of the remarks he’ll be delivering at his keynote address.

This episode is presented in partnership with the Global Challenges Foundation, whose aim is to contribute to reducing the main global problems and risks that threaten humanity. Last year, the Global Challenges Foundation held an open call to find new models of global cooperation better capable of handling the most pressing global risks. In May this year at the New Shape Forum in Stockholm, the top proposals will be presented publicly and further refined through discussions with key thought leaders and experts.  

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Episode 187: Wanjira Mathai

Image credit: Global Challenges Foundation

Wanjira Mathai is a Kenyan environmental and civic leader. She is the chair of the Wangari Mathai Foundation, which is named after her mother who won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize.

Much of Wanjira’s work focuses on the intersection of women’s empowerment and environmental sustainability. We kick off with a discussion about her work with a group called the Partnership on Women’s Entrepreneurship in Renewables (wPOWER). Much of our conversation discusses the challenges and opportunities around renewable energy in the developing world.

We also discuss the work of her mother, the environmental justice pioneer who founded the Green Belt Movement.

This episode is presented in partnership with the Global Challenges Foundation, whose aim is to contribute to reducing the main global problems and risks that threaten humanity. Last year, the Global Challenges Foundation held an open call to find new models of global cooperation better capable of handling the most pressing global risks. In May this year at the New Shape Forum in Stockholm, the top proposals will be presented publicly and further refined through discussions with key thought leaders and experts. US$5 million will be awarded to the best ideas that re-envision global governance for the 21st century. 

Wanjira Mathai is a Global Challenges Foundation ambassador and in the conversation we discuss this prize and why new ideas for global governance are important for the future of environmental sustainability. 

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Episode 180: Anote Tong, former President of Kiribati

President Anote Tong of Kiribati addresses General Assembly. UN Photo/J Carrier

To the people of Kiribati, climate change is an existential threat.

This is an Island nation in the pacific — it is a string of atolls about halfway between Australia and Hawaii. It has a population of about 100,000 and is known for its vast Tuna stocks.

But climate change and rising sea levels are making much of Kiribati uninhabitable–it is a country that is facing extinction. And not in some distant future. This is happening now.

My guest today, Anote Tong, served as President of Kiribati from 2003 to 2016. President Tong is well known in international circles for being a powerful advocate on behalf of people living in small island states that are on the front line of climate change.

What I found so interesting about this conversation was learning how President Tong’s advocacy in international forums has evolved over time–and how this existential threat contributed to President Tong’s decision to create what is the world’s largest marine sanctuary: the Phoenix Islands Protection Area.

This episode is presented in partnership with the Global Challenges Foundation, whose aim is to contribute to reducing the main global problems and risks that threaten humanity. Last year, the Global Challenges Foundation held an open call to find new models of global cooperation better capable of handling the most pressing global risks. In May this year at the New Shape Forum in Stockholm, the top proposals will be presented publicly and further refined through discussions with key thought leaders and experts. US$5 million will be awarded to the best ideas that re-envision global governance for the 21st century.

President Tong is a Global Challenges Foundation ambassador and in the conversation we discuss this prize and why new ideas for global governance are important for the future of small island states like Kiribati.

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