During the UN’s Summit of the Future held in New York, Omran Sharaf, UAE Assistant Foreign Minister of Advanced Science and Technology, expressed renewed UAE’s dedication to using artificial intelligence AI, for humanitarian causes. He stated to me that AI can be very helpful in the early identification of threats including violence, climate change, and displacement among others. “AI for humanitarian action helps to offer an anticipatory model for possible outbursts of violence and climatic conditions,” Sharaf stressed the UAE’s commitment to working with partners around the world in order to ensure that the extensive applications of such technologies are utilized to the advantage of as many people as possible.
Such a summit represents the culmination of nine months of deliberations of heads of states and governments and a “Pact for the Future.” The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres mentioned the pact’s goal “to revive the spirit of multilateralism” since this comes as the international relations’ principles confront such states as Russia, Iran, Sudan, Syria.
The Pact for the Future includes 56 practical steps aimed at advancing the achievement of the goals of the Sustainable Development (SDG) in the areas of peace, security, climate and humanitarian imperatives. Dubai Development Minister OHoud Al-Roumi commended efforts towards entering into the agreement thereby enhancing the UAE’s assertiveness in global politics.
Some of the goals include a reform of the global financial architectures that deals with credit and other financial instruments in order to fit the emerging economies as well as emission of a general commitment to maintain global warming at not more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above the initial industrial age temperatures. This encompasses phasing out the use of fossil fuels to deliver a net zero carbon economy by 2050. However, according to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals report of 2024, only about 17 percent of the targets for the SDGs are in progress, which underscores the virtue of coherent international efforts.
