Seimas adopted a resolution on Lithuania’s position at the United Nations Summit of the Future

Press release, 11 June 2024

While endorsing Lithuania’s position that the most important issue on the global agenda today is ensuring peace and security and the rules-based international order, which is inseparable from ensuring the effective functioning of global institutions, the Seimas adopted a resolution on Lithuania’s position at the United Nations (UN) Summit of the Future.

When presenting the draft, Raimundas Lopata, Chair of the Seimas Committee for the Future, announced that the Summit of the Future was scheduled to be held at the United Nations at the end of September this year. The Chair of the Committee noted that this was a new milestone in the efforts of the United Nations to maintain a common agenda for the future of the world addressing climate change, global geopolitical confrontation and other issues. He highlighted, ‘It is common practice that in the United Nations, states are represented by Heads of State, Prime Ministers or Presidents, but when it comes to making key decisions, national parliaments are also involved. In this regard, our Swedish and Danish colleagues have already adopted similar resolutions’.

Under the adopted legal act, the Seimas proposes that the Government and the President of the Republic:
1) not only address the escalating peace and security crises in the neighbourhood of Lithuania and other regions of the world, but also actively support high-level efforts to tackle other global challenges, such as climate change, loss of biodiversity, spread of poverty and inequality, and irregular migration, which have been unjustifiably delayed in being addressed, thus threatening the prosperity, progress, and stability achieved by Lithuania and other countries around the world;

2) support the UN initiative to include the principle of well-being of future generations among value-based principles shaping the world’s future and take practical steps to make these rights a determinant in policy formulation and implementation at the global, regional, and national levels, such as incorporating the principle of well-being of future generations into the impact assessment system for political decisions, establishing the office of a Representative for Future Generations within the UN institutional framework and, where appropriate, setting up relevant structures at the regional and national levels; and establishing a permanent multilateral forum for future generations;

3) support efforts to intensify the structured debate on the reform of the UN;

4) involve, in line with UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/77/159 of 14 December 2022, representatives of the Seimas in the formation of the Lithuanian delegation to the UN Summit of the Future;

5) propose that the Lithuanian delegation take into account the provisions of this Resolution when negotiating documents to be adopted at the UN Summit of the Future;

6) examine the documents adopted at the UN Summit of the Future carefully and take them into account when formulating the strategy for the implementation of Lithuania’s vision for the future ‘Lithuania 2050’ and other strategic planning documents of the Republic of Lithuania;

7) strengthen public awareness in Lithuania as regards addressing global challenges and positions of the Republic of Lithuania and the European Union, and systematically promote civil society debate on sustainable development challenges by consistently involving non-governmental organisations and business partners.

Under the adopted Resolution, the Seimas calls on the parliaments and governments of the states participating in the UN Summit of the Future to take all necessary steps to ensure the implementation of a Pact for the Future and the accompanying documents of the UN Summit of the Future and to outline general guidelines for the sustainable development of the world beyond 2030.

The Resolution of the Seimas on the Position of the Republic of Lithuania at the United Nations Summit of the Future was adopted by 102 votes in favour, with no votes against and 10 abstentions.

Saulė Eglė Trembo, Chief Specialist, Press Office, Information and Communication Department, tel. +370 5 209 6203, e-mail: [email protected]