This awareness underpinned the Beyond Lab’s approach at the inaugural Hamburg Sustainability Conference (HSC), where discussions went beyond surface-level commitments. The HSC is set to become a key international platform for leaders who recognize the urgency of a global shift toward long-term sustainability—a shift that calls for redefining what it truly means to achieve the 2030 Agenda.

The inaugural conference, held on October 7-8, 2024, brought together more than 1,600 participants from over 100 countries including global leaders from government, the private sector, academia, civil society, and international organizations to discuss and act on the transformative shifts needed for a sustainable future. Building on the momentum of the recent Summit of the Future—where the Pact for the Future, co-facilitated by Germany and Namibia, was adopted—the HSC focused on fostering multi-stakeholder alliances and identifying innovative solutions to drive global change and accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  

With its mission to promote multi-stakeholder engagement and drive systemic change for long-term sustainability, the Beyond Lab at UN Geneva will continue advancing three inter-connected topics highlighted at the HSC: promoting intergenerational impact, rethinking economic and financial systems, and shaping the future of sustainable development.  

Intergenerational Equity for long-term sustainability

At the HSC, a potentially transformative announcement for the implementation of the SDGs was the appointment of a UN Special Envoy for Future Generations. This role, which will be appointed by the UN Secretary-General, aims to champion long-term thinking across the UN system to benefit both current and future generations.

As highlighted by Sarah Ryglewski, German Minister of State to the Federal Chancellor, considering the spillover effects and impact of current decisions on future generations will be key for that.  Ultimately, achieving long-term sustainability will only be possible through increasing the positive inter-generational impact of policies and investments, measured through their ability to contribute to sustainable value creation.  

To contribute to the effective implementation of the Pact for the Future, and to support policymakers in designing better policies and investments for long-term sustainability, the Beyond Lab, in partnership with the TASC platform at the Graduate Institute, is currently developing the Futures Balance. The Futures Balance is an innovative accounting and planning framework and tool for long-term sustainability, prosperity, and well-being, anchored in the principle of intergenerational equity.  

The Futures Balance aims to promote a mindset shift towards the long-term by supporting policymakers and decision-makers to better understand the intergenerational spillover effects of today’s policies and investments. It promotes value generation for a sustainable future through the creation of sustainable, comprehensive capital—encompassing human, social and nature capital in addition to economic and financial capital.  

The Balance also incorporates new concepts such as a comprehensive definition of our debt to the future (i.e., beyond financial debt), emphasizing how today’s actions can either create opportunities and assets for sustainable development or impose liabilities on future generations. The Beyond Lab will continue to integrate this concept into long-term sustainability practice and thinking, including at the next HSC in June 2025, and the upcoming Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development.

Rethinking (Economic) Systems

Shaping sustainable futures will heavily depend on redesigning our economic and financial systems to align with human and planetary priorities and boundaries. As Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados highlighted at the HSC, growth metrics must serve the people, not just economies. Through the Pact for the Future (Action 53), the international community has committed to developing measures of progress for sustainable development that complement or go beyond traditional metrics like gross domestic product (GDP). As Obeth Mbuipaha Kandjoze, Director General of Namibia’s National Planning Commission, noted, ’GDP is not what you see on the ground.’ While the Pact is an important step in the right direction, it is clear that commitments alone won’t overcome the current system’s bias towards and reliance on economic growth as the panacea for achieving sustainable development.  

A key barrier to shaping inclusive economic systems is the persistent and systemic exclusion of youth voices in decision-making. Recognizing the prevalent intergenerational ’glass ceiling‘ in economic discourse, UNDP Administrator Achim Stainer said: “the way we engage with young people needs to transcend the ritual.” The Beyond Lab, in partnership with UN Trade and Development, and the international student movement Rethinking Economics, launched the ’Youth Moving Beyond GDP’ initiative. This initiative, which emerged from recommendations presented at the Lab’s What’s Next series on Rethinking Economic Systems, seeks to strengthen intergenerational policymaking and foster inclusive multilateralism. Launched during the Summit of the Future Action Days, it will facilitate dialogue between youth, policymakers, and international organizations on redefining economic progress indicators.  

The HSC’s recognition and call for fundamental shifts in systems design is encouraging. Pamela Coke-Hamilton, Executive Director of the International Trade Centre, emphasized this point during a session on 'Re-Designing Economic Systems for a Sustainable Future.' She urged stakeholders to address the 'design issue' that currently hinders sustainable progress."

The Future of Sustainable Development

To bring about systemic change for long-term sustainability, however, we must not only sharpen our focus on the future but also learn from ancestral wisdom to shape a better tomorrow. Indigenous civil society advocate Hindou Ibrahim delivered a powerful message, reminding participants of the importance of learning from the past as we look toward the future. For that to happen, we must integrate indigenous knowledge and its commitment to safeguarding the planet for generations to come when re-aligning our economic, financial and governance systems with human and planetary well-being. This principle also applies when drawing lessons from the 2030 Agenda and the 17 SDGs, as we imagine sustainable development beyond 2030—a key focus of the Beyond Lab.  

The next Hamburg Sustainability Conference is scheduled for June 2-3, 2025. This conference is a joint initiative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the German Federal Government (BMZ), the Michael Otto Foundation, and the City of Hamburg. The Beyond Lab is looking forward to supporting the HSC’s efforts to be a key platform to inspire action for co-creating sustainable futures, through championing social innovation for long-sustainability.  

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