This year marks the 80th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations. While there are many challenges facing the world, including serious questions about the credibility and legitimacy of the United Nations as a multilateral institution, it is useful to recall the words of former United Nations Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold, who wrote poignantly about the United Nations in 1954: “…The United Nations was not meant to take humanity to heaven, but to save humanity from hell…” Similarly, on the occasion of the United Nations’ 80th anniversary in 2025, Secretary-General António Guterres said, “In 80 years, we will be able to draw a direct line between the creation of the United Nations and the prevention of World War III.” Now is the perfect time to discuss how we can transform humanity’s future and tomorrow. I believe there are five key issues that require global attention to transform tomorrow.
One is to strengthen the rule of law, democracy, and judicial system. Weak rule of law and declining trust in democracy and justice systems around the world pose major challenges that require attention. We must work to strengthen rule of law mechanisms so that societies can build trust in individuals and institutions to maintain democracy in times of misinformation, polarization, and skepticism. Key measures of media freedom, civil liberties and the quality of democracy have stagnated or declined around the world over the past two decades, according to various global indicators. India’s constitutional democracy and independent judiciary are a living experiment in democratic governance that manages scale, diversity, expectations, and dissent. The world looks up to India, recognizing that democracy and development can go hand in hand.
The second is to build resilience to climate change and prioritize sustainable development. The challenge of climate change is not tomorrow’s problem. It’s already here. But any effort to transform tomorrow requires a concerted and honest response to addressing climate change. We need to build resilience to climate change through technology and global public policy, but this will only work if it is matched by changes in consumption patterns, resource use and commitment to sustainable development. India’s per capita CO₂ emissions from fuel combustion (energy and process) are about a third of the world average and among the lowest in the world in a per capita analysis – India: 0.259 tonnes. China: 8.89 tons. USA: 14.21 tons. Japan: 8.66 tons. Germany: 8.01 tons. Recognizing that climate finance, technology transfer, scientific know-how and green technology constitute a historic responsibility for climate justice, rather than philanthropy or philanthropy, India has the potential to become a strong voice for the Global South and a world leader in promoting sustainable growth. This will enable countries across the Global South to transition from carbon-intensive to green and resilient development models.
Third, we will build an AI-enabled world where technology is a force for the common good.
The speed at which the world of AI is shaping tomorrow is astonishing. But the extent to which this technology will impact the future will depend on whether we can make AI a force for the common good. One of the most important challenges of the future will not only be who owns the data, bandwidth, and technology, but also who will control and benefit from artificial intelligence (AI, algorithms, science, technology, and digital public infrastructure). India has achieved success through Aadhaar, UPI, ONDC, CoWIN and other digital public goods and has become a global leader in democratizing technology and providing access to technology by expanding the beneficiaries of digital public infrastructure. India has over 900 million internet users, making it one of the world’s largest digital societies. UPI transactions in India exceed 10 billion per month, growing more than 10 times in the last five years. India is positioned to shape the global AI conversation, with a focus on ethical AI for development, democratization, access to AI, and most importantly, AI for contributing to the common good.
Fourth, learn how to overcome the skills crisis to transition from school to future readiness. There is no doubt that the world is experiencing a skills crisis, and the Global South is being disproportionately affected. We need to transform our educational institutions to focus on future readiness. The global challenge lies in learning, skills and adaptability, as jobs are reinvented faster than education systems can keep up. The World Bank estimates that more than half of children in low- and middle-income countries are unable to read simple texts by the age of 10. In India, ASER reports consistently observe a large gap between years of schooling and actual learning outcomes. For example, many fifth-grade students struggle to perform basic math at a second-grade level. The World Economic Forum’s Future of Work Report 2025 predicts that 39% of workers’ core skills will change by 2030. The report also suggested that higher education and training institutions need to move from “providing qualifications” to “ensuring lifelong learning capabilities” while aligning with employers’ skills requirements. Given India’s demographics, this means universities need to quickly reinvent their curricula to incorporate digital adaptability, interdisciplinary education, experiential learning, and resilience.
Fifth, tackling inequality, care, and a new social contract. The world has created great wealth, but institutionalized inequalities that we are unable to address in a fair and just manner are impacting our future. The world needs to work towards developing a new social contract that recognizes the urgent need to address institutionalized inequalities. OXFAM 2025 International Report, Takers Not Makers: Unjust Poverty and the Unjust Wealth of Colonial Inheritance “…due to economic, climate and conflict crises, the number of people living in poverty increased by 1990 “This means that little has changed since 2011…Our deeply unequal world has a long history of colonialism, which has primarily benefited the wealthiest, the poorest, racialized people, women, and marginalized groups, and continues to do so.” “This system is systematically exploitative at enormous human cost…This system is still extracting wealth from the Global South to the ultra-rich 1% of the Global North at a rate of US$30 million per hour…This must be reversed.”The need to address inequality has never been more urgent and important.
Transforming tomorrow does not mean seeing the future as an extension of the past or present. It is about changing the future to address a host of new, complex and interconnected global challenges. This transformation will lead to building a resilient humanity for the future.
Mr. C Raj Kumar is the Founding Vice-Chancellor of OP Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana. The views expressed are personal.
