Everywhere I turn in these first weeks of 2020, I’m struck by the need for urgency. With the scope and scale of the issues we’re facing across the globe, I can’t think of a more determinative decade ahead nor a more important time to come together. We now have less than 10 years to meet the Sustainable Development Goals—and though we rightfully celebrate the progress made, we’re far off pace to make good on our ambitions.
“Our world as we know it and the future we want are at risk,” wrote U.N. Secretary General António Guterres in their most recent SDG report, the cover illustration for which is an hourglass with the sands of time slipping from a verdant landscape of prosperity to a barren wasteland. The report comes with the boldface rallying cry: The Future Is Now. This decade must be an era of decisive, systematic, and widespread collective action. Together, we can build the future we want.
Last year’s Skoll World Forum was an exercise in pragmatic optimism. Our conversations centered on Accelerating Possibility to recognize our shared human journey and the fellowship possible when mapping a vision for progress together. At this year’s Forum, we will build on those conversations by exploring the potential of Collective Strength.
From youth-led climate strikes to political demonstrations throughout the world, we see humanity summoning its collective strength to face down our most urgent global threats. Progress against inequality, climate change, and other complex and interconnected issues demands unified action on an unprecedented scale—in solidarity we will thrive. Change leaders and innovators help us move beyond individual efforts into a stronger collective that transforms unjust systems and reshapes our shared future. Only together can we create a sustainable world of peace and prosperity that will endure for generations.
In the first weeks of 2020, I’ve seen many encouraging examples of this kind of ambitious, coordinated action. Conversations that once thrived mainly on the fringes of civil discourse have shifted to the forefront. It’s our collective strength that accelerates truly transformational change in the world. To meet the ambitious SDG targets we’ll need governments, business, and civil society working together with philanthropy, movement leaders, and activists.
“I stand out in the crowd only because they are carrying me on their shoulders,” said Desmond Tutu from the Skoll World Forum Stage nearly a decade ago. “Without them, I am nothing.” Indeed, no one person or organization can overcome the existential challenges and intertwined problems that face our people and planet. It will take every single one of us working together and bringing our whole selves to realize the full potential of our collective strength and drive the transformational change we need to secure our shared future.
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