Part 1: Harnessing technology, driving SDGs

This post is part of the series UN 2.0 and the Metaverse: Are We Seeing What Is Possible?

A. Introduction

What could be bolder than merging the physical and digital worlds into a new ecosystem? This emerging digital landscape, often referred to as the metaverse, is reshaping how we engage with technology. In this blog series, we explore how the metaverse and virtual worlds align with UN 2.0, the United Nations’ vision for a more innovative, data-driven, and digitally empowered future. But first, let’s take a step back.

In September 2024, heads of state and government gathered at the UN’s Summit of the Future to commit to a new path that safeguards the needs and interests of both present and future generations through concrete actions. At the heart of this transformation was a bold vision: harnessing digital technologies to accelerate progress towards achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs). The metaverse emerged as a key element of this vision, offering new opportunities for global cooperation and innovation.

At the Summit, world leaders adopted the Pact for the Future, along with its annexes – the Global Digital Compact and the Declaration on Future Generations. These commitments are now shaping global digital governance and cooperation.

A few months before the Summit, 18 UN organisations shared their perspectives on how the metaverse could drive progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Through the Global Initiative on Virtual Worlds – Discovering the Citiverse, the UN began exploring how virtual worlds can enhance global cooperation, sustainable development, and digital governance – setting the stage for a more interconnected and technologically advanced future.

B. Part 1: Harnessing technology, driving SDGs

1. UN 2.0 and the metaverse: An odd couple

Let’s start with the obvious: they seem like an unlikely pair – the metaverse, a youthful, energetic visionary driven by utopian dreams, and UN 2.0, a seasoned diplomat navigating a midlife quest for renewal. One is a digital frontier, pushing the boundaries of technology and human experience; the other is a global institution, steeped in tradition, striving for stability and cooperation in a fractured world.

Yet, despite their differences, these two forces are converging towards a shared vision of a better future. Both the metaverse and UN 2.0 recognise the urgent need to tackle global challenges such as poverty, inequality, and climate change. Both see technology as a powerful tool for positive change and emphasise the importance of collaboration and inclusivity in shaping a more sustainable and equitable world.

How is this unlikely alliance taking shape? What forces are driving this convergence? And what are the implications of global collaboration?

This convergence is not mere coincidence – it reflects a profound socio-technical transformation in which the physical and digital realms are increasingly intertwined, reshaping not just how we interact, but how we address global challenges. However, like the pursuit of any utopia, this journey is not without risks. As Thomas More, the English philosopher and statesman, cautioned in his book Utopia (1516), the quest for an ideal society can lead to unforeseen consequences and even dystopian outcomes. With this in mind, let’s take a closer look at the path UN 2.0 is laying out.

2. A socio-technical transformation

As previously mentioned, the Summit of the Future produced three outcome documents: the Pact for the Future and its annexes – the Global Digital Compact and the Declaration on Future Generations.

Across both the Pact and the Compact, technology is positioned as a driving force for harnessing innovation, advancing sustainable development, strengthening digital cooperation, promoting peace and security, and tackling climate change challenges.

From the outset, the Global Digital Compact emphasises the transformative power of digital technologies and their potential to accelerate progress towards achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs):

Digital technologies are dramatically transforming our world. They offer immense potential benefits for the well-being and advancement of people and societies, and for our planet. They hold out the promise of accelerating the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. (Global Digital Compact, para. 1)

Anchored in the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, the Compact envisions digital technologies as tools to ‘fast-track progress, uphold human rights, and ensure that no one is left behind’ (para. 8(b)–8(c)). These technologies are expected ‘to unlock new capabilities and opportunities’ (para. 8(e)).

The Compact also highlights the importance of interconnected digital systems that can communicate and exchange information, recognising them as key enablers of sustainable development (para. 8(h)). Furthermore, emerging technologies are acknowledged for their transformative potential, offering ‘new opportunities to turbocharge development’ (para. 8(i)).

3. The human in the transformation

Regarding the human role in this transformation, the Compact underscores the importance of adapting to emerging technologies by fostering a forward-looking culture:

The digital world is evolving at pace. Our cooperation must be forward-looking and capable of identifying, anticipating, assessing, monitoring, and adapting to emerging technologies so that we can seize opportunities and respond to new and emerging risks and challenges. (Global Digital Compact, para. 8(m))

The Compact’s emphasis on adaptation is key. It acknowledges that technological advancement isn’t a one-way street. Technology and humans co-evolve in complex ways. The challenge is not just to innovate but to ensure that human agency and governance keep pace.

The UN 2.0 vision, through the Quintet of Change, offers a framework to address this balance. Rather than positioning humanity as a passive recipient of technological change, the Quintet reinforces a proactive approach, embedding foresight, behavioural science, and innovation into governance. This ensures that human priorities shape digital transformation rather than merely reacting to it. Finally, the Compact underscores the importance of a multistakeholder approach, recognising the roles and responsibilities of diverse actors in shaping an inclusive and sustainable digital future.

Yet a deeper question remains: if adaptation becomes a necessity rather than a choice, do we risk surrendering control over the direction of progress?

4. Turning words into action: UN Virtual Worlds

These plans are undeniably ambitious, making it difficult to envision a corresponding technological framework already in place. However, as outlined in the introduction, this vision is reflected in the Global Initiative on Virtual Worlds – Discovering the CitiVerse, which positions the metaverse as a key enabler of digital transformation.

A few months before the Summit of the Future, 18 UN organisations convened in Geneva for the first UN Virtual Worlds Day. The event aimed to showcase the transformative potential of virtual worlds in accelerating progress towards the SDGs. It brought together policymakers, industry leaders, and technology experts to present insights from two years of research.

A key outcome of the initiative was the UN Executive Briefing on Unlocking the Potential of Virtual Worlds and the Metaverse for the Sustainable Development Goals. This briefing provided a comprehensive overview of the opportunities and challenges, and outlined strategic recommendations. Furthermore, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Focus Group on the Metaverse (FG-MV) published 52 deliverables on various aspects of the metaverse. Ultimately, this led to the launch of the Global Initiative on Virtual Worlds – Discovering the CitiVerse.

The Global Initiative on Virtual Worlds and the Compact share a common vision: leveraging emerging technologies to drive progress towards the SDGs. The Compact’ emphasis on ‘forward-looking cooperation’ and adaptation to ‘emerging technologies’ (para. 8(m)) aligns directly with the core themes of UN Virtual Worlds Day. This connection positions the metaverse as a key framework in the technologically empowered future envisioned by UN 2.0.

5. A brief taxonomy

Before exploring the topic in depth, it is useful to first establish some key definitions for a clearer understanding. FG-MV analysed approximately 150 definitions in an effort to capture the essence of the metaverse. Based on these findings, the working group formulated the following definitions:

Metaverse: An integrative ecosystem of virtual worlds offering immersive experiences to users, that modify pre-existing and create new value from economic, environmental, social and cultural perspectives. NOTE – A metaverse can be virtual, augmented, representative of, or associated with the physical world.

Virtual world: Virtual environment, spatial organization of multiple virtual objects, potentially including global behaviour.

Ecosystem: A system consisting of a set of interdependent components sharing the same environment and interacting with each other, which functions as a unit. NOTE 1 – Ecosystem can be distributed, stable functioning, complex, structure, adaptive, open, socio-technical, and interrelated system, with properties of self-organization, scalability and sustainability. (ITU Glossary for Metaverse)

CitiVerse (option one): Metaverse for cities. NOTE: CitiVerse seeks to prioritize a human-centred approach and promote sustainable development.

CitiVerse (option two): Metaverse for cities prioritizing a human-centred approach and promoting sustainable development. (Definitions of CitiVerse )

These definitions stand out for their emphasis on interconnectedness. The terms ‘integrative’ and ‘ecosystem’ evoke a vision of a seamless, unified metaverse, where virtual worlds interact and influence one another. Defining the metaverse as an ecosystem is particularly significant, as it underscores its dynamic and complex nature, extending beyond a purely technological perspective.

This implies that various technological artefacts (such as the internet, computers, extended reality (XR) devices, artificial intelligence, and digital twins) must align with people, organisations, and other essential structures to create virtual worlds and establish the metaverse as a new socio-technical system. This evolving taxonomy captures the relationships between these concepts and reflects how the metaverse’s potential aligns with the industry’s original vision of a ‘meta’ reality – one that transcends the boundaries of our current existence.

In short, if you are unfamiliar with the concept of the metaverse and virtual worlds, think of the metaverse as an ecosystem of distinct yet interconnected spaces. The physical world represents our everyday reality – where we live, work, and interact. The digital world refers to the vast online spaces we access through websites, apps, and platforms. Ultimately, the virtual world emerges as a new dimension, where physical and digital realities merge, creating immersive and interactive experiences that blur traditional boundaries.

6. Virtual worlds as a socio-technical convergence point

Could virtual worlds be seen as the convergence point where innovative digital technologies combine to address some of the most complex challenges of sustainable development? (Samir Chauhan, United Nations International Computing Centre, UNICC)

The concept of convergence, characterised by the integration of technologies, ideas, and systems, aligns with the Compact’s principle 8(h), which emphasises the importance of interconnected digital systems in driving sustainable development. The Quintet of Change provides essential tools for navigating the socio-technical complexities.

ITU’s definition of the metaverse as an ecosystem reinforces this idea, as ecosystems consist of interacting components that can behave in unexpected ways – a phenomenon known as emergence. These emergent interactions introduce complexity and uncertainty, which are inherent to such systems rather than errors. As a result, convergence into the metaverse presents challenges, requiring not only technological integration but also careful navigation of its broader socio-technical dimensions.

Notably, UN 2.0 adopts the infinity symbol (∞), which is also widely used in the industry to represent the merging of digital and physical realms into a unified (virtual) world – a transformation commonly referred to as convergence.

7. The metaverse: A new frontier for global cooperation?

The concept of ‘all working together’ in the metaverse extends beyond technological convergence to embrace a multi-stakeholder approach – a form of social convergence. As agents within this socio-technical ecosystem, our actions (or inactions) today shape the trajectory of our future. Similar to the challenges posed by climate change, a distorted understanding of our roles could lead to an undesirable social tipping point, where the consequences of unchecked technological development become irreversible.

Given that metaverse narratives have largely been shaped by commercially driven companies, a key question arises: Have we already missed the opportunity to create a more inclusive and equitable metaverse future? Perspectives shared at UN Virtual Worlds Day were mixed. Dmitry Mariyasin, from the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), expressed scepticism about our ability to regulate or fully shape the metaverse, suggesting that influence lies in engagement, collaboration, and strategic foresight. ‘The metaverse is a reminder to us that the future of global governance is not hierarchical, top-down, state-led institutions, but networked, horizontal, fluid, and agile institutions,’ he noted.

Others, such as Sameer Chauhan from UNICC, were more optimistic, highlighting the opportunity to shape the development and use of this emerging technology for positive outcomes. ‘It is clear to me that this is still an emerging technology, which is why this facilitation by ITU is so important, because we have a chance to shape how this technology is built, how it’s utilised, and start to think more and more effectively about how we can use it for good,’ said Sameer Chauhan (UNICC). This optimistic outlook aligns with the UN’s Common Agenda and Pact for the Future, which advocate fostering a forward-looking culture, strategic foresight, and comprehensive multilateral collaboration.

8. The UN’s metaverse dilemma: Balancing innovation

However, this collaborative vision is not without its challenges. The metaverse’s history is deeply intertwined with commercial interests, raising concerns about whether UN 2.0, through the Quintet of Change, can foster a truly symbiotic relationship or if technological development will be mainly driven by market forces. A critical observer might argue that the SDGs are merely convenient use cases to mobilise the international community in to life the visionary plans of the metaverse a quest that demands considerable financial and political commitment.

Can the UN, with its mandate for global cooperation and sustainable development, navigate these complexities and ensure that the metaverse serves the interests of all humanity? Or will the allure of technological advancement and the dominance of commercial interests overshadow the UN’s Metaverse Dilemma – balancing innovation with the critical need to uphold human rights for all?

9. Thought provoking: An odd couple’s dialogue

An intriguing way to gain a deeper understanding of the relationship between two entities or concepts is to apply storytelling techniques. I prompted my AI assistant to generate a dialogue between the ‘odd couple’ – the Metaverse and UN 2.0 – based on the themes explored in this article and the characterisations introduced at the beginning:

C. Conclusion of Part 1

UN 2.0 is calling for bold action to harness technology and accelerate progress towards the SDGs. This analysis demonstrates how the Global Initiative on Virtual Worlds responds to that call, highlighting the converging visions of UN 2.0 and the Global Initiative on Virtual Worlds, with a shared commitment to harnessing technology for sustainable development. By examining the UN’s Global Digital Compact and the outcomes of the first UN Virtual Worlds Day, we have identified key areas of alignment, particularly in relation tomultistakeholder collaboration, inclusivity, and responsible technological advancement.

Exploring the metaverse as a socio-technical ecosystem has revealed both complexities and challenges, raising critical questions about power dynamics, human rights considerations, and the necessity of strategic foresight. To navigate these complexities, it is essential to consider the co-evolution of technology and humanity, ensuring that adaptation to technological advancements does not compromise human agency and governance. The challenge lies in balancing innovation with the preservation of human control over the direction of progress.  

The question of whether adaptation as a necessity could lead to a surrender of control over progress remains crucial. Striking a balance between embracing technological advancements and safeguarding human values is essential for a future where the metaverse serves the best interests of humanity.  

D. Next up: The CitiVerse and how to balance progress

In the next part of this series, we will explore the concept of the CitiVerse and its envisioned potential to transform urban spaces. We will introduce the United 4 Smart Sustainable Cities (U4SSC) policy benchmarks as a dynamic model for balancing innovation with human rights, inclusive participation, and sustainability.

Join us as we delve deeper into the evolving relationship between the UN and the metaverse, examining the opportunities and challenges in realising a future where digital innovation and human rights are both balanced and intertwined.

E. Small steps – big impact

Transformation begins with small steps that address real-world challenges.

The problem: 52 technical reports from the Focus Group on the Metaverse, transcripts of the entire UN Virtual Worlds Day, and numerous other relevant documents make for an overwhelming amount of information to read and process.

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