More than 25 speakers from around the world gathered at Birkbeck College, University of London, to examine how the planet should be governed amid accelerating global crises, including climate change, pandemics, war, artificial intelligence, and inequality. Scholars, practitioners, and activists offered a wide range of perspectives, from philosophical arguments to institutional reform proposals and empirical studies. While individual perspectives differed, a shared sense emerged: current arrangements are falling short, and more effective approaches to global governance are urgently needed.
From historical visions to institutional proposals
Organised by Ian Crawford, Professor of Planetary Science at Birkbeck, the conference opened with remarks from the university’s Vice Chancellor, Sally Wheeler.
In the keynote address, author and former US congressional speechwriter Tad Daley traced the intellectual lineage of the idea of world government, drawing on thinkers from Dante Alighieri in the 14th century to 20th century internationalists, including a number of later US Presidents. He argued that the notion is not utopian fantasy but part of a long-standing political tradition.
The inadequacies of the UN Security Council were the focus of Daniele Archibugi, Professor at Birkbeck and co-editor of Global Democracy: Normative and Empirical Perspectives (2011). He maintained that while expanding the Council’s membership was important, it would not make the body more effective. Instead, he called for structural reforms, including limits on veto power and greater involvement of regional organisations, to strengthen its capacity to maintain peace.
The role of citizen participation was taken up by Reema Patel and Aishwarya Machani of the Global Citizens’ Assembly Network. They introduced the concept of Global Citizens’ Assemblies and highlighted efforts to establish them, particularly in relation to the UN’s ongoing climate negotiations. Intended to complement institutional proposals like a global parliamentary body, such assemblies aim to give ordinary people a role in shaping global decision-making.
Andreas Bummel, Executive Director of Democracy Without Borders and co-author of A World Parliament: Governance and Democracy in the 21st Century (2nd edition, 2024), presented a draft “Second UN Charter” developed by a study group ahead of the 2024 UN Summit of the Future. Following a brief overview, he focused on the inclusion of a Parliamentary Assembly in the document and noted that the draft as a whole represents a compromise between short-term political pragmatism and long-term normative aspirations.
John Vlasto, Chair of the World Federalist Movement–Institute for Global Policy, built on this foundation by outlining practical measures for strengthening environmental governance in the short, mid and long term. He highlighted proposals such as reforming the UN’s climate negotiation process, creating an International Environment Court, and establishing both a UN Parliamentary Assembly and an Earth System Council as part of a strategic pathway.
The evolution of international law was explored by Maja Groff, Convenor of the Climate Governance Commission and co-author of Global Governance and the Emergence of Global Institutions for the 21st Century (2020). She highlighted the need to “weatherproof” the international system with pragmatic and visionary upgrades that draw on existing institutional foundations.
Drawing on data on the world’s nation-states, Mathias Koenig-Archibugi of the London School of Economics, author of The Universal Republic: A Realistic Utopia? (2024), assessed the survival prospects of a hypothetical democratic global polity. While cautious about the likelihood of its emergence in the first place, he found that the structural conditions for its stability are probably stronger than often assumed.
Public support for more cosmopolitan global institutions was the subject of a presentation by Farsan Ghassim, now at University College Dublin. He shared international survey data showing consistent backing for cosmopolitan features such as independent representatives, majority voting, and substantive policy powers.
New frontiers of global governance
The second day began with an overview of regionalism from Luis Cabrera, Professor at Griffith University and author of The Humble Cosmopolitan: Rights, Diversity, and Trans-state Democracy (2020). He argued that regional integration can be an element towards achieving better global governance. He showed how federative visions have begun to materialize in regional bodies, even if unevenly.
Global health challenges were addressed by Josephine Borghi, Professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. She called for more equitable and coordinated international responses to transnational health threats and pointed to the potential of a world parliament in strengthening such efforts.
For James Bacchus, a former US Congressman and WTO appellate judge and author of Democracy for a Sustainable World: The Path from the Pnyx (2025), democratic global governance is the only viable response to mounting ecological and political crises. He drew on the example of ancient Athenian democracy to advocate for scalable participatory structures.
Nils Gilman, Chief Operating Officer of the Berggruen Institute and co-author of Children of a Modest Star (2023), proposed the International Atomic Energy Agency as a model for global institutions that are narrowly focused, technically expert, and politically acceptable.
The governance of outer space and the importance of space exploration was the focus of Ian Crawford, editor of Expanding Worldviews: Astrobiology, Big History and Cosmic Perspectives (2021), who argued that these domains require the development of political institutions able legitimately to speak for humanity as a whole. His presentation reinforced the conference’s broader message that global commons demand global institutional approaches.
The need of a planetary identity was discussed by Stefan Pedersen of the University of Sussex. He argued that loyalty to Earth, rather than to individual nation-states, is the missing cultural foundation for planetary political integration. He proposed a new political identity: Earthlings.
Other speakers included Dorothea Christiana, United Peoples; Francisco Diego, University College London; Eva Erman, University of Stockholm; Aaron McKeil, London School of Economics; Thomas Moynihan, Cambridge University; Heikki Patomäki, University of Helsinki; Nikola Schmidt, Institute of International Relations in Prague; Ishaan Shah, Coalition for the UN We Need; Tiziana Stella, Streit Council; Clément Vidal, Free University of Brussels; Gaia Vince, University College London; and Robert Whitfield, One World Trust.
The wide-ranging discussions made clear that there is no shortage of ideas or expertise. What is needed more is political will and public engagement. In terms of the long-term vision, there was a consensus that any kind of future global polity would need to be based on the principles of federalism and subsidiarity.
The conference was held from 14-15 August 2025. The programme and abstracts are available here.