On November 4, 2025, a publication titled Protocols Complementary to the Second United Nations Charter was presented in New York by the Global Governance Forum. The release marks another step in the work of an international study group on a “Second United Nations Charter,” which seeks to spark debate on a renewed constitutional framework for international cooperation by offering specific proposals and options for revising the UN Charter originally adopted in 1945.
In the introduction, the authors acknowledge that calls for “meaningful reform”, global disarmament and stronger collective security are often dismissed as “Utopian”. But given “the current unraveling of the global order,” they argue that it is “dangerously complacent” to wait “until catastrophe—perhaps a third world war—forces change.” As the publication points out, reforming “the global system is not a luxury for calmer times; it is a precondition for preventing collapse in the storm that is already upon us.”
It would be dangerously complacent to wait until catastrophe
The new document, spanning over 100 pages and addressing an expert audience, expands on the previously published draft Second Charter. That draft outlines a reformed Security Council, an empowered General Assembly, the creation of a Parliamentary Assembly, and the establishment of an Earth System Council, among other changes. The protocols build on these proposals by addressing detailed issues of institutional capacity and design, as well as broader questions related to international peace and security. According to the authors, the protocols “are not add-ons but part and parcel of the broader vision of the Second United Nations Charter.”
The first draft protocol outlines a new financial architecture for the UN, based on uniform member state contributions linked to gross national income. The aim is to stabilize and strengthen the organization’s finances by replacing a system increasingly reliant on voluntary, earmarked funding with a coherent model that ensures predictable budgets aligned with the UN’s agreed primary missions.
A second draft protocol sets out principles for the inclusion of civil society, non-governmental actors, and Indigenous Peoples in UN policy-making. It emphasizes that civil society serves as an additional “avenue of legitimacy and representation” and that “a well-functioning international order” must strive to include civil society’s perspectives. Among other points, the protocol elaborates on accreditation procedures and outlines principles for access and responsibilities of non-state stakeholders.
The third draft protocol addresses the composition of the United Nations Parliamentary Assembly included in the Second Charter. Presented as a key step toward greater democratic accountability and representation at the global level, the assembly would initially be composed of national parliamentarians, with the aim of transitioning over time toward direct elections. The protocol builds on the Second Charter’s call for seat allocation based on degressive proportionality and suggests a specific formula that accounts for population size. The authors argue that “bringing citizen-linked parliamentary politics into the United Nations will dispose citizens and their organisations to invest in the United Nations and its outcomes.”
A final section introduces a “practical roadmap” on peace, security, and disarmament. It seeks to operationalize the unfulfilled commitments of the UN Charter in this area through phased reforms that integrate preventive diplomacy, peace operations, and disarmament efforts across nuclear, conventional, and emerging weapons domains. The roadmap envisions new security institutions developed under democratic oversight and a clearer framework for collective enforcement, elaborating on the “UN Peace Force” envisioned in the Second Charter.