Qahir Dhanani

The committee would run consultations, endless consultations with hundreds of actors, those that are super relevant and those that are less relevant.

Then it would craft a convention or a resolution or a compact and put that forward for 193 countries to negotiate.

There would be co-facilitators appointed to run this process.

Their objective would be to reach global consensus among 193 countries.

And the result?

The least objectionable outcome.

which is why today we need to start with coalitions of the willing to make things work ambitiously for the future.

I would be so energized to see the United Nations or other multilateral organizations invite coalitions of the willing to take on some of our most difficult challenges, AI governance, migration, food security,

It's not happening at the rate we want it to happen, but it is actually happening, and I have a lot of hope.

One example that gives me a lot of hope is the LEAF Coalition, the Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest Finance Coalition.

It started with a handful of countries that were donors, a handful of countries that had forests,

a handful of corporations, and a handful of civil society organizations.

They all came together and they sat at a table, a small table, and they tried to figure out, what do we do about deforestation?

How do we protect biodiversity?

And so they didn't wait for 200 countries to negotiate the last clause of a treaty.

They acted.

They put billions of dollars on the line, and they created a new market for protecting nature.

And now everyone is rushing in to join that coalition.

This is what 21st century multilateralism and international cooperation can and should be.

And so we have a choice.