On 13 March 2024, UNU will host “Navigating the Polycrisis — Challenges and Opportunities for Global Security and Cooperation”, a conversation with Stefan Löfven, Chair of the SIPRI Governing Board and former Prime Minister of Sweden. This event will start at 17:30 in the 1F Annex Space at UNU Headquarters in Tokyo.
We live in one of the most perilous periods since World War II and the beginning of the nuclear age. The world faces growing autocratic trends, with some States questioning previously accepted international norms. From Ukraine to Gaza to Myanmar and Sudan, conflicts seem increasingly intractable and geopolitical tension is rising.
As the multilateral system becomes more strained, displacement, growing humanitarian needs, inequality, pandemics, crime and human rights violations pose major challenges to the well-being and safety of individuals. This is taking place against the backdrop of climate change, biodiversity loss and other ecological challenges, which are already impacting every part of the world and posing significant challenges to human and ecological security.
These growing risks to national, human and ecological well-being collectively form a complex situation: a polycrisis. What will it take to navigate it?
Mr. Stefan Löfven will join UNU Chief of Staff Michael Baldock for a conversation exploring the interconnected challenges driving the current polycrisis and how national and multilateral efforts can move the world from polycrisis to peace and prosperity.
The UNU Conversation Series aims to foster audience participation; you are encouraged to engage with the speakers during the conversation and at the reception that will follow, where all event attendees are invited to enjoy hors d’oeuvres and drinks while exchanging ideas and making new contacts.
Please note that this event will be in English. Advance registration (by 12 March) is required. Please click on the REGISTER button above to access the online registration page.
Please be prepared to present identification at check-in.
About the speaker
Stefan Löfven is Chair of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) Governing Board as of June 2022. Mr. Löfven was the Prime Minister of Sweden from October 2014 to November 2021 and leader of the Social Democratic Party from 2012 to 2021. His background includes extensive experience from various domestic and international assignments. In 2022, he was appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General to co-lead a High-level Advisory Board on Effective Multilateralism in preparation for the Summit of the Future. He was previously the International Secretary of the Swedish trade union IF Metall and, subsequently, its Chair (2006–2012). He was also a board member of the Swedish Trade Union Confederation (2006–2012), a board member of the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm (2010–2012), Deputy Chair of the Swedish Trade Council (2004–2012) and a board member of the Olof Palme International Centre (2002–2006).
