The world has changed. New technologies and globalization have transformed Earth from a collection of separate peoples into a single, unified species, where global challenges pose an existential risk to human civilization. These challenges push our fragile system of global governance beyond its limits and prove that technological and economic integration is not enough, we need global political integration to solve global issues. 
 

The United Nations, designed as a forum for countries to cooperate, has become just another battleground for countries to compete. Devastating wars persist not because they benefit the people, but because they serve the interests of powerful countries. Justice and equality are supported merely to the extent that powerful countries will allow. The unaddressed climate crisis causes global sea levels to rise, eradicates ecosystems, and destroys people’s livelihoods. Science and technology are co-opted by countries to advance their position, not to empower the common interests of humanity. 

We, the Young World Federalists, call for a fundamental transformation of the way decisions are made at the global level. National governments have approached these new global problems with the same tools that they have used for centuries: Countries enter into voluntary treaties while reserving the right to completely ignore them. If humanity is going to solve its collective problems and protect its common interests, this outdated system of global governance must be transformed into something inclusive, accountable, and enforceable. 

We urgently need to start running the planet for people, not nations. We can do this by giving humanity a voice in global affairs, by creating a world parliament at the heart of a world federation to empower the common interests of humanity and build a peaceful, just, and sustainable world for all.