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Protecting humanity from its existential threats will be expensive, because there's a lot of work to do. But humanity has enough money—we can afford it. If we humans can afford to spend annually $273 billion on pet care products, $446 billion on beauty and cosmetics, and $1.6 Trillion on luxury goods and experiences, we can afford to invest more in protecting our global civilization and planet. What we're lacking are global systems to direct resources where they're needed most.

Whatever the ultimate price tag is, it will be small compared to the disasters we're trying to avoid—nuclear World War 3, pandemics that cripple the world economy, and massive climate-driven starvation and migration. If we fail to organize globally and let chaos prevail, the financial costs will be astronomical, while our failing global economy will be unable to shoulder those costs. Preventing catastrophe is always cheaper than recovering from it.

For example, underfunding of public health systems led to the COVID-19 pandemic, which cost the world's governments many trillions of dollars to respond to. Proactive public health investments years earlier could have saved enormous amounts of money and millions of lives. Now, humanity faces several devastating outcomes that could be far worse than COVID, and we urgently need proactive investment in a globally cooperative way.

Current UN Funding vs. Global Needs

Even if the UN's only purpose was its historic role of supporting world peace, its funding levels are ridiculously small. The entire UN system (including its many agencies) has an annual budget of roughly $66 billion (as of 2024). The world spends 42 times more than that on militaries—about $2.8 Trillion (as of 2025). The world is basically deciding that military spending is 42 times more important than negotiation, peacemaking and survival. There is no shortage of money to properly fund the UN—we just need a willingness to do so.

But here's the bigger challenge: we also need the UN's vigorous management of climate change, destruction of nature, pandemic preparedness, regulation of dangerous technology, management of climate-driven migration and overcoming global inequality in a comprehensive way. The current budget isn't even close to adequate for these expanded responsibilities.

How UN Funding Currently Works

The UN is funded through "dues"—mandatory payments that member nations are supposed to make, similar to membership fees. These are calculated based on each country's ability to pay. But this system has serious problems:

Countries often don't pay what they owe. Many nations, including influential ones like the United States, have refused to pay their full dues, to pressure the UN into making policy decisions they favor. This leaves the UN chronically short of money and vulnerable to political manipulation.

The amounts are far too small for today's global challenges. The funding formulas were designed for a much simpler world with fewer global problems. Managing climate change alone requires coordination and resources that dwarf the current UN budget.

Why This Matters to You

Inadequate funding directly undermines the UN's ability to protect you from global threats:

During COVID-19, the World Health Organization lacked resources for rapid global response, contributing to the pandemic's devastating spread and millions of deaths.
Climate disasters hit communities worldwide while UN agencies struggle with insufficient funding to coordinate international aid and prevention efforts.
Conflicts escalate because UN peacekeeping forces are understaffed and under-equipped due to budget constraints.
Humanitarian crises worsen because UN refugee and aid agencies can only help a fraction of those in need.

Why Reform Attempts Have Failed

Previous efforts to increase UN funding have stalled because:

The current system gives too much power to large donors who can threaten to withhold payments to get their way
No enforcement mechanism exists to make countries pay what they owe
The UN has no independent revenue source, making it entirely dependent on voluntary contributions from the same governments it's supposed to regulate

Potential Solutions

A reformed UN would have reliable, adequate funding through several means:

Required contributions with real consequences: Develop meaningful penalties for not paying UN dues, vigorously enforced through economic sanctions, trade restrictions, and international court proceedings. Nations that don’t pay their dues would also lose their vote in the UN, and other benefits of UN membership. Countries that want the benefits of global cooperation must contribute their fair share.

Independent revenue sources: Allow the UN to collect modest fees on activities that cross international boundaries and affect global stability. This could include small fees on international financial transactions, and more substantial taxes on natural resource extraction and greenhouse gas emissions. These environmental taxes need to be large enough to discourage harmful activities—as we discuss in our climate and nature solutions—while generating revenue for global cooperation. The fees would be collected at the source of extraction or emission, making products reflect their true environmental costs.

Automatic funding for emergencies: Create pre-authorized funding programs that activate during global crises, so the UN doesn't have to waste precious time fundraising while people die in emergencies.

Addressing Sovereignty Concerns

Some people worry that giving the UN independent funding sources would create a "world government" that threatens nations' autonomy. But consider this: countries already accept international oversight in many areas—from aviation safety to nuclear non-proliferation—because they gain more security than they give up. A well-funded UN would make every country safer and more prosperous by effectively managing global challenges that no nation can handle alone.

The proposed funding mechanisms would be transparent, limited in scope, and focused only on genuine global challenges where international coordination is essential for everyone's survival.

If we want to protect ourselves and the planet from climate catastrophe, devastating pandemics, and global conflicts, we need reliable systems to fund the work of survival.

WHAT’S WRONG WITH THE CURRENT U.N.?

LACK OF CITIZEN INVOLVEMENT