1 Introduction

The role of international organizations (IO s) in responding to global and regional challenges related to economic, financial, and social changes has increased significantly over the past decade. Given the need for a specific “platform” of discussion that would result in the development of solutions to problems related to economic, financial, and social changes, the importance of IO s has been growing. The need to work out solutions through a compromise stimulates interactions between states and the development of mechanisms facilitating an effective delivery of global public goods (GPG s) in accordance with international principles and norms (Hooghe et al., 2019, pp. 2–5). In the globalized world, access to public goods provides benefits that go far beyond formal (political and geographical) borders of states, regions, and continents. Their indirect impact is, therefore, visible on a much larger scale than intended by their suppliers (Kaul et al., 1999; Stiglitz, 2003; Altvater, 2007; Kaul, 2001; Felício, 2005; Engerer, 2011). In today’s world of increasing global uncertainty created by political, geo-economic, and social tensions, a new policy of providing and regulating GPG s by IO s is at the core of global sustainable development (Hughes, 1991; Sandler, 1999). Despite systemic changes introduced over the past decades to the functioning of economies and to the process of solving problems related to various types of crises, conflicts, etc., societies and decision-makers, including international organizations, are still looking for answers to important questions: How can peace and democracy be maintained? How can global warming be curbed? How can we prevent future pandemics and keep them in check? How can we avoid global economic and financial crises?

2 Conclusions

This publication fills the existing gap in research on the activities of IO s to find the multilateral consensus on providing and managing GPG s for fostering sustainable development to meet the needs of the increasingly interconnected worlds in the 21st century. The monograph is a synthetic analysis showing how the evolution of IO policy and activities under new global challenges in the world affects and thus increases the sustainability of member states through making GPG s more manageable. The nature and comprehensiveness of these processes require an interdisciplinary perspective, a multi-aspect analysis of the most important dimensions of contemporary GPG s and the ways of regulating as well as improving their provision by the IO to foster their impact on the sustainable development of member states.

The book provides answers to a number of important questions identified in the introduction and in subsequent chapters. As the world, economy, and politics are constantly changing, the reader is encouraged to reflect on the multilevel and multi-factor functioning of the world, including globalization processes, the role, place, and functioning of IO s, their impact on individual states, their economy, and society. This book can encourage reflection on future directions of research, without providing a closed catalogue of issues related to the distribution of public goods by IO s in their attempt at creating appropriate conditions for a more sustainable economy.

The book’s conclusions indicate that GPG s cannot be adequately and sufficiently provided by national governments acting unilaterally, and therefore cooperation among multiple countries is necessary. It is important to improve effectiveness in the provision of GPG s through accountability measures aimed at increasing compliance with sustainable development and deliver better results by influencing member states’ policies not only for more effective implementation, but also for adequately securing (private and public) support for GPG s. The global governance system has grown in number and types of partners, size, issue coverage, intrusiveness of instruments, and complexity of operational forms. All intellectual property organizations taken together show a significant increase in the authority of the IO s and a shift away from national states and private organizations, but the authority of the IO s is increasingly questioned. One way to improve the functioning of IO s is to change the institutional structure, and another is to increase management methods.

One important conclusion is that the existing system of international relations is subject to fierce competition; it is also becoming increasingly anarchic. Many IO s have been endowed with appropriate instruments or mechanisms to ensure the peaceful existence and functioning of their member states. Unfortunately, with the exception of internal relations within NATO and the EU, none of them has managed to pursue its principles, attain its goals, or carry out the tasks for which they have been established in the first place. This indicates the existence of certain weaknesses within the global community architecture. These need to be addressed. There is an urgent need to reform IO s, starting with the United Nations, the OSCE and a number of regional organizations, such as the Council of Europe.

In terms of migration, global governance is highly fragmented and consists of overlapping regimes that address different aspects of human mobility or different “types” of migration. The UNHCR, as the “custodian” of the international refugee regime, has played a key role in linking the Global Compact on Refugees with Sustainable Development Goals; it remains a crucial actor in the process of implementing it, actively combining sustainable livelihoods with the global asylum agenda.

Another important conclusion is that IO s need to ensure the rule of law. All public authorities should operate within the limits set by law, in conformity with the values of democracy and fundamental rights, including the right to non-discrimination, and under the supervision of an independent and impartial judiciary. If any of these elements is threatened, the principle inevitably becomes eroded.

The impact of IO s (such as the WTO, the OECD, and the EU) on international trade is analyzed on the macro level, i.e., from the point of view of trade liberalization, cooperation between the WTO and the EU, and on the micro level, which involves the analysis of export credits – an export support instrument used by the WTO. It has not been confirmed that trade liberalization, carried out within the multilateral framework of the WTO and supported by the OECD, contributes to sustainable development worldwide. Nevertheless, the WTO strives to create appropriate conditions for granting export credits in order to eliminate practices that favor one of the parties to the transaction; this forms the basis for the development of international trade as a GPG. There are a number of contentious issues that the WTO and the EU have yet to agree on regarding trade liberalization in the context of tariffs in the agricultural sector. The EU maintains much higher tariffs than those proposed by the WTO. The second issue is state aid. The EU proposes a more comprehensive approach to state intervention into trade, while the WTO argues that the EU supports a wide range of actors and sectors through a common budget. Importantly, it can be concluded that regardless of the profits generated through trade, it is crucial to ensure their fair distribution and future profits (Mendoza & Bahadur, 2002).

In terms of financial management and stability, the World Bank provides loans to the governments of developing countries to help them finance development projects, economic reforms, and technical assistance. However, the specific procedures employed by the World Bank Group to the processing of loan applications and to capital management means that aid is granted only to a specific group of countries. This leads to the conclusion that the Bank’s overall commitment to GPG production should be more strategic. The World Bank should also focus on policies and projects that complement its core activity, for instance, domestic loans. Programs and strategies developed by the Bank should also involve external partners. The IMF’s assistance through debt relief initiatives, financial and technical assistance, supervision, and regulation all contribute to the effectiveness of economic reforms and economic adjustments of the member states, as well as development programs (IMF, 2022, p. 53). As for the EU and its financial stability, the coexistence of two distinct approaches to fiscal and monetary policy restrains the impact of the EU, as an IO, on the financial stability of its member states.

The conclusions regarding green energy are, unfortunately, quite unsatisfactory. Despite all the efforts and actions undertaken by IO s (the World Bank and the EU), the financing of investments into energy security remains unsatisfactory. More effort is necessity, including greater financial commitments.

Not only has the COVID-19 pandemic brought the importance of GPG s in the area of health to the fore, but it also exposed the vain efforts undertaken by certain institutions. Excessive death tolls and persistent health problems are the consequence of the underfunding of institutions, inefficient coordination, inadequate preparation for emergency situations (e.g., the production of personal protective equipment or vaccines), as well as nationalistic attitudes, particularly evident in the redistribution of vaccines. Another problem is the sharing of intellectual property rights. With respect to these GPG s, certain decisions need to be taken at the national and regional level. Organizations such as the WTO, the WIPO, the EU, and the OECD provide the architectural framework for the international intellectual property system. In their actions they integrate the goals of sustainable development, including health, climate, and education to varying degrees. While the WTO specializes in trade and health, and the OECD in education, the scope of WIPO’s actions is quite comprehensive. What is more, these organizations use different instruments to exercise coercion to varying degrees. They also differ in terms of their impact. While the EU uses intellectual property law as an instrument that deepens integration and enhances its competitive advantage on the international stage, the WIPO and the OECD focus rather on promoting the idea of intellectual property on a global scale.

Positive conclusions have been drawn with respect to digitization. Just as with intellectual property, the ILO – as a UN agency – acts on a global scale, while the EU is a regional integration project whose legislation and policies may also affect other jurisdictions.

When it comes to smart city projects, also in the context of sustainable development, the involvement of the EU in the implementation of smart city projects in Poland proves that IO s must play an important – if not crucial – role in helping countries become more resilient, sustainable, and responsible in the process of creating their public policies in this area. The skillful design of cities is very important for devising, managing, and investing in public goods; given financial constraints, this applies more to emerging countries and those in transition than to the most developed.