Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
In 1987, the United Nations called a huge meeting in Montreal to negotiate the phase out of ozone depleted chemicals. And…it worked. The ozone layer is healing. And the Montreal Protocol is probably the best environmental treaty we've ever pulled off.
But the Montreal Protocol had to deal with one set of chemicals. A handful of companies. A replacement that was already sitting on the shelf. And what the next secretary-general inherits is nothing like that. In this last episode of World’s Toughest Job, we’re asking: Can the next Secretary General turn the UN from a place where the future gets talked about into a place where it gets protected?
We'll get into all this, and more, on the final episode of World's Toughest Job, a co-production of Foreign Policy and the @unfoundation.
Explore ideas, essentials, and commentary on the future of global cooperation and the UN secretary-general race at regroupplaybook.org
Follow and listen to more episodes of World’s Toughest Job: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/worlds-toughest-job/id1894846765
Subscribe to all of Foreign Policy’s Podcasts at foreignpolicy.com/podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts
Subscribe to Foreign Policy's YouTube Channel: youtube.com/channel/UC1x_EgZtYkAzVavuONBrLZQ?sub_confirmation=1
Visit foreignpolicy.com to read the latest global news and analysis from FP.
Follow Foreign Policy:
X - twitter.com/ForeignPolicy
Instagram - instagram.com/foreignpolicymag
Facebook - facebook.com/foreign.policy.magazine
LinkedIn - linkedin.com/company/foreign-policy-magazine
TikTok - tiktok.com/@foreignpolicymagazine
In 1987, the United Nations called a huge meeting in Montreal to negotiate the phase out of ozone depleted chemicals. And…it worked. The ozone layer is healing. And the Montreal Protocol is probably the best environmental treaty we've ever pulled off.
But the Montreal Protocol had to deal with one set of chemicals. A handful of companies. A replacement that was already sitting on the shelf. And what the next secretary-general inherits is nothing like that. In this last episode of World’s Toughest Job, we’re asking: Can the next Secretary General turn the UN from a place where the future gets talked about into a place where it gets protected?
We'll get into all this, and more, on the final episode of World's Toughest Job, a co-production of Foreign Policy and the @unfoundation.
Explore ideas, essentials, and commentary on the future of global cooperation and the UN secretary-general race at regroupplaybook.org
Follow and listen to more episodes of World’s Toughest Job: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/worlds-toughest-job/id1894846765
Subscribe to all of Foreign Policy’s Podcasts at foreignpolicy.com/podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts
Subscribe to Foreign Policy's YouTube Channel: youtube.com/channel/UC1x_EgZtYkAzVavuONBrLZQ?sub_confirmation=1
Visit foreignpolicy.com to read the latest global news and analysis from FP.
Follow Foreign Policy:
X - twitter.com/ForeignPolicy
Instagram - instagram.com/foreignpolicymag
Facebook - facebook.com/foreign.policy.magazine
LinkedIn - linkedin.com/company/foreign-policy-magazine
TikTok - tiktok.com/@foreignpolicymagazine
