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United Nations pavilion at Expo 2025 in Osaka stresses value of in-person expos, promotes SDGs
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Summary
A presenter at the United Nations Pavilion at Expo 2025 in Osaka argued that world expos remain important for face-to-face exchange, showcased the UN’s history at expos, and framed the pavilion as a space to promote the Sustainable Development Goals to millions of visitors.
A presenter at the United Nations Pavilion at Expo 2025 in Osaka said world expos remain important venues for face-to-face exchange and for advancing global cooperation on issues such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“Do people still need expos? We can travel freely throughout the world. It's much easier than it used to be. What is the point of it? Humanity is made to see each other, to talk to each other face to face, to touch, to smell, to feel the world, not to look at it through a screen,” the United Nations Pavilion presenter said, arguing that in-person interaction remains essential to solving shared challenges.
The presenter framed the pavilion as a place for visitors to learn about the organization as it approaches its 80th anniversary and to imagine a future achievable through collective action. The speaker noted that the United Nations was created in 1945 and that, according to the pavilion presentation, the UN first participated in a World Expo in 1949 in Haiti. The presenter said the UN has participated in subsequent expos primarily through specialized agencies, funds and programs because expo themes vary and often align with UN agendas.
The presenter ran through historical examples to show how expos have shaped cities and public imagination: the 1851 Great Exhibition in London; Paris exhibits that left legacies such as the Eiffel Tower, the Petit Palais and the Trocadéro; the 1937 Paris expo with opposing pavilions from the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany; the 1958 Brussels exposition and its Atomium; 1970 Osaka as a landmark event for Japan; 1992 Seville; Shanghai 2010; Dubai 2020; and the planned Osaka 2025 expo.
“Expos have understood problems cannot be solved just by 1 person or 1 country. You need a united effort to be able to solve the biggest challenges,” the presenter said, and called out a 1994 United Nations General Assembly resolution—details not specified in the pavilion remarks—as encouraging expos to align with major UN agendas. The presenter argued that expos have increasingly focused on sustainable development themes and that the United Nations Pavilion seeks to convey “the message of hope” about achieving the SDGs.
The pavilion presentation also emphasized visitor reactions: “People are elated. I have seen people move to tears. Young children who get excited and coming out and and and talking about the SDGs,” the presenter said, describing the pavilion as an outreach tool to a broad public.
No formal motions or votes were recorded during the presentation. The remarks were a public-facing explanation of the pavilion’s purpose and the UN’s view of the continuing role of world expos in promoting multilateral cooperation.
The pavilion’s statements tie the UN’s engagement at expos to broader public education on global issues and to the organization’s long-term participation in international exhibitions.
