UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said that the world is in big trouble and needs collective action across the board.
Our world is in big trouble. Divides are growing deeper. Inequalities are growing wider. And challenges are spreading farther,” Guterres said while addressing the UN General Assembly before the opening of the General Debate.
“We need action across the board,” he said.
At the same time, he warned that the international community is gridlocked in colossal global dysfunction, saying it is “not ready or willing to tackle the big dramatic challenges of our age.”
He said crises like the conflict in Ukraine, climate emergency and biodiversity loss, and the dire financial situation of developing countries threaten the very future of humanity and the fate of the planet.
Progress on all these issues and more is being held hostage to geopolitical tensions, he added.
“Geopolitical divides are undermining the work of the Security Council, undermining international law, undermining trust and people’s faith in democratic institutions, undermining all forms of international cooperation.”
“We cannot go on like this,” he said.
Even the various groupings set up outside the multilateral system by some members of the international community have fallen into the trap of geopolitical divides, like the Group of 20 (G20), he said.
At the same time, conflicts and humanitarian crises are spreading. The funding gap for the UN Global Humanitarian Appeal stands at $32 billion, the widest ever, he said.
Upheaval abounds — in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Horn of Africa, Haiti, Libya, Iraq, Palestine, Myanmar, the Sahel, Syria. The list goes on, he noted.
Meanwhile, nuclear saber-rattling and threats to the safety of nuclear plants are adding to global instability. Last month’s review conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty failed to reach consensus and a nuclear deal with Iran remains elusive, he added.
“We need much more concerted action everywhere anchored in respect for international law and the protection of human rights. In a splintering world, we need to create mechanisms of dialogue and mediation to heal divides,” said Guterres. “We are committed to make the most of every diplomatic tool for the pacific settlement of disputes, as set out in the United Nations Charter: negotiation, inquiry, mediation, conciliation, arbitration and judicial settlement.”
The climate crisis is the defining issue of our time. It must be the first priority of every government and multilateral organization. And yet climate action is being put on the back burner, despite overwhelming public support around the world, he lamented.
Global greenhouse gas emissions need to be slashed by 45 percent by 2030 to have any hope of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050. And yet emissions are going up at record levels — on course to a 14 percent increase this decade, he noted.
He asked for a transition to renewable energy, which generates three times more jobs, is already cheaper than fossil fuels and is the pathway to energy security, stable prices and new industries.
Some 94 countries, home to 1.6 billion people - many in Africa - face a perfect storm: economic and social fallout from the pandemic, soaring food and energy prices, crushing debt burdens, spiraling inflation, and a lack of access to finance. These cascading crises are feeding on each other, compounding inequalities, creating devastating hardship, delaying the energy transition, and threatening a global financial meltdown, he said.
Guterres called for concerted action to help developing countries, which are getting hit from all sides.