The UN Secretary-General on Wednesday (18.01.2023) called for bridging divisions and restoring cooperation to promote peace, sustainable development and human rights.
António Guterres made this call at the World Economic Forum in Davos, when he delivered his speech on the urgent need to unite efforts in the face of political, economic and social divisions.
The UN chief said the world was in a “parlous state” and said a number of problems, including climate change and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, were “piling up like cars in a chain reaction pile-up”.
Guterres noted that the growing geopolitical divide is undermining efforts to tackle global challenges such as soaring inflation and supply chain disruptions due to the pandemic of COVID-19. On this point, he said: “We are nowhere near being prepared for the pandemics that are coming.”
Guterres has been one of the figures who has spoken the most about the climate change; In this regard, he told world economic leaders that climate change is an “existential challenge.” Greenhouse gas emissions are at record levels. He solemnly declared that the global commitment to limit the rise in the planet’s temperature to 1,5 degrees Celsius “is about to disappear.”
The UN representative referred to a scientific study by Exxon Mobil. “Last week we learned that some fossil fuel producers in the 1970s were fully aware that their main product was warming our planet,” he said in his speech. Some big oil companies “sold the big lie, knowing full well that their business model is inconsistent with human survival.”
He added to that toxic factor the Russian invasion of Ukraine, not only because of the suffering of the Ukrainian people, but because of its profound global implications. “We face the most serious levels of geopolitical division and mistrust in generations,” warned Guterres, adding that “this is undermining everything.”. the East-West divide".
In his view, "we urgently need" the participation of governments and the private sector, such as banks, traders and transporters, to promote peace, sustainable development and human rights.
The Davos Forum began last Monday and will continue its working sessions until Friday.Special address by António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations)
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