General Assembly: General Debate
Note: A complete summary of today's General Assembly general debate will be made available after its conclusion.
DENNIS FRANCIS (Trinidad and Tobago), President of the seventy-eighth session of the General Assembly, outlined this session’s imperative: to unite the nations, to be united in conviction of common purpose and in solidarity of joint action. “War. Climate change. Debt. Energy and food crises. Poverty and famine. These crises are directly impacting the lives and well-being of billions of people around the world,” he said, calling on Member States to rebuild trust and reignite global solidarity. Quoting the late United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, he said: “If the UN did not exist, we would have to invent it.” Continuing, he said that the world is fortunate that the Organization does indeed exist and called on Member States to make full and effective use of this unparalleled resource.
Turning to the situation in Ukraine, he mentioned the continued violation of that country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty by another UN Member State. The horrendous war there has unleashed untold suffering and destroyed countless families, communities and lives, while its cascading impacts are triggering food insecurity, volatility in energy prices and the threat of nuclear warfare. “We all want this war to end. It is an affront to everything that this organization and the UN Charter stands for. We need just and sustainable peace in Ukraine and elsewhere in the world, in line with international law and with the UN Charter. Peace must also be given a chance in other parts of the globe — from Africa to the Middle East,” he underscored.
Referring to the current high-level week with the Sustainable Development Goals Summit, he said that there have been unacceptable delays and rollbacks with regards to the Goals and called on States “to make up for the lost momentum and work much harder in the remaining seven years to accelerate progress”. “As a citizen of a climate-vulnerable region, I urge Member States to recognize the continued and escalating impacts of climate change — and to deliver real, transformative results,” he stressed. As 2023 marks the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, he pledged: “As President of the seventy-eighth session, I am committed to championing vulnerable and marginalized groups.”
Despite many and complex challenges, the ability exists to effect change and make a meaningful difference to the lives of billions of people. “We do not lack capacity. What we lack is the will to act. By putting aside our differences and bridging divides we can deliver peace, progress, prosperity and sustainability to everyone, everywhere,” he said, calling on Member States to re-energize the General Assembly and demonstrate capacity and will to deliver for all.
Statements
LUIZ INÁCIO LULA DA SILVA, President of Brazil, recalled that 20 years ago, speaking at the General Assembly, he expressed confidence in the human capacity to overcome challenges and evolve towards superior forms of coexistence. “I return today to say that I maintain my unshakeable trust in humanity,” he stressed, while pointing to the severity of the climate crisis that “knocks on our doors and imposes losses on our brothers, especially on the poorest”. Noting that hunger — that today affects 735 million people globally — was at the centre of his speech in 2003, he emphasized: “The world is increasingly unequal. The 10 richest billionaires have more wealth than the poorest 40 per cent of humanity.”
“If today I return in the honourable capacity of President of Brazil, it is thanks to democracy,” he underscored, emphasizing that “hope, once again, has won over fear”. His country “is back” to make its contribution towards global challenges, he stressed, while also noting that it has reclaimed its foreign policy’s universalism, marked by a respectful dialogue with everyone. Recognizing that the 2030 Agenda could turn into the biggest failure of the UN, he underscored the importance of reducing inequalities by including the poor in Government budgets and making the rich pay taxes proportional to their wealth. Further reiterating Brazil’s commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals, he added: “We want to achieve racial equality through the eighteenth [Sustainable Development] Goal, which we will voluntarily adopt.”
In this regard, his Government has launched a zero-hunger programme and passed a bill on equal pay for equal work and gender equality. Recalling that the Global South is the most affected by climate change, he pointed out that Brazil — by generating 97 per cent of its electrical power from clean, renewable sources — has proven that a socially fair and environmentally sustainable model is possible. He also highlighted the immense potential for generating green hydrogen and reported that, having resumed tackling environmental crimes in the Amazon, his country managed to reduce deforestation by 48 per cent in eight months. Expressing regret that the promise to allocate $100 billion to developing countries has not been fulfilled, he recalled that, in 2022, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has made available $160 billion in special drawing rights to European countries and only $34 billion to African countries. While the foundations of the new economic governance have not been laid, he said that BRICS [Brazil, Russian Federation, India, China, South Africa] — a strategic platform for emerging countries cooperation — was a result of this paralysis.
He went on to say that during Brazil’s chairmanship of the Group of 20 (G20) in 2024, under the motto “Building a just word for sustainable planet”, the country will coordinate social inclusion and fight against hunger. Noting that there will be no sustainability and prosperity without peace, he underscored the importance of promoting a culture of peace. While referring to a number of ongoing global crises, including the war in Ukraine, he added: “No solution will be lasting if not based on dialogue.” Reporting that military spending has totalled $2 million, with nuclear spending reaching $83 million — 20 times higher than the regular UN budget — he emphasized: “The UN was born to be the home of understanding and dialogue.” Further, he rejected unilateral sanctions, including Cuba’s economic and financial embargo, and criticized any attempts to divide the world into zones of influence and revive the cold war.
JOSEPH R. BIDEN, President of the United States, recalling his meeting with a small group of American and Vietnamese veterans, said that, despite the painful legacy of war, “history does not need to dictate our future”. Overwhelming challenges can be resolved and deep wounds can heal if the international community chooses to stand together and recognize the common hopes that bind all humanity. In this context, he highlighted the duty of the United States to work with countries in every region, ensuring that everyone has access to health care, the environment is protected and conflicts are resolved peacefully. The United States seeks a more secure, prosperous and equitable world for all people, he said, adding: “we know that our future is bound to yours” and no nation can meet the challenges of today alone. By working together, the world made some remarkable and undeniable progress: “We avoided the renewal of a global conflict while lifting more than 1 billion people out of extreme poverty,” he said.
He further underscored the need to make sure that “we are delivering for people everywhere, not just somewhere”. This challenge starts with the United Nations, “it starts right here, in this room,” he said, voicing support for expanding the Security Council and increasing the number of permanent and non-permanent members. Turning to the situation in Haiti, he spotlighted breakthroughs on hard issues, stressing that “people of Haiti cannot wait much longer”. He also drew attention to his country’s significant efforts to reform and scale up the World Bank, expanding its financing to lower-middle-income countries, and to reform the World Trade Organization (WTO). Stressing the need to forge new partnerships and confront new challenges, he said that technologies such as artificial intelligence represent both potential and peril and policies must be put into place to ensure their safety. “It is important to govern technologies, not the other way around, for them to govern us,” he added.
Additionally, the United States convened the Summit for Democracy to strengthen democratic institutions, root out corruption and reject political violence, he said, also reiterating his country’s commitment to stand with the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The plan — outlined at the G20 — to connect India to Europe through the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Israel, is part of efforts to build a more sustainable, integrated Middle East. Turning to China, he said: “We seek to responsibly manage the competition between our countries so it does not tip into conflict. I’ve said we are for de-risking, not decoupling on China.” Also, he continued, “we will push back on aggression and intimidation and defend the rules of the road, the freedom of navigation”. Further, it is critical to de-accelerate the climate crisis, he said, sounding alarm over the wildfires ravaging North America and Southern Europe, the drought in the Horn of Africa and the tragic flooding in Libya. Accordingly, he stressed the need to move the global economy towards clean energy, help developing countries reach their climate goals and increase investment in the public and private sectors.
Highlighting efforts by the United States to reduce the threat of mass destruction, he called for de-nuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and stressed that Iran must never acquire nuclear weapons. However, for the second year in a row, efforts dedicated to peaceful resolution of conflict are darkened by the shadow of war — an illegal war of conquest brought without provocation by the Russian Federation against Ukraine. The United States strongly supports Ukraine in its efforts to bring about a diplomatic resolution to just and lasting peace, he emphasized, noting: “Russia alone bears responsibility for this war; Russia alone has the power to end this war immediately; and it’s Russia alone that stands in the way of peace.” Moscow believes that the world will grow weary, allowing it to brutalize Ukraine without consequence. “If we allow Ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure? I respectfully suggest the answer is no. We have to stand up to this naked aggression today and deter other would-be aggressors tomorrow,” he asserted. “That’s why the United States — together with our allies and partners around the world — will continue to stand with the brave people of Ukraine as they defend their sovereignty and territorial integrity and their freedom,” he said. In closing, he said “we will be judged by […] all those who inherit the world we create”, underlining the need to preserve the planet, to protect human dignity and to provide opportunity for people everywhere.
GUSTAVO PETRO URREGO, President of Colombia, recalling his recent visits to Chile to commemorate the 50-year anniversary of the coup, to a popular neighbourhood in Medellín where mafia used to lure youth as well as to Cuba — “an unjustly blockaded country” — noted that the multiple crises in the world have only deepened over the past year. War did not end, hunger continues, recession increases and the climate crisis has worsened, causing thousands of deaths and heating our planet. Observing that humanity is moving towards extinction, he argued that all the crises are, in effect, one — the crisis of life. This has been expressed in one indicator, he claimed, pointing to the migration flows from the South to the North. While today the number amounts to tens of millions, by 2070, the figure will have reached 3 billion, as people’s homes will become uninhabitable, he emphasized.
Describing today’s Colombia as one full of beauty and life, he warned that by 2070 all that might be left of it is desert. In a move to the North, people will be driven by something simpler than better economic prospects — by water. He argued that to reach the North, people will defy armies and change the Earth. “This exodus of people to the North is an exact reflection of the dimension of the failure of Governments,” he said, drawing attention to a yearly increase in migration. In addition, he condemned the treatment of migrants from the South and the rise of hatred towards them, as many are pursued and imprisoned, often in facilities built out at sea to prevent them from reaching the mainland. In this regard, he accused “the whites” of still considering themselves superior, which is also reflected in the results of elections.
However, as the crisis of life advances and the clock is ticking, “we decide to waste time killing one another” instead of solving the situation and ensuring a sustainable future, he regretted. To meet the Sustainable Development Goals, all wars must be brought to an end, he underscored, stating that the war in Ukraine benefits the world Powers, while their approach to Palestine is different. To achieve peace, he thus proposed that the United Nations should as soon as possible hold two peace conferences — one on Ukraine and the other on Palestine. This would lead the way in helping to bring peace to all regions of the planet, because “both of these alone can bring an end to hypocrisy as a political practice”, he insisted. He went on to state that the Sustainable Development Goals will not be met, as instead of social justice we see global injustice.
Criticizing the lack of monetary resources for climate change adaptation, he noted that what is now needed is $3 trillion to overcome this challenge. He thus proposed to reform the global financial system, as cheap loans causing more indebtedness are not the solution. While the market will contribute as well, it is also part of the problem, he claimed. He thus called for most of the investment to decarbonize the world’s economy to come from the public funds, from the efforts of societies, from bringing States and humanity together and from governing the Earth with the vision of democracy. In this way, the world will be able to finance the Marshall Plan for the Sustainable Development Goals — for social and environmental justice on the planet. He expressed hope that this will allow humanity to achieve its objective of spreading life through the very diversity of its cultures.....
Комментариев нет:
Отправить комментарий