Important opportunities ahead

GLOBAL GOALS

We need in each society a new social contract based on respect for all human rights — social, cultural, economic, civil and political.

We face existential challenges — from the worsening climate emergency and escalating conflicts to the global cost-of-living crisis, soaring inequalities and dramatic technological disruptions.

So this is a time to come together and to work together. But instead, divisions are growing, and tensions are rising.

Several factors contribute to these divisions: diverging perspectives on global crises, contrasting approaches to non-traditional security threats, differing strategies towards new technologies and, of course, the consequences of Covid-19 and of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

But history has shown time and again that multipolarity without strong multilateral institutions is no guarantee for stability; it might even become a catalyst for chaos.

We must urgently restore trust and reinvigorate multilateralism. This requires the courage to compromise for the common good.

It requires effective international institutions rooted in 21st century realities based on the UN Charter and international law.

The Security Council, the Bretton Woods system and other International Organizations, reflect the world of 1945, when many African countries were still part of European empires.
To this day, the African continent is underrepresented in the global financial architecture, just as it lacks a permanent seat on the Security Council.

The world has changed — and so, global governance must change with it. It must represent today's power and economic relations and not the power and economic relations of 1945.

That is why I have been advocating deep reforms to make global frameworks truly universal and representative of today's realities, and more responsive to the needs of developing economies.

We need more inclusive institutions at every level, including through greater representation of women and young people.

And we also need in each society a new social contract based on respect for all human rights — social, cultural, economic, civil and political.

And finally, we need to act in solidarity — and with greater urgency in several future-defining areas.

Developed countries have a particular responsibility and so they must lead and they must deliver.

Every country has a role to play. That is why I have proposed a Climate Solidarity Pact — in which all big emitters make extra efforts to cut emissions; and wealthier countries support emerging economies to do so.

And we must bring affordable electricity to everyone on earth — and particularly in Africa — while simultaneously reaching net-zero electricity by 2035 in developed countries and 2040 elsewhere.

The pandemic has underscored once again how the global financial architecture is outdated, dysfunctional, and unjust. It has failed in its basic function as a global safety net. And so, it needs deep, structural reform.

We need to make sure that there is an effective debt reduction mechanism in place. Until now, what we had is too little, and too late.

We also need to make international tax cooperation more inclusive and more effective so countries can support each other in generating financing for sustainable development.

Taken together, these steps would go a long way in equipping developing economies in Africa and beyond with the means to invest in key transitions across energy, education, digital, health and more.

From the Africa Climate Summit, the G20 Summit, to the SDG and Climate Ambition Summits at the United Nations in September to COP28 in December — we have important opportunities to set a path to a better, more peaceful and more just world.

Excerpts from the UN Secretary-General's opening remarks at press encounter at BRICS Summit meeting, 24 August 2023.