Activities of Secretary-General in Austria, 10-13 May
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres arrived in Vienna, Austria, on the evening of Tuesday, 10 May, from the Republic of Moldova.
On Wednesday morning, he met with Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen at the President’s office in Vienna.
In press remarks after the meeting, the Secretary-General thanked the Austrian Government and people for their warm hospitality, both in terms of his visit, but also for being such a wonderful host to the many United Nations agencies that make their home in Vienna.
He recognized President Van der Bellen’s leadership in the global flight against climate change. “As dramatic as it is, the war in Ukraine cannot make us forget that climate change is an existential threat to us all — to the whole world,” the Secretary-General said, adding that the impacts of climate change can be seen everywhere, including right here in the Austrian Alps, where glaciers are retreating and ice and snow bridges disappearing.
Afterwards, the Secretary-General and the President took the city’s tram to Vienna Technical University. There, the President and the Secretary-General were shown a number of presentations by students focused on energy transition.
Speaking to students afterwards, the Secretary-General said the presentations showed that we have the technical know-how for energy transition, but what is missing is the political will by leaders at all levels. He encouraged the students to keep going — raising their voices to push Governments to make real changes and for citizens to also change their mindsets.
Afterwards, the Secretary-General was hosted by the Austrian Chancellor, Karl Nehammer, for a working lunch. In comments to the press at a media stakeout with the Chancellor, the Secretary-General said that today we are in a world where we face multiple and interlinked global crises, and a proliferation of conflicts — not least the Russian Federation invasion of Ukraine, which is a violation of its territorial integrity and a violation of the Charter of the United Nations. He expressed particular concern for the continuing air strikes on urban centres in Ukraine.
Following his meeting with the Chancellor, the Secretary-General met the President of the National Council, Wolfgang Sobotka. The Secretary-General and Mr. Sobotka exchanged views on the war in Ukraine. The Secretary-General briefed parliamentarians on his recent travels to the Russian Federation, Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova. He also thanked the National Council President for Austria’s steadfast support for multilateralism in general and the United Nations in particular, as expressed through the constant support for the United Nations agencies based in Vienna.
Later in the afternoon, the Secretary-General travelled to the Vienna International Centre, which houses the main United Nations agencies in Vienna. He met with the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Mariano Grossi. At the Vienna International Centre, the Secretary-General also held a town hall meeting with United Nations staff.
In Vienna on Thursday, the Secretary-General opened a meeting of the heads of the United Nations System organizations, known as the Chief Executives Board (CEB). In this session, CEB members reflected on current world affairs, as well as on the challenges to the global economic recovery and how to reverse the trend of losing momentum on attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
On Friday, 13 May, the Secretary-General finished chairing the meeting of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination, which engaged in a discussion on the challenges to the global economic recovery and how to reverse the trend of losing momentum on attaining the Sustainable Development Goals.
In a statement issued afterwards on the multiple crises with which the world is contending, the Secretary-General said that a critical ingredient of the United Nations system’s ability to rescue the Sustainable Development Goals and provide humanitarian assistance is predictable and additional funding. “We acknowledge that a number of donors have met, and in some cases, gone beyond the 0.7 per cent commitment to official development assistance (ODA),” he said. (See Press Release SG/SM/21271.)
However, he added, there are recent indications that other Member States are making deep cuts of ODA, in a reversal of their commitment. This will have direct negative impacts on the achievements of the Sustainable Development Goals. This is alarming and the Secretary-General urges Member States to reconsider, given the dire consequences for the vulnerable among us in these turbulent times.
He pointed out that the United Nations system remains committed to strengthened coordination to support coherent country strategies for the 2030 Agenda. “We can deliver results and ensure they meet the needs and rights of the people whom we are meant to assist,” he noted. He said that the evidence demonstrates that investing in development is the best way to prevent crises and maintain international peace, which remains the UN’s central mission.
His official visit to Austria concluded on Friday afternoon.