Collaborative, Innovative Solutions Necessary in Troubled Times, Secretary-General Tells Asian Leadership Conference

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message to the 2023 Asian Leadership Conference, in Seoul today:

I send my warmest greetings to the Asian Leadership Conference. Your theme, “The Era of Upheaval and the Road to Collaboration and Innovation”, addresses the pivotal question of our age.

We are living through troubled times.  The climate crisis continues unabated.  New conflicts are breaking out; old ones grind on.  Geopolitical tensions are rising, and nuclear disarmament is at a standstill.  Poverty, hunger and inequality are increasing.  The Sustainable Development Goals, our blueprint for peace and prosperity on a healthy planet, are far off-track.  Every day brings warnings of the dangers of unregulated new technologies.

All these issues are global.  No country can solve them alone.  And yet, our collective problem-solving mechanisms do not match the pace or scale of the challenges.  We at the United Nations are working to bring countries together to address these gaps in global governance and to find solutions.  Our initiative — known as Our Common Agenda — proposes a reformed multilateralism that is fairer and more inclusive, that addresses new risks and threats, and that will protect our planet for the benefit of future generations.

Even in this era of upheaval, countries have shown they can work together for the common good.  The past year has seen agreement to compensate for the loss and damage caused by the climate crisis, and a new global biodiversity framework.  Global leaders will decide how to turbocharge the SDGs [Sustainable Development Goals], fill gaps in global governance and address new risks at a series of important summits, starting with the SDG Summit in September.

Building on this, the Summit of the Future next year will consider how to take forward many of the proposals in Our Common Agenda.  The Asian Leadership Conference is an important opportunity to tackle these issues and find collaborative, innovative solutions. I wish you a successful conference.