‘Twenty-First Century Challenges Require Twenty-First Century Problem-Solving Institutions’, Secretary-General Tells Event, in Run Up to Summit of Future

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the global call event on the Summit of the Future, in New York today:

Namibia President Nangolo Mbumba, Germany Chancellor Olaf Scholz, thank you for bringing us together today for this global call on the Summit of the Future.

The Summit is just days away, but getting to this point has taken years of effort.  I want to thank you and your Governments for your commitment, every step of the way.

Member States are now in the final stages of negotiating the three agreements to be adopted at the Summit of the Future:  the Pact for the Future, the Global Digital Compact and the Declaration on Future Generations.

My appeal is for you to push hard for the deepest reforms and most meaningful actions possible.

We need maximum ambition during these final days of negotiation.  Because the challenges we face are moving much faster than our ability to solve them.

Ferocious conflicts are inflicting terrible suffering.

Deep geopolitical divides are creating dangerous tensions, multiplied by nuclear threats.

Inequality and injustice corrode trust and fuel populism and extremism.

Discrimination, misogyny and racism are taking on new forms.

Poverty and hunger are at crisis levels as the Sustainable Development Goals are slipping out of reach.

And we have no effective global response to new and even existential threats.

Nine years after the Paris Agreement, the climate crisis is still accelerating, and technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) are being developed in an ethical and legal vacuum.

Our institutions cannot keep up, because they are designed for another era and another world.

The Security Council is stuck in a time warp; international financial architecture is outdated and ineffective; and we are simply not equipped to take on a wide range of emerging issues.

Twenty-first century challenges require twenty-first century problem-solving institutions.

The Summit of the Future is an important step in the journey to build stronger and more effective multilateralism.

An opportunity to update and reform global institutions, including the Security Council and international financial architecture, to reflect and respond to the political and economic realities of today and tomorrow.

We need a renewed focus on the prevention and mediation of conflicts — not only through negotiation and preventive diplomacy, but by creating conditions for stability through sustainable development and respect for human rights.

We need to connect the root causes of conflict and recognize that the climate crisis is a threat multiplier for insecurity.  We need to respond to the changing nature of warfare and update our peace operations accordingly.  And we need agreement on mitigating the risks of weaponizing new technologies.

As well, we need reforms to the global financial architecture and make it correspond to today’s global economy and fit to address today’s challenges.

Global financial institutions should support developing countries to lift themselves out of debt and invest in sustainable development and climate action.

We need to increase the lending capacity of multilateral development banks dramatically and change their business model, so that they can help developing countries to gain far more access to private finance at affordable rates.

And we need ways for Governments, together with tech companies, academia and civil society, to work together to manage the risks posed by new technologies — including AI — and make sure those technologies benefit everybody.

The United Nations is in a unique position to act as a platform and a convening space for key stakeholders.

As global shocks become more complex and disruptive, we need emergency platforms that swing into action automatically, convening major players according to agreed protocols.  We cannot walk into the next global pandemic or shock without being better prepared.

And across the board, we need to strengthen respect for human rights and cultural diversity.  In the face of renewed attacks on the rights and dignity of women and girls, we need strong action to end discrimination and gender-based violence and remove the barriers that exclude women from power.

In short, we need greater global solidarity today and with future generations; better management of critical issues of global concern; and an upgraded United Nations that can meet the challenges of a new era.

As we reach the end of negotiations on the three texts, I appeal to all Governments to make sure they are as ambitious as possible — to restore the hope and trust we need in order to address the dramatic challenges of our time with a new global consensus.

The Summit of the Future is an opportunity for far-reaching agreements on international collaboration for a safer, more sustainable and more equitable world.  Let’s seize it.

I call on Member States to act swiftly, with vision, courage, solidarity and a spirit of compromise, to get the three draft agreements over the finish line.  Let’s make the most of this critical milestone on the road to a more networked, effective and inclusive multilateralism for the twenty-first century.