UN Secretary-General António Guterres urges bloc to take the lead on peace, climate and other challenges

By R Anil Kumar

• The G-20 Group of developed economies must be at the forefront of global efforts to bring about peace, climate action, fairer international financial institutions and equitable access to emerging technologies, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres said soon after arriving at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, addressing a Press Conference.

Brazil, November 17.

A SIMPLE MESSAGE: “I have come here, to Rio with a simple message: G-20 leaders must lead,” Guterres said. “G-20 Countries-by definition-have tremendous economic clout. They wield massive diplomatic leverage. They must use it to tackle global problems,” the UN SECRETARY-GENERAL said, speaking to Reporters on the eve of the opening of the G-20 Leaders Summit in the Brazilian City.

RACE AGAINST CHALLENGES: Guterres stressed the need for countries to” Race much faster to tackle fundamental common challenges” such as the raging conflicts, climate crisis, rising impunity, growing inequality and stalled progress in addressing hunger and poverty.

Moreover, the SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGs), are off-track new technologies offer both unprecedented potential for both good or bad and “our inability to tackle these challenges and more is eroding peoples’ faith in governments and institutions,” he said.

Guterres recalled that in September, the UN Member States adopted the ‘Pact for the Future’, to help strengthen Multilateralism and advance the SDGs.

STEP UP FOR PEACE: Guterres said that we must ‘Step up for Peace’. “Everywhere, peace requires actions grounded in the values of the UN CHARTER, the Rule of Law and the Principles of Sovereignty, Political Independence and the territorial integrity of States,” he added.

‘UNFAIR’ INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL SYSTEM: Turning to Finance, the UN Secretary-General highlighted the situation of vulnerable countries which “face tremendous headwinds and obstacles that are not of their making.”

They are not getting adequate support from the current International Financial Architecture, which Guterres described as “outdated, ineffective and unfair.”

Guterres said the Pact for the Future calls for ambitious reforms to make the system more representative of today’s global economy and the needs of developing and vulnerable countries.

“This includes expanding the voice and representation of developing countries in International financial institutions,” he stated.

Furthermore, the Pact also calls for other measures such as substantially increasing the lending capacity of Multilateral Development Banks, promoting more inclusive tax cooperation and exploring all forms of innovative finance.

The Global Community is looking at G-20 to deliver on these agreements, he added.

COP 29 CONCERNS: On Climate, the Secretary-General voiced concern over the state of negotiations at COP29, noting that countries must agree to an ambitious climate finance goal, that meets the scale of challenges faced by developing countries.

This is crucial for building trust between developed and developing countries and incentivising the preparation of high ambition national climate plans for next year, he explained.

“I will appeal to the sense of responsibility of all G-20 countries. Now is the time for leadership by example from the world’s largest economies and emmiters. Failures is not an option,” he said.

Guterres insisted that a successful outcome is still within reach, but will require leadership and compromise from the G-20.

THE HEAT IS ON: Guterres warned that the countries’ current climate policies are pushing the world to a disastrous 3.1 degree celsius global temperature rise by the end of the century, when the target is 1.5 degree celsius.

G-20 nations account for the 80 percent of global emissions and “must lead with national climate plans that follow the guidance they agreed to last year-1.5 degrees aligned, whole of economy and all green-house gases,” he said.

The Secretary-General also highlighted other action required, including for developed countries to keep their commitment to double adaptation finance. He also highlighted the need to fight disinformation around climate change “ranging from outright denial, to greenwashing to harassment of climate scientists.”

In this regard, the UN is launching the Global Initiative for Information Integrity on Climate change together with Brazil and Organisation’s education and science agency, UNESCO.

EQUITABLE ACCESS TO TECH: For his final point, the Secretary-General highlighted the GLOBAL DIGITAL COMPACT adopted at the UN Summit of the Future.

It includes the first Universal Agreement on Artificial Intelligence (AI), governance, that brings every country to the table, Guterres said. The compact further calls for an independent International Scientific Panel on AI, initiating a global dialogue on its governance within the UN, and innovative voluntary financing so that developing countries can build AI Capacity.

SEIZE EVERY OPPORTUNITY: The Secretary-General noted that while there are many challenges facing the world, many possible solutions also exist, and the G-20 must lead by example. This is fundamental to restoring trust, credibility and legitimacy of every government and our global system in the current turbulent times, he said. “We need to seize every opportunity to lead transformative action for a safer, more peaceful and sustainable world,” the UN Secretary-General, concluded.