“The divisions are getting deeper. The inequalities are widening,” he said. “And the challenges are spreading further.” The annual gathering of high-level diplomats at the General Assembly is the first to be held in full in-person since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and is the first since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — an international conflict that has created deep divisions between of the organization’s most powerful members, sparking calls for UN reform and raising questions about whether it can still serve its stated purpose of “maintaining international peace and security.” Guterres referred to these fractures in his speech on Tuesday, arguing that they are undermining the organization’s work. “We are locked in colossal global dysfunction,” he said. “The international community is not ready or willing to confront the great dramatic challenges of our time. These crises threaten the very future of humanity and the fate of our planet. Our world is at risk — and paralyzed.” Overcoming these major challenges, he said, depended on cooperation. “Let us work as one, as a coalition of the world, as united nations,” he urged.
Hunger on the horizon
While much of Guterres’ speech was devoted to describing the problems facing the planet, he tried to remind the audience that the United Nations was still capable of finding solutions. Large projectors in the room showed an image of a ship called the Brave Commander that Guterres called “an image of promise and hope.” Loaded with grain and flying the blue and white UN flag, the ship was the first to leave Ukrainian ports after the outbreak of Russia’s invasion, navigating Black Sea trade routes to bring its cargo needed to the Horn of Africa thanks to an agreement Guterres was instrumental in brokering. “Some might call it a miracle at sea. In fact, it’s multilateral diplomacy in action,” he said, calling the dozens of ships that followed in Brave Commander’s path a testament to what can be achieved through cooperation. But while this safe transit deal allows grain exports to ameliorate the global food crisis, Guterres warned another is on the horizon due to fertilizer shortages — saying that while current problems can be addressed in terms of distribution, world hunger it may soon be the result of not having enough to circulate at all. “Without action now, the global fertilizer shortage will quickly turn into a global food shortage,” he said. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addresses the 77th session of the General Assembly at UN headquarters on September 20, 2022, in New York. Mary Altaffer/AP The secretary-general then referred to the next major UN initiative: a proposal to export Russian fertilizer ingredients through Ukraine. “It is important that we continue to remove all remaining barriers to the export of Russian fertilizers and their components, including ammonia. These products are not subject to sanctions and we are making progress in eliminating indirect effects,” Guterres said. The UN separately says it is “making every effort” to maximize fertilizer production, but time is running out. The agency’s trade negotiator advises that shortages must be addressed in October and November before the northern hemisphere planting window closes.
Serious problems, drastic plans
The Secretary-General on Tuesday also spoke about the day’s even broader challenges and argued for even more ambitious — or, to some, radical — plans to address them. “We need action at all levels. Let’s not be under any illusions,” he said. “Our planet is burning” Guterres called not only for initiatives to address the root causes of environmental damage, but also to compensate developing countries that bear the brunt of these problems. “Polluters must pay,” he said. “Today, I am calling on all developed economies to tax the ‘windfall’ profits of fossil fuel companies. These funds should be redirected in two ways: to countries suffering loss and damage caused by the climate crisis and to people struggling with rising food and energy prices.” Guterres argued that the climate crisis is fueling “a once-in-a-generation global cost-of-living crisis” that could only be fixed through radical change. “Today’s global financial system was created by rich countries to serve their interests. It widens and entrenches inequalities. It requires deep structural reforms,” he said. “The divergence between developed and developing countries — between North and South, between the privileged and the rest — is becoming more dangerous by the day. It is the root of geopolitical tensions.” Displaced people wade through flood waters after heavy monsoon rains, September 18, 2022, in Usta Mohammad, Pakistan. Fida Hussain/AFP via Getty Images
The US agenda
While President Joe Biden is not scheduled to attend the summit until Wednesday, Guterres’ speech mentioned a number of other items that coincide with the White House’s priority list. On non-proliferation, the secretary-general noted that “a nuclear deal with Iran remains elusive.” The Biden administration, aided by the European Union, has been engaged in months of indirect negotiations with Tehran to return to an Obama-era nuclear pact that then-President Donald Trump scrapped in 2018. But talks appear to have stalled again. Although a high-level delegation from Iran will attend the General Assembly, there are no scheduled meetings with US officials. While addressing women’s rights, Guterres also hit on a domestic issue: overturning Roe v. Wade. The UN Women’s Rights Committee previously denounced the landmark decision that overturned national access to abortion in the US, saying “access to reproductive rights is at the core of the autonomy and ability of women and girls to make the their own choices about their bodies and their lives. , without discrimination, violence and coercion”. More broadly, Guterres said gender inequality is “going backwards” and “women’s lives are getting worse, from poverty to choices around sexual and reproductive health and personal safety.”
