UN General Assembly opens in world engulfed in ‘perfect storm’, Guterres says

War in Ukraine climate catastrophesfood insecurity… The UN Secretary-General, Anthony Guterres warned the planet’s leaders of a “perfect storm” that is looming over the planet and sparking a “winter of protests” at the opening of a deeply divided General Assembly.

“A purchasing power crisis has broken out, trust is crumbling, inequality is skyrocketing, our planet is burning, people are suffering, especially the most vulnerable,” and despite this, “we are being blocked by colossal global dysfunction,” he said. Guterres at this great annual diplomatic meeting, held in person for the first time in two years, COVID-19 pandemic.

“These crises threaten the very future of humanity and the fate of the planet,” he warned. “Let’s not have any illusions. We are in a stormy sea. A winter of discontent looms on the horizon.”

In his long speech full of pessimism about the future of the planet, Guterres he acknowledged his helplessness in the face of “political divisions that undermine the work of the Security Council, international law, and people’s trust and faith in democratic institutions.”

“We cannot continue in the same spirit,” he warned and called for “coordinated action based on respect for international law and the protection of human rights.”

After two years of a pandemic Russian invasion of Ukrainewhich “inevitably” will become the main issue of the assembly, as the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell said, which has led to rising food and energy prices, causing food insecurity for millions of people in the world, will focus on a large part of the speeches of almost 150 leaders, which will be held on the podium UN during the week.

To try to respond to the concerns of some countries, Americans and Europeans are organizing a high-level meeting on Tuesday on food insecurity caused by a war affecting the entire planet.

Ukrainian President to speak via video link on Wednesday Vladimir Zelensky, thanks to a special authorization passed last week by Member States. A ministerial meeting of the Security Council is scheduled for Thursday.

As stated in the protocol, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, will be the one to open the session immediately after Guterres. He is traditionally followed by his American colleague Joe Biden, but in exceptional circumstances his speech was delayed until Wednesday due to his attendance on Monday at the funeral. Queen Isabella II In London.

Chilean Presidents Gabriel Boric and Colombian Presidents Gustavo Petronew to this event, among the first to address the forum, Turkish Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and German Foreign Minister Olaf Scholz, or Paraguayan along with Paraguayan Mario Abdo Benitez.

North-South “fracture”

The countries of the South are growing tired of Westerners focusing on Ukrainewhich takes his eyes off his real problems, such as the consequences changing of the climate and soaring inflation, which particularly affects the poorest, fueling North and South resentment in the fight against climate change.

To eliminate this asymmetry, Guterreswhich made the fight to reduce greenhouse gas emissions a priority, called on rich countries to tax windfall gains from fossil fuels to help countries hit by the impact changing of the climate and the population affected by inflation.

And he proposed “redirecting them in two ways: to countries that are suffering losses and damage caused by the climate crisis, and to populations experiencing difficulties due to food and energy prices.”

Two months before the COP27 climate conference in Egypt, poor countries at the forefront of disruption global warming lest they be provoked, they fight to ensure that rich countries keep their bailout promises.

Among the issues that will be the focus of numerous bilateral meetings is the dossier on Iran, whose President Ibrahim Raisi will attend a diplomatic ball UN.

Quote from UN he will have important absentees such as Russian presidents, Vladimir Putin, China’s Xi Xinping. Just like Cuban Miguel Diaz-Canel, Costa Rican Rodrigo Chavez, Venezuelan Nicolas Maduro, Mexican Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador or Nicaraguan Daniel Ortega.

AFP