Transcription
Please be seated. Allow me to begin with two words we have not been able to use with sufficient frequency in this hall. Madam President, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen. Eighty years ago, in a world ravaged by war, leaders made a choice: cooperation over chaos, law over disorder, peace over conflict. A choice that gave birth to the United Nations, not as a dream of perfection, but as a practical strategy for humanity's survival. Many of our founders had known firsthand the hell of death camps and the terror of war. They knew that true leadership meant creating a system that would prevent a repeat of those horrors, a shield against the flames of conflict and a third world war. A forum where sovereign states would open themselves to dialogue and cooperation. A concrete affirmation of an essential human truth. We are all in this together, and this hall of the General Assembly is the beating heart behind that truth. That is why, for decades, world leaders have come here to meet at this very podium. That is why you are here today, because at its best, the United Nations is more than a place to meet; it is a moral compass, a force for peace and peacekeeping. A guardian of international law, a catalyst for sustainable development, what it does is save lives of people in crisis. The beacon of human rights, a hub that transforms your decisions, the decisions of member states, into action. Eighty years later, we are once again faced with the question that our founders faced, but with greater urgency, more convoluted, more difficult. What kind of world do we want to build together? Excellencies. We are very clear. It is also clear that the capacity to do that work is slipping away from us. We have entered an era of relentless disruption, of constant human suffering. Look around you: the principles of the United Nations that you have established are under siege. Listen: the pillars of peace and progress are crumbling under the weight of impunity, inequality, and indifference. Sovereign nations are being invaded. Hunger is weaponized. Truth is silenced. Bombed cities are seen burning. Hate is on the rise in fractured societies. Sea levels continue to rise, swallowing coastlines. These are all alerts and questions that lead us to think about what kind of world we will choose. A world where brute force prevails, or a world of laws? A world that only thinks of its own interests, or a world where nations work together? A world where might makes right, or a world of rights for all? Excellencies, our world is becoming increasingly polarized. This can be positive, reflecting a dynamic and diverse global landscape, but multipolarity without effective multilateral institutions generates chaos. And Europe discovered this so harshly before and after the First World War. And let us be very clear: international cooperation is not a matter of naivety. It is about concrete pragmatism in a world where threats transcend borders. Isolation is an illusion. No country can handle a pandemic alone. No army can stop rising temperatures. No algorithm will rebuild trust once it is broken. These are global tests for our systems, our solidarity, our will, and I am convinced that we can overcome them. They must be overcome because people all over the world are asking us for something better. We owe them a system that deserves their trust, a future worthy of their dreams. And that is why, listening to the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, at this moment of crisis for the General Assembly, for the Permanent Council, Guterres says we must ask ourselves what world we want. He says the principles of the United Nations are under siege, and he also launches his first message towards Israel. He says hunger is being used as a weapon. We continue to listen to Guterres. Words. We, the peoples, Excellencies, these choices are not part of an ideological debate; they are a matter of life and death for millions of people. If we look at the global landscape, we realize that there are five essential choices before us. First, we must choose peace rooted in international law. Peace is our primary obligation. However, today wars rage with barbarity in a way that we promised never to allow again. Too often, the Charter is used in a biased way, and at other times it is trampled upon, but the Charter is not optional. It is our foundation, the foundation we cannot allow to waver, because everything else is built upon it. In our world, we see countries acting as if these rules do not apply to them. We see human beings treated as if they were not human, and we must denounce this. Impunity is the mother of chaos and has generated some of the most atrocious conflicts of our time. In Sudan, civilians are being subjected to atrocities, silenced, murdered. Women and girls face indescribable violence. There is no military solution. We know what we must do. We urge, I urge all parties, and particularly those in this hall, to end the external support that is fueling this bloodshed. Demand that civilians be protected. The Sudanese people deserve peace, dignity, and hope. In Ukraine, relentless violence continues to cause civilian deaths, destroy infrastructure, and threaten global peace and security. I applaud the recent diplomatic efforts by the United States and others, and we must all work together for a just and full ceasefire that brings lasting peace in accordance with the Charter, UN resolutions, and international law. The horrors being experienced are now approaching a third year of monstrosities. They are the result of decisions that depart from the most basic humanity. The scale of death and destruction there goes beyond any other conflict I have witnessed as Secretary-General. The International Court of Justice has demanded mandatory provisional measures in the case concerning the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip and its application there. Since then, a famine has been declared, and the killings have only intensified. The measures stipulated by the International Court of Justice must be applied fully and immediately. Nothing can justify the horrific terrorist attacks committed by Hamas on October 7th, nor the kidnapping of all those people, and I have repeatedly condemned both. Nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people and the systematic destruction of Gaza. Now we know what is needed. We are listening to Antonio Guterres, now taking a clear stance on this Middle East conflict. You heard him just a few seconds ago condemning the Hamas massacre of October 7th, but also speaking of genocide by Israel in Gaza. He says nothing can justify the Hamas attacks of almost two years ago, but that this systematic attack against the population of Gaza cannot be justified either. We continue to listen to Guterres at a critical moment for the UN. We must end the relentless expansion of settlements and violence. End the constant threat of annexation. Everywhere, from Haiti to Yemen and Myanmar, the Sahel and beyond, we must opt for peace rooted in international law. The past year has brought us some rays of hope. For example, the ceasefire between Cambodia and Thailand, the agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia, mediated by the United States. But too many crises remain out of control. Impunity prevails, lack of order is contagious, invites more chaos, accelerates the pace of terror, and brings us closer to the risk of a fall into nuclear chaos. When accountability diminishes, cemeteries grow. When UN personnel and facilities are attacked, thus violating legal obligations, our ability to provide services and achieve results also falters. The Security Council must rise to its responsibilities; it must be more representative, more transparent, more effective. And beyond crisis response, we must also address the injustice that fuels conflict: exclusion, inequality, corruption, and impunity. The surest way to silence the guns is to amplify the volume of justice. True security is born of justice and opportunities for all, which brings me to a second point: we must opt for human rights and human dignity. Human rights are not an adornment of peace; they are its foundation. Social, economic, political, civil, and cultural rights are universal, indivisible, and interdependent. Opting for rights is more than rhetoric. It is choosing justice over silence. It is preserving freedom and civic space. It is promoting equality for women and girls. Combating racism and discrimination in all its forms. Protecting human rights defenders, journalists, and freedom of expression. It is guaranteeing the rights of refugees and migrants so that mobility is safe and lawful. Human rights are a daily battle, online and offline. They demand political will, but dignity is not limited to protecting rights. It requires fully realizing those rights through inclusive and resilient development. It consists of rights that end poverty and hunger, rights that open the way to education, health, and opportunities. The Sustainable Development Goals are our common roadmap for realizing those rights. But to advance on that path, we need fuel, and that fuel is financing. We know that well-directed development allows for significant achievements. Over the past decades, millions of people have also gained access to electricity, adequate cooking solutions, and internet connectivity. Child marriages have declined. Women's representation has advanced, but cuts in development aid are wreaking havoc. For a large number of people, this represents a death sentence; for many others, a future of dispossession. And in the face of this paradox of our time, we can provide solutions. However, it seems we are running out of the fuel that would allow us to move forward. Opting for dignity is opting for financial justice and solidarity. We must reform the international financial architecture so that it serves the development of all, with larger, more ambitious multilateral development banks that offer more loans and mobilize more private capital for developing countries, with faster and fairer debt relief mechanisms, which also include countries in difficult situations, including middle-income countries. Protection of national resources that also allows us to tackle illicit financial flows and abusive fiscal practices that rob societies of their future. And global financial institutions that correspond to today's world, with much greater participation from developing countries. So let us opt for a world economy that serves everyone. Let us opt for human rights and dignity, and achieve a just transition for people and the planet. We must choose climate justice. The climate crisis is accelerating, but so are the solutions. The future of clean energy is no longer a distant promise; it is here. No government, industry, or special interest can stop it, but some are trying, harming economies, imposing higher prices, and wasting a historic opportunity. Excellencies, fossil fuels are losing; they are a losing bet. Last year, almost all new electricity generation came from renewable energy, and investment in it continues to grow. Renewables are the cheapest and fastest energy source. They create jobs, boost growth, protect economies from volatile oil and gas markets, connect those who are not connected, and can free us from the tyranny of fossil fuels, but not at the current pace. We continue to listen to Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, now speaking about the organization's funding problems. He says the international financial system must be reformed to serve global development. He says the future of clean energy is no longer a distant future; he is warning that the climate crisis is accelerating. We listen again to Guterres in quantities nine times greater, and while emissions, temperatures, and disasters continue to rise, and the least responsible are those who suffer the most from it. Science says that limiting global temperatures to a rise of 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of this century is still possible, but our opportunities to achieve it are running out. The International Court of Justice has stated this, recognizing the obligations of states in this matter. We must intensify actions and be more ambitious through stronger national climate plans. And tomorrow, I will host world leaders here to announce these new goals. The G20, the main emitters, must drive these efforts and lead them, recognizing common but differentiated responsibilities among countries. Everyone must accelerate the pace as we approach the UN Climate Change Conference in Brazil, accelerating these actions for energy, forests, and decarbonization, but we must define a credible roadmap that allows us to mobilize those 1.3 trillion US dollars annually for climate finance by 2035 for developing countries, supporting just transitions, doubling finance to ensure adaptation to at least 40 billion dollars this year to promptly deploy tools that will then release billions more in concessional loans. And we must also fund the Loss and Damage Fund with much more significant contributions. This requires governments, international financial institutions, civil societies, and private sector representatives to collaborate. We must also provide fiscal space for developing countries to unlock new sources of large-scale financing innovation, for example, through debt swaps. We have the solutions and the tools, but we must choose climate justice over climate action and climate action. Fourth, we must also choose technologies that serve humanity. Artificial intelligence is rewriting human history in real-time, transforming how we learn, work, communicate, and also transforming what we can trust. The question is not how to stop it, but how to orient it for the common good. Technology must be at our service, not become our master. It must promote human rights, human dignity, human independence, and yet it is advancing in such a way that regulations and responsible actions are increasingly lagging behind. The risk is also increasing, even going beyond current limits, extending to sectors like biotechnology or autonomous weapons. We are seeing an increase in mass surveillance tools, social control instruments, and even mass destruction, generating disruptions that we must halt, because this can deprive us of our energy sources, put ecosystems under great pressure, and intensify the struggle for essential minerals. However, these technologies are largely unregulated, and we need universal protections, common norms across all platforms, because no company can be above the law, no machine should be able to decide who lives or dies. No system should be deployed without transparency, security, and accountability. Last month, this assembly took a historic step by creating an international group of scientists on AI. There are two new pillars for this shared architecture: connecting science with policy to achieve clarity and foresight, and establishing innovative systems that help advance our values and rights, and also ensuring that governments, companies, and civil society help us establish this new common regulation. We must build on these mechanisms to bridge existing gaps, and all countries must be able to design and develop their own AI, not just consume it. I have proposed voluntary financing options to develop these skills and abilities in developing countries, because no country should be left out of this digital future, nor should it be locked into systems over which it has no control. Governments must lead this vision. Companies must act responsibly, and we, as an international community, must ensure that technology helps humanity progress. So let us choose cooperation over fragmentation, ethics over speed, and transparency over opacity. Technology will not wait for us, but we can choose what it is applied to, and we must choose wisely. Finally, to achieve all these objectives in the United Nations of the 21st century, we must strengthen our organization, because our world is seeing the foundations of this system being tested. Geopolitical tensions and divisions, chronic uncertainty, and increasing financial pressures are affecting us, and those who depend on the United Nations cannot afford that price. Especially now, when every dollar invested in supporting our basic work to build peace means one dollar for us, compared to the 750 dollars the world spends on instruments of war. This is unsustainable and indefensible. In these times of crisis, the United Nations becomes even more essential. The world needs the unique legitimacy of the United Nations, its convening power, our vision as the United Nations that builds bridges and faces challenges together. The Pact for the Future has shown us that its determination to build a stronger, more inclusive, and more effective United Nations remains alive. This is the logic and urgency reflected in the UN80 initiative. We are moving forward decisively and promptly, and I have specifically proposed a revised budget for 2026 that strengthens accountability, improves our results, and cuts costs. Concrete reforms that ensure more effective and efficient mandates. And the idea is to generate a paradigm shift in the structure of the United Nations. Yes. And Guterres, speaking about the main topic, the crisis being experienced at the UN, speaks of a reform, well, practically total, of this Permanent Council, also of UN financing. Guterres himself says that despite the crisis, the UN has never been so important. He says that the destruction in Gaza is the hardest part of his entire mandate, and he says that at this moment of crisis, the alliance must be further strengthened, the United Nations must be further strengthened. He literally says they must be strengthened in this 21st century, at a time of discredit, at a time of distrust, where people ask, what is the UN for? Guterres asks for more financing, more money, more support. We continue to listen to him. The darkness of dictatorship, where voices were silenced by fear. And yet, in those darkest hours, especially then, I also discovered a truth that I could never forget. Power does not reside in the hands of those who dominate or divide us. Real power resides in the people, in our shared will to protect dignity and defend equality. And I firmly believe in our common humanity, in the potential of all human beings. It took me a long time to understand it from the beginning, but I persevered to denounce it because we cannot give up. No matter how difficult the challenge, no matter how high the obstacle. The obstacle, no matter the moment. We must impose this reality, because in a world where there are too many options, the only one that counts is not to abandon, not to give up. And that is my promise. For peace, dignity, justice, humanity. I will never give up. Never. [Applause] Secretary-General, the Assembly will now examine the item entitled General Debate.