We are confronting existential challenges.
The climate crisis is spiraling out of control.
A global cost-of-living crisis is raging.
Poverty, hunger and inequalities are growing against the objectives of the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development.
New technologies are raising red flags, without a global architecture to deal with them.
Geopolitical divides and conflicts are multiplying with profound global implications, especially the impacts from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
We are moving toward a multipolar world, and that is a positive thing. But multipolarity in itself is not enough to guarantee a peaceful or just global community.
To be a factor of peace, equity and justice in international relations, multipolarity must be supported by strong and effective multilateral institutions.
Look no further than the situation in Europe at the dawn of the last century.
Europe was multipolar — but it lacked strong multilateral mechanisms. The result was World War I.
As the global community moves toward multipolarity, we desperately need — and I have been vigorously advocating for — a strengthened and reformed multilateral architecture based on the UN Charter and international law.
Today’s global governance structures reflect yesterday’s world. They were largely created in the aftermath of World War II when many African countries were still ruled by colonial powers and were not even at the table.
This is particularly true of the Security Council of the United Nations and the Bretton Woods institutions.
For multilateral institutions to remain truly universal, they must reform to reflect today’s power and economic realities, and not the power and economic realities of the post Second World War.
In the absence of such reform — fragmentation is inevitable.
We cannot afford a world with a divided global economy and financial system; with diverging strategies on technology including artificial intelligence; and with conflicting security frameworks.
The IMF estimates that such a fracture could cost 7 percent of global GDP — a cost that would be disproportionately born by low-income countries, mainly in Africa.
In a fracturing world with overwhelming crises, there is simply no alternative to cooperation. We must urgently restore trust and reinvigorate multilateralism for the 21st century.
This requires the courage to compromise in the reforms that are necessary for the common good.
It requires full respect for the UN Charter, international law, universal values, and all human rights — social, cultural, economic, civil and political.
And it requires much greater solidarity.
Redesigning today’s outdated, dysfunctional, and unfair global financial architecture is necessary, but I know it won’t happen overnight. Yet we can — and must — take practical action now.
We must also drastically step-up climate action and climate justice.
Developed countries [must] commit to reach net zero emissions as close as possible to 2040, and developing countries as close as possible to 2050.
Developed countries must also finally keep their promises to developing countries: By meeting the $100 billion goal, doubling adaptation finance, replenishing the Green Climate Fund and operationalizing the loss and damage fund this year.
We will not solve our common challenges in a fragmented way. Together, let us work to advance the power of universal action, the imperative for justice and the promise of a better future.
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Excerpts from the UN Secretary-General’s remarks at the BRICS summit, 24 August 2023.