Wars in Gaza or Ukraine, but also “war against nature”: “our world is entering an era of chaos” which requires crucial reforms, the UN Secretary General expressed alarm on Wednesday, deploring the unprecedented divisions of the paralyzed Security Council.
“Governments are ignoring and undermining the very principles of multilateralism, without accountability. The Security Council, the main tool for world peace, is in an impasse due to geopolitical fissures,” said António Guterres, presenting his priorities for 2024 to the General Assembly.
“This is not the first time the Council has been divided. But it’s the worst. The current dysfunction is deeper and more dangerous. »
Thus, “during the Cold War, well-established mechanisms helped manage relations between superpowers,” he noted. But “in today’s multipolar world, such mechanisms are absent. Our world is entering an era of chaos.”
And “we see the results: a dangerous and unpredictable free-for-all, with total impunity,” denounced the Secretary General, worrying about the development of “new means of killing each other and for humanity to annihilate itself. herself “.
The Security Council was notably unable to react to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, due to the Russian veto, and struggled to speak with one voice on Gaza, with the United States blocking any call for a cease. -fire.
Focusing specifically on the conflict between Israel and Hamas, António Guterres warned of a possible Israeli ground assault in Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians are crowded into the southern Gaza Strip, border with Egypt.
“Such action would exponentially increase what is already a humanitarian nightmare, with incalculable regional consequences,” he insisted, once again calling for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” and the release of the hostages.
Climate and AI priorities
From Gaza to Ukraine, from Sudan to the Democratic Republic of Congo, from Yemen to Burma, “alongside the proliferation of conflicts, global humanitarian needs are at a record level, but funding is not keeping up,” he said. again deplored the former Portuguese prime minister.
“There is so much anger and hatred and noise in the world today. Every day, and at the slightest opportunity, it seems like war […]. Wars of words. Turf wars. Culture wars,” he lamented.
In this context, António Guterres encouraged governments to seize the opportunity of the “Future Summit” which will take place in September in New York on the sidelines of the General Assembly to “shape multilateralism for the years to come”.
Among the changes “that the world really needs”, he repeated his call for major reforms of the Security Council, the international financial system, and the establishment of an “emergency tool to improve international responses to complex global shocks” such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Also once again at the top of its priorities for 2024, the fight against climate change.
“The climate crisis remains the challenge that defines our time,” insisted the Secretary General, calling on States to do more in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and financing aid to the poorest countries.
“Humanity has launched a war that we can only lose: our war against nature,” he insisted.
“We are exploding the systems that keep us alive: spewing emissions that implode our climate, poisoning land, seas and air with pollution, and decimating biodiversity, causing ecosystems to collapse “.
He also called for “adequate safeguards and ethical standards” to be put in place in the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) tools.
“AI is already creating risks related to misinformation, privacy and bias […]. AI is going to impact all of humanity, so we need a universal approach.”