UN chief calls for decisive action to prevent global meltdown

The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addresses the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos in this photo taken on January 18, 2023. On February 6, 2023, Guterres said that countries should take decisive action to change course before it is too late to prevent a global meltdown. PHOTO AFP UNITED NATIONS UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for countries to take decisive action to change course before it is too late to prevent a global meltdown.

While presenting his priorities for the year to the UN General AssemblyUN General Assembly, Guterres appealed for urgent action to achieve peace, economic rights and development, climate action, respect for diversity, and inclusive societies - both today and for generations to come.

The world is closer to annihilation due to the Ukraine crisis, the climate emergency, rising nuclear threats and the undermining of global norms and institutions.

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The UN chief stressed the need for a course correction, and said that taking action should be guided by the UN Charter, the organization's founding document, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The secretary-general called for a holistic view of the peace continuum that identifies root causes of conflict and focuses on prevention, mediation, peacebuilding and greater participation of women and young people.

The UN official said that there had to be a radical transformation of the global financial architecture with rising poverty and hunger, developing countries drowning in debt and social safety nets frayed.

Guterres said that the world needs to unite to mobilize resources to ensure that developing economies have the ability to invest in education, universal healthcare, pandemic preparedness, decent work and social protection.

Countries are hurtling past the 1.5 degree limit on global temperature rise, so focus must be on the urgent priorities of cutting greenhouse gas emissions and achieving climate justice.

He said that global emissions must be halved this decade, and that there must be more ambitious action in shifting from fossil fuels to renewable energy, especially in the G 20 group of top industrialized nations.

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Guterres underscored the UN's commitment to protecting cultural rights and diversity in respect to diversity and the universality of cultural rights.

He said that everyone with influence on the spread of misinformation on internet governments, regulators, policymakers, technology companies, the media, civil society is going to call for action.

Guterres pledged to double down on support for gender equality, including quotas to close gaps in women's representation in elections, corporate boardrooms, and peace negotiations.