UN chief warns superpowers cannot solve world's problems alone

Summarised from 2 outlets · 5 reports · Updated 23 Sept, 16:56 · Archive

Outgoing UN Secretary-General António Guterres told the General Assembly that superpowers lack the power to guarantee security or solve global problems.

In his final address to the UN General Assembly, António Guterres warned that the world faces unprecedented threats but superpowers alone cannot solve them. He pleaded for 'a world built on interdependence' and criticised world leaders for treating the atmosphere like an 'open sewer' through inaction on climate change, saying oil and gas firms 'must pay' for climate devastation.

How it is being reported

• Fears mount that next UN chief will downgrade climate actionExperts say some of António Guterres’s possible successors could be ‘disastrous’ for efforts to tackle crisis Fears are mounting that the next UN secretary general will downgrade the priority of the climate crisis, according to climate and civil society experts. The current secretary general, António Guterres, has been the most forthright on the subject , calling fossil fuel companies “the godfathers of climate chaos” and warning governments they are rushing down a “highway to hell” by failing to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Continue reading...The Guardian · 23 Sept, 07:00
• Outgoing UN chief says polluters have treated atmosphere like an ‘open sewer’António Guterres laments world leaders’ inaction and says oil and gas firms ‘must pay’ for climate devastation For one last time, António Guterres tried to fix the world’s gaze upon the dangerously escalating climate crisis. But the departing UN secretary general found world leaders still largely focused on other issues, even after a painful summer of stunning climate-driven disasters. Speaking to assembled dignitaries at the UN on Tuesday, Guterres railed against big oil for treating “the atmosphere as an open sewer” and warned again of the catastrophic effects of the climate crisis.…The Guardian · 22 Sept, 22:19
• Guterres pleads for 'world built on interdependence' in final General Assembly addressUN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres pleaded for “a world built on interdependence” Tuesday as he made his final address to the annual gathering of world leaders convening to face a formidable menu of challenges, from climate change and war to inequality and the rise of artificial intelligence.France 24 · 22 Sept, 22:02
• Guterres delivers 'message to superpowers' in last UN General Assembly speechUN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres pleaded for “a world built on interdependence” as he made his final address Tuesday to the General Assembly, a yearly gathering of world leaders, in a message that was largely intended for the world's superpowers, says France 24's UN correspondent Jessica Le Masurier.France 24 · 22 Sept, 15:28
• Superpowers cannot solve world’s problems, UN chief says in final general assembly addressAntónio Guterres says humanity faces unprecedented convergence of threats but mechanisms for collective action are under growing strain The world’s fault lines have turned from cracks into canyons as superpowers show that they alone do not have the military, economic and technological power to guarantee security, or solve the world’s problems, the outgoing secretary general of the United Nations has said in his final address to the general assembly. In a speech laced with despair but also glimpses of defiant hope, António Guterres warned that over the last decade, largely spanning his…The Guardian · 22 Sept, 14:30

In this story: António Guterres · United Nations

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