JAKARTA - The Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) has warned that the world is on the brink and moving in the same direction, in a speech to world leaders at the 76th UN General Assembly.
António Guterres paints a stark picture of unsustainable inequality, runaway climate change, and impeccable leadership.
"I am here to sound the alarm. The world must wake up," Guterres said at the UN General Assembly, citing The Guardian September 21.
One thing he has highlighted is the inequality in terms of global distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine, where the majority of rich countries have been vaccinated, while more than 90 percent of Africans are still waiting for the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
"This is a moral indictment of the state of our world. It is obscenity," said the Secretary-General. He spoke of the huge disparity in wealth that sees 'billionaires rejoice in space while millions starve', alongside the retreat of democracy.
“We saw an explosion of forced power struggles. The military coup is happening again," he said. When democracy fails to meet the basic needs of its people, Guterres added, "It provides oxygen for easy fixes, silverware solutions and conspiracy theories".
On the climate emergency, Antonio Guterres said the world was sleepwalking towards disaster, noting that if all planned coal-fired power plants around the world became operational, the planet's average temperature would rise by more than 2 degrees Celsius.
"This is a planetary emergency. We are on the brink and moving in the wrong direction. Our world has never been more threatened, or more divided," he said.
Without naming the US and China, he said the rivalry between the two superpowers threatened hopes for progress in tackling world problems.
“It is impossible to overcome dramatic economic and development challenges, while the world's two largest economies are at odds with each other. I feel our world is slipping toward two different sets of economic trade, different financial and technological rules, two different approaches to artificial intelligence development, and ultimately, different military and geopolitical strategic risks, and this is a recipe for trouble. It will be far less predictable than the cold war," the UN chief said.
"To restore trust, and inspire hope, we need cooperation, we need dialogue, we need understanding."
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