UN Chief: We need to end senseless wars, unleash renewable energy revolution, invest in people - now

Remarks by António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General, at the opening of the 2022 High-level Segment of ECOSOC, Ministerial Segment of High-Level Political Forum. Remarks as delivered: Our world is in deep trouble – and so too are the Sustainable Development Goals. Time is running out. But there is still hope. Because we know what we need to do: End the senseless, disastrous wars – now. Unleash a renewable energy revolution – now. Invest in people and build a new social contract – now. And deliver a New Global Deal to rebalance power and financial resources and enable all developing countries to invest in the SDGs. Let’s come together, starting today, with ambition, resolve and solidarity, to rescue the SDGs before it is too late. Excellencies, We meet at a time of great uncertainty. The world faces cascading crises that are causing profound suffering today, and carry the seeds of dangerous inequality, instability and climate chaos tomorrow. The ripple effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have hit amid a fragile and uneven recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, while the climate emergency is gathering pace. Some countries are investing in recovery through a transition to renewable energy and sustainable development. But others are unable to do so, because of deep-rooted structural challenges and inequalities, at global and national levels. Some 94 countries, home to 1.6 billion people, face a perfect storm: dramatic increases in the price of food and energy, and a lack of access to finance. And so there is a real risk of multiple famines this year. Next year could be even worse, if fertilizer shortages affect the harvests of staple crops, including rice. The United Nations Global Crisis Response Group on Food, Energy and Finance has warned of the impacts of the current cost of living crisis and the future risks for next year : Sixty per cent of workers today have lower real incomes than before the pandemic; Developing countries are missing $1.2 trillion per year, just to fill the social protection gap; And sixty percent of developing economies are currently in, or at high risk of, debt distress. Meanwhile, the number of people forced from their homes has risen to 100 million -- the highest number since the creation of the United Nations. The planet’s largest ecosystems – oceans and forests - are in danger. Biodiversity is declining at unprecedented rates. Discrimination against women and girls continues in all sectors and all societies, while gender-based violence is at emergency levels. Attacks on women’s reproductive rights are reverberating around the world. Implementing the Sustainable Development Goals will require $4.3 trillion USD per year -- more money than ever before -- because the international community is simply not keeping pace with the commitments it made; Excellencies, In the face of these cascading crises, we are far from powerless. There is much we can do, and many concrete steps we can take, to turn things around. I see four areas for immediate action. First, recovery from the pandemic in every country. We must ensure equitable global access to COVID-19 vaccines, therapies and tests. And now it is very important to have a serious effort to increase the number of countries that can produce vaccines, diagnostics, and other else technologies thinking about the future. Governments must work together with the pharmaceutical industry and other stakeholders to share licenses and to provide technical and financial support to allow many other countries to produce vaccines and other medical important products. Then we must redouble our efforts to make sure future outbreaks of disease are better managed by strengthening health systems and ensuring Universal Health Coverage. Second, we need to tackle the food, energy and finance crisis. Ukraine's food production, and the food and fertilizer produced by Russia, must be brought back to world markets -- despite the war. We have been working hard on a plan to allow for the safe and secure exports of Ukrainian produced foods through the Black Sea and Russian foods and fertilizers to global markets. I thank the governments involved for your continued cooperation. But there can be no solution to today’s crises without a solution to the crisis of economic inequality in the developing world. We need to make resources and fiscal space available to countries and communities, including Middle Income Countries, that have an even more limited financial toolbox than three years ago. This requires global financial institutions to use all the instruments at their disposal, with flexibility and understanding. Full remarks: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statement/2022-07-13/secretary-generals-remarks-the-opening-of-the-2022-high-level-segment-of-ecosoc-ministerial-segment-of-high-level-political-forum-delivered