UN SG Guterres Special Address to the World Economic Forum 2024

1. Secretary-General's Special Address
to the World Economic Forum [as
delivered]
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
Thank you very much for your warm welcome.
It’s good to be back – to be back and to see Davos highlighting the global crisis in trust.
I believe this crisis is the direct result of a paradox facing our world.
In the face of the serious, even existential threats posed by runaway climate chaos, and
the runaway development of Artificial Intelligence without guard rails, we seem
powerless to act together.
As climate breakdown begins, countries remain hellbent on raising emissions.
Our planet is still heading for a scorching three-degree increase in global temperatures,
Droughts, storms, fires and floods are pummeling countries and communities.
Before travelling to the United Nations climate talks at COP28 in Dubai, I saw for myself
the dramatic receding of Himalayan glaciers, and the accelerated melting of the ice
sheet in Antarctica.
Here in Switzerland, glaciers are disappearing before our eyes.
Some are gone forever; and others have lost 10 percent of their volume in just the past
two years. Such rapid changes should disturb us all.
2023 went down as the hottest year on record.
But it could be one of the coolest years of the future.
The media has recently reported that the U.S. fossil fuel industry has launched yet
another multi-million-dollar campaign to kneecap progress and keep the oil and gas
flowing indefinitely.

2. Let me be very clear again: the phaseout of fossil fuels is essential and inevitable. No
amount of spin or scare tactics will change that. Let’s hope it doesn’t come too late.
We must now act to ensure a just and equitable transition to renewable energy.
At the same time, every new iteration of generative AI increases the risk of serious
unintended consequences.
This technology has enormous potential for sustainable development – but as the
International Monetary Fund has just warned us, it is very likely to worsen inequality in
the world.
And some powerful tech companies are already pursuing profits with a clear disregard
for human rights, personal privacy, and social impact.
This is no secret. Now these two issues – climate and AI – are exhaustively discussed
by governments, by the media, and by leaders here in Davos.
And yet, we have not yet an effective global strategy to deal with either.
And the reason is simple. Geopolitical divides are preventing us from coming together
around global solutions for global challenges.
Little wonder that people everywhere are losing faith in governments, institutions, and
financial and economic systems.
Dear friends,
At times of existential peril in the past, the world was able to come together to mitigate
risks.
Even during the Cold War, the world faced terrible regional conflicts and moments of
great danger. But there were systems in place to promote predictability, including
initiatives on arms control and nuclear hotlines.
Today, many of these systems have been eroded or undermined.
Instead of nuclear disarmament, there is talk of nuclear re-armament.
States are spending billions making their nuclear arsenals faster, stealthier and more
accurate.
The Cold War, an era of two superpowers was followed by a brief period of unipolarity.
But now, some analysts predict we are moving into a totally chaotic situation, in which
geopolitical divides at all levels prevent any global response to global threats.

3. But I strongly believe it is possible to prevent this disastrous scenario.
I am confident we can build a new, multipolar global order with new opportunities for
leadership, and with balance and justice in international relations.
But multipolarity creates complexity.
Left to itself, it could deepen fault lines: between North and South; East and West;
developed and developing economies; within the G20; and between the G20 and
everyone else.
The only way to manage this complexity and avoid a slide into chaos is through a
reformed, inclusive, networked multilateralism.
Now this requires strong multilateral institutions and frameworks, and effective
mechanisms of global governance.
Without them, further fragmentation is inevitable, and the consequences are clear.
We see an epidemic of impunity around the world.
We see some countries doing whatever it takes to further their own interests at all
costs.
From Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, to Sudan, and, more recently, Gaza, parties to conflict
are ignoring international law; trampling on the Geneva Conventions; and even violating
the United Nations Charter.
The world is standing by as civilians, mostly women and children, are killed, maimed,
bombarded, forced from their homes and denied access to humanitarian aid.
I repeat my call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, and a process that
leads to sustained peace for Israelis and Palestinians, based on a two-state solution.
This is the only way to stem the suffering and prevent a spillover that could send the
entire region up in flames.
And I also call for a just peace in Ukraine. A peace in accordance with the United
Nations Charter. A peace in accordance with international law.
Dear friends,
Geopolitical divisions are a major risk factor affecting our faltering global economy.
Political instability is adding to economic insecurity.

4. Meanwhile, inequality and injustice are reaching obscene levels – a serious obstacle to
sustainable development.
Oxfam reports that the world’s five richest men – and they are men - have more than
doubled their fortunes since 2020 – at a rate of $14 million US dollars per hour.
At the same time, more than half the world, nearly five billion people, have become
poorer.
The World Bank warns we are heading towards the worst half-decade for growth in 30
years.
And many of the same countries battered by climate chaos are in a financial chokehold.
More than half the world’s poorest 75 countries face debt distress.
Their interest payments have quadrupled in recent years.
After decades of reductions in poverty and hunger, progress has slowed and, in some
countries, gone into reverse. And this is fueling resentment and anger.
Dear friends,
When global norms collapse, so does trust.
And I am personally shocked by the systematic undermining of principles and standards
we used to take for granted.
I am outraged that so many countries and companies are pursuing their own narrow
interests without any consideration for our shared future or our common good.
And I am certain that unless we take action, we can expect much, much worse.
So let’s be clear: Rebuilding Trust is not a slogan or a PR campaign.
It requires deep reforms to global governance to manage geopolitical tensions during a
new era of multipolarity.
And it is essential to building a safer, more stable and prosperous world.
So Dear Friends,
The institutions and frameworks of global governance, from the Security Council to the
Bretton Woods system, were created 80 years ago.

5. We can’t build a future for our grandchildren with a system built for our grandparents.
The United Nations is fully engaged this year in efforts to bring them up to date, rooted
in equality and solidarity, based on the UN Charter and international law.
In September we will host a Summit of the Future, focused on solutions.
The Summit will consider essential reforms to the global financial architecture to make
it responsive to today’s challenges and representative of today’s world – [including]
countries in the Global South that were under colonial rule when it was created and so
they have today a minimal weight.
Reforms to the Security Council, and a proposed New Agenda for Peace, would also
help to prevent and resolve conflict, rebalance geopolitical relations, and give
developing countries a proportionate voice on the global stage.
A Global Digital Compact can turbocharge the SDGs and help to close the digital
connectivity gap, share data, and build digital public goods.
The private sector is in the lead on AI expertise and resources. And we need your full
engagement in our multi-stakeholder effort to develop a governance model that is
networked and adaptive.
I believe the UN should play a central convening role.
The Advisory Board I created on Artificial Intelligence has already made preliminary
recommendations on AI governance that tap the benefits of this incredible new
technology, while mitigating its risks.
We need governments urgently to work with tech companies on risk management
frameworks for current AI development; and on monitoring and mitigating future harms.
And we need a systematic effort to increase access to AI so that developing economies
can benefit from its enormous potential. We need to bridge the digital divide instead of
deepening it.
Dear Friends,
Rebuilding Trust will not happen overnight – but I am convinced that it’s both essential,
and possible.
I urge everybody, I urge you to influence to prevent further damage and to get our world
back on track to safety, to prosperity, and peace.
And I Thank you.