By Janet Ekstract, NEW YORK -In his opening remarks on September 22, the first day of the U.N. General Assembly, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres expressed alarm when he said: “The fault lines in our world are widening,” adding “The cracks have become canyons.” The U.N. chief underscored what he said are four defining “tests of power:” whether there is war or peace, inequality, climate change and AI which will decide if the world “moves toward a new era of cooperation or deeper division.” Guterres who has only about 100 days left in his term has previously emphasized the need for the U.N. to play a more pivotal role on the world stage in solving some of the most challenging global issues. Currently, Guterres is pushing for binding international cooperation on AI governance, sounding the alarm that life-and-death decisions must never be dealt with by automation. He is also calling for reform on the Security Council, pointing out the continual “indefensible” absence of permanent African representation. The U.N. leader lauded the fact that for the first time in U.N. history, it has achieved full gender parity across senior leadership and staff.
Guterres highlighted the issue of power when he said: “The greatest power is not the power to dominate. It is the power to build a future that works for everyone,” as he presented his annual report from the United Nations. He described a decade of eroding international norms – civilians targeted in war, humanitarian workers killed with international law being “cast aside” and trust between nations being eroded. The U.N. chief explained that power is being reworked in three ways: by the emergence of new State powers, a significant transfer of authority from governments to private corporations and individuals with the increasing role of AI and autonomous weapons front and center, in decisions once reserved for humans. Addressing the current crises in the Middle East, Ukraine, Sudan and Myanmar – Guterres noted supposed ceasefires have become nothing more than “lesser fires” with civilians as its victims. He called on all member states to galvanize cooperation and build a truly global network based on interdependence and shared roles. Guterres warned against sliding into rival blocs with separate economic and security systems which he has coined the ‘Great Fracture.’
The secretary general renewed calls for compliance with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) orders with regard to Gaza while warning that settlement expansion in the Israeli-occupied West Bank threatens to destroy the two-State solution. Meanwhile, Guterres condemned Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine as a clear violation of the U.N. Charter while also highlighting the searing gap between record global wealth and billions who still lack access to food, clean water, education and healthcare. The U.N. leader made it clear that “Equality is not a dream, it is a decision.” He also reiterated his longstanding view that the international financial system has left developing nations under massive debt while facing climate catastrophe they did not cause. Guterres called for faster debt relief, bolder multilateral development banks and fairer access to Special Drawing Rights created by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In addition, the U.N. leader underscored how AI and climate change are two of the most influential issues going forward with climate being the “most profound intergenerational power imbalance.” He urged the countries who are the largest polluters to “pay” and for developed nations to triple adaptation funding while pointing out that major oil companies are the ones benefitting from major profits since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Regarding AI, Guterres warned it’s advancing aster than humanity’s capacity to govern it. As Guterres explained; “The danger is not technology,” noting “The danger is technology without accountability.” More importantly, the secretary general called for safeguards on AI, adding that children must never betcome the test subjects for unregulated systems. The U.N. chief said: “Life-and-death decisions must never be surrendered to machines,” adding “killer robots must have no place in our future.” While U.S. President Trump sees no need for guardrails within the AI industry, Guterres is calling for a multilateral AI risk management framework with independent oversight.
The U.N. leader reiterated that peace, development and human rights are inseparable pillars of the U.N. Charter, rejecting any notion that dignity and rights can be divorced from security and opportunity. As Guterres highlighted, the U.N. was created as an act of defiance of hope, of people who refuse to surrender the future to fear and of countries that know their futures are bound together. He said the U.N. pledged to uphold the “spirit of resolve” for the remainder of his term in office while vowing to champion the U.N. Charter’s values, even after leaving his post as secretary-general. Guterres concluded: “The world does not need a weaker United Nations.” He said: “It needs a U.N. strong enough to face the world as it is, and determined enough to build the world as it should be.”
