The United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, committed to make 2023 “a year for peace” and “a year for action” on Monday, underlining the need for workable solutions to a number of urgent issues confronting all parts of the world.
We owe it to the people to find solutions, to take action, and to fight back, said Guterres, who made the commitment at the UN Headquarters’ end-of-year press conference.
Building on his general appeal to action, Guterres stated that he will host the Climate Ambition Summit in September 2023 and urged all leaders to “step up” from businesses, governments, cities and regions, civil society, and finance.
It will be “a no-nonsense summit,” he claimed. Without exceptions No giving in. Backsliders, greenwashers, blame-shifters, or repackaging of announcements from prior years will not be tolerated.
The UN chief announced that it would take place in conjunction with a General Assembly opening-week meeting previously scheduled, with the aim of accelerating progress toward the ambitious Sustainable Development Goals halfway through.
Even if there may be “plenty of causes for despair” in the wake of the Ukraine War and the cost-of-living crisis that has put the world’s poorest countries on “debt row,” he said it was not an option.
“This is not the time to be passive; rather, it calls for steadfastness, grit, and, yes, even hope.
“Because despite the obstacles and overwhelming odds, we are fighting to combat hopelessness, disillusionment, and to identify workable answers.
“Practical solutions that are significantly improving people’s lives—not flawless answers, nor even often pretty solutions.
Solutions, said Guterres, “that must put us on a path to a better, more peaceful future.”
He emphasized the agreement reached at the COP15 UN Biodiversity Conference to stop ecological devastation all across the world.
He urged all nations to keep their commitments, saying, “We are finally starting to establish a peace treaty, with nature.”
He urged all nations to keep their commitments, saying, “We are finally starting to establish a peace treaty, with nature.”
He pointed to the cessation of hostilities in northern Ethiopia as another “cause for hope” and a result of “a rebirth of diplomacy” as evidence that progress had been made toward putting a stop to fighting in some of the world’s battle zones.
