With the clock ticking on climate negotiations in Belém, UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, speaking separately, delivered a united message: the world is watching, and compromise cannot wait. Amid reports of deadlocks on fossil fuels, climate finance and other key issues, both leaders urged negotiators to act decisively…
A page feels like it’s turning. After years of debate, the long-awaited roadmap for phasing out fossil fuels may finally be written into the official decisions of COP30. On Tuesday in Belém, ministers from Colombia, Germany, Kenya, the Marshall Islands, Sierra Leone, the United Kingdom and several other countries, voiced strong support for Brazil’s proposal…
A COP30 roundtable in Belém, Brazil. PHOTO/UN. By PATRICK MAYOYO [email protected] UN Secretary-General António Guterres has ramped up his call for a faster global transition from fossil fuels to clean energy, which he described as “the cheapest source of new electricity in nearly every country.” The latest appeal came on Friday during his address to…
Secretary-General António Guterres on Friday warned that the “fragile” legitimacy of the Security Council could endanger global peace if it remains gridlocked and fails to fulfil its primary purpose. Mr. Guterres was addressing ambassadors in the iconic chamber in New York on United Nations Day, marking 80 years since its founding. He spoke via video…
The United Nations faces a “race to bankruptcy” unless Member States pay their dues in full and on time, Secretary-General António Guterres warned on Friday, presenting a sharply reduced $3.238 billion regular budget for 2026. The revised proposal marks a significant drop from his original ask for next year of $3.715 billion and is 15.1…
The Secretary-General on Wednesday outlined a set of proposals to strengthen the UN’s effectiveness and improve coordination across its three core pillars: peace and security, sustainable development, and human rights. Addressing the General Assembly, António Guterres briefed Member States on the structural reforms and programme realignments that are needed across the UN System to make…
The UN Secretary-General opened the General Assembly high-level debate with a stark message: the world is awash with overlapping crises – from wars and humanitarian emergencies to climate breakdown – and leaders must decide now “what kind of world we choose to build together.” Each September, heads of state and government gather in New York…
Secretary-General António Guterres has issued a stark call to world leaders on the eve of the United Nations General Assembly’s high-level week, warning that a “global crisis” of war, climate change, inequality and technological risk demands urgent, coordinated action. “We are facing a global crisis. Conflicts are multiplying in the context in which geopolitical divides…
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has urged world leaders to “get serious – and deliver” as they begin arriving in New York for the high-level week of the 80th General Assembly. Speaking at a press conference at the UN Headquarters on Tuesday in New York, he warned that global divisions, conflicts and crises have left the…
“Africa must have a greater say in decisions that affect its future,” the UN Secretary-General said on Wednesday, August 20, 2025, at a conference in Japan focused on the continent’s development. This has always been a point of advocacy for African leaders during major discussions that chart Africa’s future, and this position has been supported…
