Remarks by Mr. Miguel Ángel Moratinos,
Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for UNAOC,
at the Nizami Ganjavi International Center (NGIC) #XXXHLMeeting in New York:
“Trust and Global Governance, Climate Action: Linking the UN Summit of the Future with COP29”
25 September 2024
It’s always a great honor to be sharing this annual platform with so many distinguished figures.
I thank the Nizami Ganjavi International Center (NGIC) for providing this opportunity.
A warm welcome President Vaira Vika Freiberga to New York City! Your presence brings in a new dimension to this annual gathering.
Distinguished guests,
The adoption of the Pact for the Future after long months of grueling negotiations brings hope amid the darkness of the bleak global landscape.
This city is already brimming with world leaders, mayors and legislators. civil society, faith actors, the private sector, academics, artists, activists and young people.
And this is what effective, inclusive, networked multilateralism must look like.
Outside this room and UNHQ circles, I often hear the comments of ordinary people questioning whether the United Nations can chart a new course for the future and fulfill the promise of peace and security, development and human rights considering that the organization is weighed down by divisions and crises of the present time, in which:
Innocent people suffering conflicts and wars.
Their livelihoods threatened by the climate chaos.
Torn by inequalities and injustices.
Dehumanized because of their religion, faith, ethnicity, culture, language or gender.
Hate has become the new normal.
And the prospect of an eminent AI-driven technological cataclysm.
I am an optimist by nature. I am also a realist.
I also see no contradiction between the two.
I only know too well that it is not realistic for people to expect world peace to break out overnight just because of the adoption of the Pact for the Future.
The roots of the Summit of the Future date back to 2020, when world leaders marked the 75th anniversary of the U.N.’s founding, issuing a declaration asking the Secretary-General to outline his vision for a modern multilateralism to better “respond to current and future challenges.”
The following year, Mr. Antonio Guterres issued Our Common Agenda, which maps out a course for the U.N. over the next 25 years.
It was ultimately necessary to have this transformative blueprint negotiated and adopted considering that its implementation is a member-states driven process.
Today’s existing institutions are no longer fit to cope with today’s global challenges. They were designed for another era and another set of challenges 80 years ago.
The Future pact underscores the need for greater global solidarity. It includes five overarching themes — including sustainable development, peace and security, global governance, future generation, and digital technology — and a 60-point action plan, urging countries to do everything from eradicating poverty and expanding the U.N. Security Council to devising a global governance framework for preventing war in outer space.
However, nearly a year of hard-fought negotiations has also exposed the cultural, religious, and geopolitical fault lines between the U.N.’s 193 member states who squabbled for months over abortion, nuclear disarmament, sanctions, the financial architecture and security council reform, and who controls the Internet and whether AI is good or evil.
The Pact provides an opportunity for member states to re-commit to global solidarity and the promise of advancing shared security and prosperity and demonstrate that multilateralism can work.
In this context, I am pleased to see that the Pact of the Future includes several paragraphs that highlight the importance of intercultural and interreligious dialogue, fighting discrimination and religious intolerance and xenophobia with the aim of strengthening social cohesion and sustainable peace and development. These are all components of the mission and mandate of UNAOC.
The need to reform of the Security Council was a topic often debated by this group. Indeed, it was a pre-requisite for reforming and transforming the multilateral system , one that is fit to address and be effective in resolving the multi-faceted challenges to peace of security. Member States pledged in the The Pact for the Future under Action 39 to reform the UN Security Council recognizing the urgent need to make it more representative, inclusive, transparent , efficient, effective, democratic and accountable. They also pledged under Action 41 to strengthen the response of the Security Council for the maintenance of international peace and security and its relationship to the General Assembly.
So I dare say that change is on the way.
The journey towards this new transformative course begins today not tomorrow.
The United Nations will remain a universal platform for global dialogue. The spirit of dialogue was loud and clear in the Summit for the Future and we stand ready to serve.
And the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations continues to strengthen its platform of intercultural and interreligious dialogue to complement that universal platform. I am very pleased that UNAOC 10th Global Forum in Cascais in November will tackle these issues under the overarching theme “United In Peace: Restoring Trust, Reshaping the Future – Reflecting on two Decades of Dialogue for Humanity.”
Concluding: In drawing the line between realism and optimism, I wish to add that it will unrealistic to expect that the Pact for the Future will “save the world tomorrow”.
But I continue to be optimistic that collectively we should work on restoring trust, adjusting our moral compass and reviving our sense of our humanity.
I thank you.