UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres issued a bleak warning about the state of the world on Tuesday in his opening address to the world body's annual high-level gathering in New York City.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on Monday for reforming the Security Council as one of the urgent measures required to prevent the “great fracture” threatening the polarised world.
“Our world is becoming unhinged,” he warned as he urged far-reaching reform of the global institutions, from the political to the economic, highlighting what he said were inequalities spanning all areas.
At the same time, he acknowledged the difficulties in bringing about the changes.
Guterres described the UN as reflecting the world of 1945, “when many countries in this Assembly Hall were still under colonial domination.”
He added: “The world has changed. Our institutions have not. We cannot effectively address problems as they are if institutions don’t reflect the world as it is.”
As a result of the outdated system, “divides are deepening,” Guterres warned, highlighting “divides among economic and military powers,” and “divides between north and south, east and west.”
He warned that the world is inching closer to a ''Great Fracture'' in economic and financial systems and trade relations with geopolitical tensions are rising.
''The alternative to reform is further fragmentation. It’s reform or rupture,'' he said.
Pointing out that the G20 countries are responsible for 80% of greenhouse gas emissions, he emphasized that they should stop using fossil fuels.
Guterres also called for efforts to end the war in Ukraine in different ways.
Guterres also regarding the African continent said: "the coup threatens the security of this continent and the region."
Referring to the situation in Sudan, the Secretary General of the United Nations warned: "This country is entering a total war and is facing the risk of disintegration." 219
