New Zealand youth ‘in frontline’ of fight against climate change: UN chief

UN Photo/Loey Felipe
The flag of New Zealand (centre) flying at United Nations headquarters in New York.

Speaking to young Māoris and people of the Pacific Islands in New Zealand on Monday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed his gratitude for the leadership of the youth of the country in fighting climate change. 

The UN chief also recognized the important role played by Generation Zero, a New Zealand-based youth-led organization dedicated to providing solutions for the country to cut carbon pollution through smarter transport, liveable cities & independence from fossil fuels. 

Mr. Guterres said that youth can help to make sure that “we are able to reach our central objective: not to have more than 1.5 degrees of increasing temperature at the end of the century. I’m confident that youth around the world will be able to convey to their governments a very clear message.” 

Three steps, continued Mr. Guterres, would make a major difference in the urgent fight against climate change: shifting shift taxes from salaries to carbon, ending subsidies to fossil fuels, and stopping the construction of new coal plants by 2020. 

“Taxpayers’ money should not be used to boost hurricanes, to spread drought and heatwaves, to bleach corals or to melt glaciers. We want a green economy not a grey economy in the world. It’s very important that you convince governments that they must act because there’s still a lot of resistance.” 

The Secretary-General recalled that he had encountered that resistance at COP24, the 2018 UN climate change conference. Governments, he said, are still afraid to move forward, and are forgetting that the costs of inaction are much bigger than any costs of climate action. 

UN and African Union in ‘common battle’ for development and climate change financing

World Bank/Dana Smillie: Rows of solar panels at the Ain Beni Mathar thermo-solar power plant in Morocco. (file 2010)

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called for a “quantum leap” in funding for development and climate change for Africa, speaking to journalists on Monday, following the plenary meeting of the latest United Nations-African Union (AU) Conference, which took place in New York.

Mr. Guterres declared that the Organization’s work to promote peace and security, human rights, development and climate action, can only progress in Africa if the UN works hand in hand with the AU.

The UN chief emphasised the “alignment” between the UN’s and African Union’s respective plans to ramp up inclusive and environmentally responsible economic development: the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the African Union’s Agenda 2063.

The common battle they face, he continued, is to secure the necessary financing for development, particularly for Africa. Mr. Guterres said that development there is a “fundamental precondition” for a more peaceful world, and for well-managed migration, and, therefore, that improved funding is “in the interests of the whole international community.”

With regard to climate change, the Secretary-General warned that more ambition is needed, because “we are not winning the battle,” and Africa is disproportionately affected: “the African continent practically does not contribute to climate change, but the African continent is one of the areas of the world where the impact of climate change is more dramatic and devastating.”

A joint communiqué released on Monday by the UN and African Union welcomed the “strong cooperation and collaboration between the two organizations”, and committed to continue to work closely together in addressing peace and security issues, and achieving sustainable development issues in Africa.

The communiqué described the UN Climate Action Summit, which will take place in September, as “critical to mobilize the needed partnerships, resources” necessary to achieve international climate action goals, and noted the agreement of the leaders of both organizations to further strengthen their cooperation on adaptation for climate change ahead of the Summit and beyond.

UN Secretary General urges restraint in latest developments across the Gaza-Israeli border

The United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, has urged all parties to exercise maximum restraint in latest developments across the Gaza-Israeli border.

UNUN chief António Guterres

Over the weekend, hundreds of rockets were launched from the Occupied Palestinian Territory into southern Israel, and Israel retaliated with hundreds of airstrikes and tank fire. 

According to news reports, several women, children and men on both have been killed and injured as a result of the violence.

Deploring the “risk of yet another dangerous escalation and further loss of life on the eve of the holy month of Ramadan,” on Sunday, the UN chief condemned “in the strongest terms the launching of rockets from Gaza into Israel, particularly the targeting of civilian population centres”. 

He urged all parties to “exercise maximum restraint, immediately de-escalate and return to the understandings of the past few months,” referring to a fragile Egypt-brokered and UN-backed cease fire recently agreed upon. 
 
The UN’s Special Coordinator for this conflict’s peace process, Nickolay Mladenov, issued a similar call for calm on Saturday and continues to work closely with Egypt and all concerned parties to restore calm.

Against a backdrop of longstanding shortages of basic goods and services in Gaza linked to a more than decade-long air, sea and land blockade by Israel, Palestinian protests began over a year ago in the Strip. In an ongoing cycle of violence, in over a year, close to 200 Palestinians have been killed, including more than 40 children and over 1,300 have been injured.

A free press is ‘cornerstone’ for accountability and ‘speaking truth to power’: Guterres

At a time when disinformation and mistrust of the news media is growing, a free press is “essential for peace, justice, sustainable development and human rights”, said the UN Secretary-General, in his message for World Press Freedom Day, marked on Friday.

No democracy is complete without access to transparent and reliable information, said António Guterres, describing unfettered journalism as “the cornerstone for building fair and impartial institutions, holding leaders accountable and speaking truth to power.”

This years commemorations which began on Thursday across the world, are focussing on the powerful role that good reporting plays in championing democracy and free elections, when disinformation is becoming a larger problem in even the world’s oldest and most sophisticated democratic systems.   

“Facts, not falsehoods, should guide people as they choose their representatives”, said the UN chief, noting that “while technology has transformed the ways in which we receive and share information, sometimes it is used to mislead public opinion or to fuel violence and hatred.”

According to the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), almost 100 journalists were killed going about their work in 2018, with hundreds imprisoned. A total of 1,307 journalists were killed between 1994, and last year.

Mr. Guterres said he was “deeply troubled by the growing number of attacks and the culture of impunity…When media workers are targeted, societies as a whole pay a price.”

The head of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, said in her message for the day that it was essential to “guarantee freedom of opinion through the free exchange of ideas and information, based on factual truths.”

She said societies which value a free press, needed to “constantly vigilant. We must act together to protect the freedom of expression and safety of journalists”.

A free media is a “prerequisite” for the proper functioning of democracies, she added: “Independent journalism provides an opportunity to present facts to citizens and to form an opinion. Press freedom guarantees transparent societies where everyone can access information”.

Among the commemorative events that got underway on Thursday, were a global conference on “Media for Democracy, Journalism and Elections in Times of Disinformation” in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, jointly organized by the Government and the African Union Commission, together with UNESCO; and a conference in the Lebanese capital Beirut, on the same theme, organized by the local UNESCO office in partnership with the Ministry of Information.

A high-level event takes place at UN Headquarters in New York on Friday where the Secretary-General and President of the UN General Assembly are due to speak, followed by an expert roundtable

UN Secretary General, African Development Bank President agree to strengthen ties and push development agenda in Africa

Development impact on the continent and security in the Sahel were among the top issues discussed in a recent meeting between United Nations Secretary General António Guterres and African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina in New York.

Both leaders agreed that current efforts must succeed in Africa, or risk failing globally, and emphasized the need for deeper collaboration between their institutions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

Guterres signaled his strong support for the African Development Bank’s flagship ‘Desert to Power’ initiative, which is expected to provide electricity to 250 million people. He also offered to convene a special global meeting on Lake Chad, in consultation with Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari.

The “Desert to Power” program, a $10 billion initiative to build a 10 GW solar zone across the Sahel—the largest in the world, aims to develop and provide 10 GW of solar energy by 2025 and supply 250 million people with green electricity including in some of the world’s poorest countries.

According to Adesina, “Secretary General Guterres and I had a highly productive engagement and committed to enhance strategic and operational partnerships between the UN and the African Development Bank. I am encouraged by the Secretary General’s generous support for the Bank’s development initiatives, which we are certain will bear fruit across the continent.”

The two heads of institutions met following Adesina’s trip to the United States for the World Bank’s annual Spring meetings held in Washington DC.

Adesina also briefed the Secretary General about ongoing discussions on the Bank’s General Capital Increase (GCI-7), designed to address Africa’s growing lending demands. The Secretary General committed to advocate “for the mobilization of adequate resources in order to further the Bank’s development goals.”

Guterres and Adesina also discussed the Bank’s inaugural Africa Investment Forum, held last year in Johannesburg, South Africa, where projects worth US$38.7 billion secured investment interest. The Secretary General accepted the Adesina’s invitation to participate in the 2019 edition of the event, to be held in November in South Africa.

At China’s Belt and Road Forum, Guterres calls for ‘inclusive, sustainable and durable’ development

China’s international trade and economic development plan – known as the Belt and Road Initiative – could contribute to a more equitable, prosperous world, and to reversing the negative impact of climate change, Secretary-General António Guterres said on Friday, speaking in Beijing, China.

Addressing Chinese President Xi Jinping and dozens of other state leaders at the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, Mr. Guterres urged the international community to “come together” in mobilizing resources to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and “to stop runaway climate change.”

“China’s leadership on climate action is helping to show the way,” said the UN chief, noting the $125 billion investment made by the Government in 2017, in renewable energy.

He pledged the support of United Nations country teams – which comprise UN agencies, founds and programmes operating in a country – saying the pillars of the Belt and Road Initiative link to the 17 SDGs, which include ending extreme poverty and hunger, and can translate into “real-life progress for people.”

That means also helping to close the financing gaps for achieving the SDGs, he said noting the   nearly $1 trillion needed for infrastructure investments in developing countries.

Looking globally, Mr. Guterres said that countries today need a way to transition from an “unsustainable, fossil-fuelled grey economy to a clean, green, low-carbon energy future.”

Noting that at least 75 per cent of the infrastructure the world needs by 2050 has yet to be built, Mr. Guterres lauded China for its investment in renewable energy job creation and technologies.

“I see the Belt and Road Initiative as an important space where green principles can be reflected in green action,” he told the Forum.

Earlier, noted there was now “a unique opportunity to build a new generation of climate resilient and people-centred cities and transit systems, and energy grids that prioritize low emissions and sustainability.”

While in Beijing, Mr. Guterres, who is joined on the visit by Liu Zhenmin, Under-Secretary-General at the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), will meet one-on-one with President Xi and other senior officials. On Saturday, he is due to participate in a roundtable on promoting green and sustainable development.

UN chief urges China, Africa for a win-win collaboration for ‘the future we want’

UN China/Zhao Yun Secretary-General António Guterres speaks at the China-Africa Cooperation Summit in Beijing.

Highlighting the economic and development progress made in China and Africa, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres urged them to unite their combined potential for peaceful, sustainable and equitable progress to the benefit of all humankind.

Speaking at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, in Beijing, Secretary-General Guterres underscored that it is vital that current and future development cooperation contributes to peace, security and to building a “community of shared future for mankind.”

“China and Africa have strengthened their relationship in recent years, enjoying growing mutual trust and exchanges at all levels,” he said.

“I commend this engagement. Cooperation, based on the principles of the UN Charter, can benefit your peoples and can benefit the international community as a whole.”

In his remarks, the UN chief also noted that development cooperation between them is increasing, based on the two mutually compatible roadmaps: the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the African Union’s (AU) Agenda 2063.

Cooperation, based on the principles of the UN Charter […] can benefit the international community as a whole – Secretary-General Guterres

UN China/Zhao Yun Secretary-General António Guterres attends Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit in Beijing on 3 September 2018.

In that context, he highlighted five areas, explaining that these will be crucial for the success of the partnership between China and Africa. These included reinforcing the foundations of Africa’s progress given that stronger cooperation can help achieve sustainable and resilient development in the continent that is inclusive, reaching first those people that are furthest behind.

The Secretary-General also called for ensuring national ownership and African-led sustainable development. He noted the frameworks agreed between the UN and the AU on peace and security, as well as supporting Agenda 2063.

“These frameworks are based on our commitment to be a steadfast and trusted partner of Africa, with full respect for Africa’s stewardship of its own future,” said Mr. Guterres.

Noting the importance of South-South cooperation as “fundamental for fair globalization,” the Secretary-General also highlighted the need to implement North-South commitments, including those assumed in the context of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda on financing for development.

Mr. Guterres also called for promoting sustainable fiscal policies, underscoring that it is critical that Africa is supported to both preserve and create fiscal space for investments.

Climate change ‘an existential threat’

Further in his remarks, the UN chief also highlighted the existential threat posed by climate change.

“A sustainable future for China, Africa and the world means climate-friendly and climate-resilient development as it was underlined today by President Xi Jinping,” he said noting that the world is getting increasingly aware that climate change and environmental degradation are risk multipliers, especially for fragile states and vulnerable regions.

“China is today a global leader in climate solutions,” he added, urging the country to share its advances with Africa to enable the continent to leapfrog traditional polluting development in favour of green growth.

Concluding his remarks, the Secretary-General said that the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit “exemplifies the win-win collaboration that is necessary for the future we want.”

“The UN will continue to support the China-Africa Partnership and more broadly, South-South cooperation, so that all nations – in Africa and beyond – may enjoy sustainable and inclusive development,” he said.