By J. Tuyet Nguyen

New York, January 21 – Governments have failed to meet five major challenges under the pandemic, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in an address presenting his priorities for 2022 to a session of the 193-nation UN General Assembly. “All these challenges are, at heart, failures of global governance,” Guterres said. “I want to begin the year by raising five alarms – on Covid-19, global finance, climate action, lawlessness in cyber space, and peace and security. We face a 5-alarm global fire that requires the full mobilization of all countries.”

“Across all these challenges, the world needs a strong and effective United Nations to deliver results,” said Guterres, who started a new 5-year term as UN chief in January.

Guterres told a press conference that the challenges are not isolated. “Each of the alarms is feeding off the others. They are accelerants to an inferno.” He said failures to meet challenges in tackling the pandemic resulted in people’s deep mistrust in institutions.

“For an organization built in the aftermath of World War, in the wake of unprecedented genocide, we have an obligation to speak up and act to put out the fire.”

“We must go into emergency mode in the COVID-19 battle.”

Guterres called for actions that are grounded in science and common sense.

“Omicron is yet another warning. The next variant may be worse. Stopping the spread anywhere must be at the top of the agenda everywhere.

At the same time, the virus cannot be used as cover to undermine human rights, shrink civic space and stifle press freedom.”

“We need all countries and all manufacturers to prioritize vaccine supply to COVAX and create the conditions for the local production of tests, vaccines and treatments around the world. This includes pharmaceutical companies more rapidly sharing licenses, know-how and technology.

We must also fight the plague of vaccine misinformation.

And we must do much more to ready our world for the next outbreak in line with the recommendations of the independent panel on pandemic preparedness.”

Global financial system failed

One of the main functions of the global financial system was to ensure stability by supporting economies through financial shocks. But the pandemic is itself a shock and the system failed, Guterres said.

“The divergence between developed and developing countries is becoming systemic – a recipe for instability, crisis and forced migration.

These imbalances are not a bug, but a feature of the global financial system. They are inbuilt and structural.

They are the product of a system that routinely ascribes poor credit ratings to developing economies, starving them of private finance.

Credit ratings agencies are de facto decision-makers in the global financial system. They should be accountable and transparent.

Developing countries also suffer from a lack of transparency around Official Development Assistance, climate finance, and more.”

Guterres called for a serious review of the global financial governance mechanisms, which he said are dominated by the richest economies in the world. “Financial metrics must go beyond Gross Domestic Product, to assess vulnerability, climate, and investment risks.

Credit ratings should be based on comparable fundamentals and evidence, rather than harmful preconceptions. Reforming the global financial architecture requires an operational debt relief and restructuring framework.”

“We must go into emergency mode against the climate crisis”

“This year, we need an avalanche of action,” he said.

“All major-emitting developed and developing economies must do much more, much faster, to change the math and reduce the suffering – taking into account common but differentiated responsibilities. A growing number of countries have committed to significant emissions reductions by 2030.

“Others, including some big emitters, have an economic structure – namely high dependence on coal – that stands in the way.

They need resources and technology to accelerate the transition from coal to renewable energy.

That is why I am appealing for the creation of coalitions to provide financial and technical support for each of these countries that need assistance.

Developed countries, multilateral development banks, private financial institutions and companies with the necessary technical know-how – all need to join forces in these coalitions to deliver needed support at scale and with speed.

At the same time, every country must strengthen their Nationally Determined Contributions until they collectively deliver the 45 per cent emissions reduction needed by 2030.”

“We must go into emergency mode to put humanity at the center of technology“

 “Technology shouldn’t use us. We should use technology,” he said, pointing out that global governance barely exists in this area.

“And if governed properly, the opportunities are extraordinary, especially if we can ensure safe and secure internet connectivity.

But growing digital chaos is benefiting the most destructive forces and denying opportunities to ordinary people.

In countries with low broadband connectivity, simply connecting schools to the internet can grow GDP by 20 per cent.

Realizing such benefits requires safely connecting the 2.9 billion people who remain off-line, mainly in developing countries.

Women still lag far behind men in terms of internet access.”

He proposes a Global Digital Compact as part of the Summit of the Future in 2023 and also a Global Code of Conduct to end the infodemic and the war on science, and promote integrity in public information, including online.

Such a compact should bring together governments, the private sector and civil society to agree on key principles underpinning global digital cooperation.

“We need to go into emergency mode to bring peace to a world that sees too little of it”

Guterres said the number of violent conflicts is currently the highest since 1945, military coups are back and impunity is taking hold.

“Nuclear weapons stockpiles now exceed 13,000 — the highest level in decades. Human rights and the rule of law are under assault.

Populism, nativism, white supremacy and other forms of racism and extremism are poisoning social cohesion and institutions everywhere.

The pushback on human rights – especially the rights of women and girls – continues.

We need a united Security Council, fully engaged in addressing them.

Geo-political divides must be managed to avoid chaos around the globe.

We need to maximize areas for cooperation while establishing robust mechanisms to avoid escalation.

And in all we do to secure peace, I am committed to ensuring that women are at the center of our conflict prevention, peacemaking and peacebuilding efforts.

We know that peace efforts are more successful and sustainable when women are a full part of decision-making and mediation and peace processes”

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