UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that the world is facing three existential problems: uncontrolled artificial intelligence, accelerating climate change and worsening inequality as a driver of instability and conflicts.
Guterres links progress to government co-operation
Guterres, who is preparing to leave office at the end of the year after nearly a decade, said he still saw hope and potential for improvement in the coming years. But he linked this to governments’ ability to co-operate to curb conflicts, address inequality and deal with rapid developments in artificial intelligence.
Warning of paralysis and impunity
Guterres said: "I believe in a number of fundamental things that need to be done, that need to happen to make the world better – and I am determined to fight to achieve these things." The secretary-general warned that "the huge geopolitical divide" and paralysis in the Security Council had, in his assessment, created an environment allowing impunity, as powerful states violate international law and the UN Charter.
In this context, he referred to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and US attacks on Iran, noting that Russia and the United States have veto power in the Security Council.
Guterres said: "Many countries say: 'If the great powers can violate the law, why can’t we?' And this is why what we see around the world is more and more cases in which countries simply don’t care. They do whatever they want, knowing that there will be total impunity".
