UN Secretary-General ‘Raises Five Alarms’

UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he wants to “begin the year by raising five alarms — on Covid-19, global finance, climate action, lawlessness in cyberspace, and peace and security.”

Speaking to the General Assembly in New York, Mr Guterres said, “We begin another year in the grips of a global pandemic. Covid-19 continues to upend lives, plans and hopes. The only certainty is more uncertainty.

“Meanwhile, inequalities are growing. Inflation is rising. The climate crisis, pollution and biodiversity loss rage on. We face a cauldron of political unrest and ferocious conflicts. Mistrust among world powers is reaching fever pitch. And the information superhighway is clogged with hatred and lies, giving oxygen to the worst impulses of humanity. We all know this. Now is not the time to simply list and lament challenges. Now is the time to act.

“All these challenges are, at heart, failures of global governance. From global health to digital technology, many of today’s multilateral frameworks are outdated and no longer fit for purpose.

“They do not protect critical global public goods that are intended to support humanity’s well-being — from the global economy and finance systems to the health of our planet. Nor are multilateral frameworks delivering on our common aspirations for peace, sustainable development, human rights and dignity for all.

“I want to begin the year by raising five alarms — on Covid-19, global finance, climate action, lawlessness in cyberspace, and peace and security. We face a five-alarm global fire that requires the full mobilization of all countries.

“First, we must go into emergency mode in the Covid-19 battle. 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.

“Governments have also imposed disproportionate restrictions that penalize developing countries — for example, what I described some time ago as “travel apartheid”. Our actions must be grounded in science and common sense. The science is clear: Vaccines work. Vaccines save lives.

“Last October, the World Health Organization [WHO] unveiled a strategy to vaccinate 40 per cent of people in all countries by the end of last year, and 70 per cent by the middle of this year. We are nowhere near these targets. Vaccination rates in high-income countries are seven times higher than in the countries of Africa. At this rate, Africa will not meet the 70 per cent threshold until August 2024.

“Manufacturers worldwide are now producing 1.5 billion doses per month. But, the distribution is scandalously unequal — and we need to convert vaccines into vaccinations everywhere.

“Instead of the virus spreading like wildfire, we need vaccines to spread like wildfire. 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 in so many countries able to do it 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, including by strengthening the authority of the World Health Organization.

“Second, we must go into emergency mode to reform global finance. Let’s tell it like it is: the global financial system is morally bankrupt. It favours the rich and punishes the poor. One of the main functions of the global financial system is to ensure stability, by supporting economies through financial shocks. Yet, faced with precisely such a shock — a global pandemic — it has failed the global South.

“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.

“Third, we must go into emergency mode against the climate crisis. The battle to keep the 1.5°C goal alive will be won or lost in this decade. And we are far off-track. Our planet has already warmed by around 1.2°C. The consequences have been devastating.

“In 2020, climate shocks forced 30 million people to flee their homes — three times more than those displaced by war and violence. Small island nations, least developed countries, and poor and vulnerable people everywhere, are one shock away from doomsday. Numbers don’t lie. We need a 45 per cent reduction in global emissions by 2030 to reach carbon neutrality by mid-century. Yet, according to present commitments, global emissions are set to increase by almost 14 per cent over the current decade. That spells catastrophe.

“The first three crises I have laid out — Covid-19, a morally bankrupt financial system and the climate crisis — represent a triple emergency for developing countries and a triple multiplier of global inequalities. They undermine human rights and are a powder keg for social unrest and instability.”

You can read his full speech here on the UN website.

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