The words inclusivity, resilience, reforms – and many more coloured in green and blue – provided a bold, digital backdrop from artist Marsha Dunn for the first ever Biennial Summit for a Sustainable, Inclusive and Resilient Global Economy. “This Biennial Summit is not just another meeting,” said UN Secretary General António Guterres. “It is the first of its kind.” “This is networked, inclusive multilateralism in practice,” commended Mr. Guterres, who proposed the summit in 2021 before it was recognised in last year’s Pact for the Future Agreement as one of the key approaches to reforming international financial systems.

UN Secretary-General opened the General Assembly high-level debate with a stark message: the world is awash with overlapping crises – from wars and humanitarian emergencies to climate breakdown – and leaders must decide now “what kind of world we choose to build together.” Each September, heads of state and government gather in New York for high-level week, where leaders present their global priorities. The Secretary-General’s opening address traditionally sets the tone. “Eighty years on – we confront again the question our founders faced – only more urgent, more intertwined, more unforgiving,” he told delegates.

Secretary-General António Guterres has issued a stark call to world leaders on the eve of the United Nations General Assembly’s high-level week, warning that a “global crisis” of war, climate change, inequality and technological risk demands urgent, coordinated action. “We are facing a global crisis. Conflicts are multiplying in the context in which geopolitical divides do not allow to effectively address them,” Mr. Guterres told UN News in an interview with Global Communications chief, Melissa Fleming.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has urged world leaders to “get serious – and deliver” as they begin arriving in New York for the high-level week of the 80th General Assembly. Speaking at a press conference at the UN Headquarters on Tuesday in New York, he warned that global divisions, conflicts and crises have taken the very principle of international cooperation to its most fragile inflection point in decades. “Some call it the World Cup of diplomacy,” Mr. Guterres said. “But this cannot be about scoring points – it must be about solving problems. There is too much at stake.”

UN Secretary-General appealed for greater efforts towards peace in a “fractured world” where conflicts are increasing.  António Guterres issued the call during the annual ceremony on the grounds of UN Headquarters in New York to ring the Peace Bell. Pursuing the cause of peace is “the beating heart” of the Organization, “but today, peace is under siege,” he said. “Conflicts are multiplying. Civilians are suffering. Human rights and international law are being trampled – leaving scenes that disgrace our common humanity.”