PRESS BRIEFING BY BRENDEN VARMA, SPOKESPERSON FOR GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT VOLKAN BOZKIR

United Nations Headquarters, New York

9 November 2020

 

PRESIDENT CONGRATULATES VICTORS OF U.S. ELECTIONS

  • On Twitter today, the President sent his warmest congratulations to the President-elect of the United States, Joe Biden, who he said has a long history of supporting the United Nations, and to Kamala Harris, whose historic election as the United States’ first woman Vice-President is a milestone for gender equality.
  • He said he looks forward to deepening UN-US ties and working together towards a safer and more prosperous world.
  • Asked why the President had waited two days before pronouncing himself, the Spokesperson said the President had seen the news over the weekend and felt it was important to coordinate his tweet with the Secretary-General’s statement.
  • In response to further questions, the Spokesperson said one should not read too much into the timing, noting that the President’s tweet had been posted on a Monday, the first day of the week.
  • Asked whether the President had been waiting for a certain number of countries to congratulate Joe Biden before doing so himself, the Spokesperson said that was not the case and reiterated that the President had wanted to coordinate the timing of his message with the Secretary-General.
  • Asked whether the President had prepared a tweet over the weekend but then waited for the Secretary-General to issue a statement, the Spokesperson said he had nothing to add to what he had already said. He added that it was “a normal thing at the UN to coordinate within this house to make sure that we’re speaking with one voice.”

SUMMARY OF U.N.’S FIRST EVER BIODIVERSITY SUMMIT RELEASED

  • The President today released a factual summary of the UN’s first ever Summit on Biodiversity, which he convened at the end of September.
  • At that Summit, 64 Heads of State and Government shared their concerns over biodiversity losses. And in total, 124 Member States were represented, at the Ministerial level or higher.
  • In a video message accompanying today’s release, the President stressed that biodiversity loss endangers our very survival. It threatens food security and freshwater supplies – and increases the risk of disease and extreme weather.  It impacts economies, social justice and human rights.
  • It risks, heightening geopolitical tensions and conflicts. And it threatens our ability to meet the Sustainable Development Goals.
  • Meanwhile, COVID-19 has brought the link between environmental degradation and human health into the spotlight in a dramatic way.
  • The President said the Biodiversity Summit was a starting point. The fifteenth Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity, which will be held next year in Kunming, China, will be the next step.
  • He said the planet, and ultimately our own survival, requires a renewed commitment to biodiversity protection and conservation.

PRESIDENT MEETS WITH U.N. REFUGEE AGENCY CHIEF & SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENCY

  • The President is holding a number of meetings today.
  • He is holding a virtual meeting right now with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi. They are expected to discuss the President’s focus on vulnerable populations, including refugees.
  • The President will meet this afternoon with the Ambassador from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, who currently holds the presidency of the Security Council.

DISARMAMENT COMMITTEE ACTS ON RESOLUTIONS TODAY & TOMORROW AS SPECIAL POLITICAL COMMITTEE WRAPS UP WORK

  • The General Assembly’s First Committee, which covers disarmament, is scheduled to continue acting on its remaining draft resolutions today and tomorrow.
  • The texts being considered come from: Cluster 5: Other Disarmament Measures and International Security; Cluster 6: Regional Disarmament and Security; and Cluster 7: Disarmament Machinery.
  • Last Friday, 6 November, the First Committee took action on: Cluster 3: Outer Space. All 5 draft resolutions and decisions were adopted.
  • The First Committee also took action on Cluster 4: Conventional Weapons. It adopted 9 draft resolutions – including 4 without a vote.
  • Meanwhile, the General Assembly’s Fourth Committee – or Special Political and Decolonization Committee – wrapped up its work on Friday.
  • Asked whether resolutions adopted in the Third Committee would be acted on in the General Assembly Hall, the Spokesperson said that, normally, texts that were adopted by the Main Committees went to the plenary in the General Assembly Hall in December for further action. There was no set date for that yet.