Remarks by the President of the General Assembly,
H.E Ms. Annalena Baerbock
Opening of the 1st Committee
8 October 2025, 10 A.M.
[Check Against Delivery]
Thank you, Chair, Dear Excellency Mr. Maurizio Massari
First of all, congratulations, and also congratulations to the bureau members on their elections to lead the first committee during the 80th session
Good morning to you,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Especially to those PRs not being based in New York with whom I had the chance already to engage intensively, but being here from Geneva.
And also very warm welcome to the experts and directors from capitals.
I wish you, I wish all of us, success in the work ahead, after we have finished I would say quite successfully – given the situation of our world – the High-level week.
Now the real work, the committee season, starts.
You assume this responsibility at a moment of urgency: as conflicts devastate communities in Haiti, Sudan, Ukraine, and Gaza, and so many more forgotten crises—while our commitment to disarmament and the cause of peace is visibly weakening.
Due to that or besides that people are challenging our institutions which was built for peace.
So therefore the work of this committee becomes more important but also more challenging.
I underlined in my opening remarks of the High level week that we have to make clear in all of these debates that while the charter is being violated from different actors in parts of the world, this is not the UN as such which is failing.
But what is failing is the commitment of Member States to uphold the principles of the Charter and international law.
We could also see it a bit, to be frank and open in these discussions over this week that disarmament has been many many times in the opening speeches.
But when we had the special thematic meetings on disarmament you could also see that there were a certain amount of Member States in the room.
You might even think that some had forgotten about the tragedy of Nagasaki and Hiroshima as we are remembering these human catastrophes 80 years later, and when we rang the peace bell here just a couple of weeks ago, it made clear so much to all of us being there.
And remembering from my visit to Japan – I think it was two years ago – that for societies which had to face these situations of mass destruction, this will be never forgotten but is inherited by generations and this is why we always have to remember that the young generations are the best advocates for peace because they inherited the trauma from the past.
Yet we are in the world of today and while we speak of peace, some actions—and how we allocate resources—tell another story.
Last year, the world spent 3,169 US dollars every second on nuclear weapons.
So now now now now….3000 US dollars every second.
Resources that were by that not used for building schools, expanding healthcare, and strengthening infrastructure. But were instead invested in weapons capable of annihilating humanity as such.
While we mark the first anniversary of the Pact for the Future, in which Member States pledged to strengthen the disarmament and non-proliferation architecture, we are also seeing that very architecture—painstakingly built over decades— is now being challenged.
From some openly, from others, more from the back.
Therefore as this is the start of our working session, and as the working groups delve into the nitty gritty substance—I think it is very important taking a realistic view of the world as it is—we must consider how we can and should work together for the future, so that the hard-won successes of the past are not eroded.
We discussed this many times, dear undersecretary general dear Izumi in many many conferences before and it has been discussed here as well, and the chair mentioned it as well.
But we are facing currently that the successes, the most big successes
- the Non-Proliferation Treaty,
- the Ottawa Convention,
- the Chemical and Biological Weapons Conventions, and
- the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty,
Are being challenged and our work is to be how we can prevent that they are not totally eroded.
So our commitments during High-Level Week on disarmament must not fade into rhetoric.
They must live in practice—here, in the work of the Committee, but also obviously in capitals around the world.
Too many States have set aside their obligations instead of reinforcing them.
Some have chosen a different path altogether.
So it is our collective duty to preserve, strengthen, and adapt these commitments to meet new realities.
Especially as emerging technologies, from artificial intelligence to cyber capabilities, reshape our security landscape.
And because I always believe in international law you have to have optimistic view, even if the glass is not even half-full but empty.
We should also consider that these kind of new topics also raise a new attention for people, for younger generations. So the outer space disarmament topics for example is something which could also engage totally new actors from all around the world
That will be a defining moment to recommit—not only to disarmament and non-proliferation, but to the very raison d’être of the Charter: a new commitment to peace.
As we have seen also over the High-level Week, but as you also know from the last years, obviously this will not be easy at all.
And therefore I would also like to turn to a second point, also my capacity here, now speaking not as a disarmament expert but the PGA.
That obviously the work of the working groups of the Committee sessions is highly connected to the UN80 reforms – so the reform agenda of the United Nations as such.
As I said in my opening speech at High-Level Week, this is not an ordinary session.
Not for capitals, not for the General Assembly, and therefore also not for the Committee work.
And again as there are also some PRs from Geneva and directors and experts from the capital here in the room we are taking this task of UN80 reform very, very serious.
Because we know that is more than a reform.
It’s the definition of the United Nations for the next decades, for the next future.
So while we are standing at a crossroads, everything we are doing here – every failure, but also every success in the Committee is also being seen of how strong the United Nations is as such.
And therefore coming again to the nitty gritty part of committee work, every resolution, every working method matters.
Because we have to make this institution fit for the future, fit for purpose, and therefore it has to be more agile.
So I would like to encourage you when you debate the very important content of every resolution on disarmament, on outer space, to always ask yourself, is it still making sense 80 years, 50 years later?
Is this really the reality we are living in?
And if we still need it, and in your topics, most of the time, it’s the DNA of this institution, peace and security, can we copy and paste the text from the past.
Or do we have to update it to new technologies, to new challenges we are facing today.
So therefore, our work in these times is not only looking at the thematic content but also if we can actually deliver in practice.
Again, one of the challenges today is that everyone is saying the text is great, but if you cannot implement it, is it really worthwhile?
So therefore, the UN80 initiative and the broader reform process is also about reducing text.
Not as a cost-cutting exercise for cost-cutting but to make our work less bureaucratic and more efficient.
So the mandate review is central to that effort.
And as you know, the mandate review is highly engaged in the General Assembly, in the informal working group, but it’s also being delivered across the main committees, the Assembly as such.
And there are positive signs that we can really make progress in this regard.
And I’m very thankful to your committee and maybe this is why you are also called the First Committee – because you are being the first one on delivering on this very critical mandate review.
So I have learned yesterday or the day before when I met with the chair, with your Excellency that in the 79th session there we 76 resolutions; and in the 80th session, so far, at least there are over 60 resolutions.
So again it is not only about cutting for cutting but to really focus on the main important ones
This demonstrate that this reduction is more than statistic. Its about demonstrating that duplication can be reduced when Member States are willing to do so.
Still, the task is far from finished. Real progress will only come when all Committees streamline their agendas, ensuring that every resolution adds an extra value and not create extra noise.
So again I would like to encourage you, to ask yourself when drafting resolutions: is every paragraph essential? Do we need an SG report when funding and capacity may be limited – or may not even exist?
But on the other hand as well, underline when we really need a report, that the whole committee, that the whole membership is also standing behind it to implement the text as such.
I also emphasized to many of your ministers and heads of government over the last week – over the High Leve Week: that the reform is ultimately about priorities.
It’s about the question: who do we want to be as a United Nations in these times, in this century; and I would like to invite you as I did with Heads of Government, we want to be better together, and we here from the PGA office, from the General Assembly, from the Member States, we embrace this challenge, and I wish you, and I wish all of us the best.
Thank you chair.