Ladies and gentlemen of the press,

It is wonderful to be in Johannesburg and I thank the people and government of South Africa for their warm welcome.

The ‘Rainbow Nation’ has been an inspiration to nations everywhere navigating their own paths to reconciliation and unity.   

Today, South Africa is a powerful champion of the calls by the Global South for greater equality and justice in international affairs.

Calls the world is hearing loud and clear – and also here at the 15th BRICS Summit.

My message to the leaders assembled here was clear: our world is in dire straits.

We face existential challenges – from the worsening climate emergency and escalating conflicts to the global cost-of-living crisis, soaring inequalities and dramatic technological disruptions.

So this is a time to come together and to work together.

But instead, divisions are growing, and tensions are rising.

Several factors contribute to these divisions: diverging perspectives on global crises, contrasting approaches to non-traditional security threats, differing strategies towards new technologies, and, of course, the consequences of COVID-19 and of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

I remain deeply concerned over the risk of a fracturing of the global order.

We are entering a multipolar world.

But history has shown time and again that multipolarity without strong multilateral institutions is no guarantee for stability; it might even become a catalyst for chaos.

We must urgently restore trust and reinvigorate multilateralism.

This requires the courage to compromise for the common good.

It requires effective international institutions rooted in 21st century realities based on the UN Charter and international law.

And as I emphasized today at the Summit, it requires a special focus on Africa.

The Security Council, the Bretton Woods system, and other International Organizations, reflect the world of 1945, when many African countries were still part of European empires.   
  
To this day, the continent is underrepresented in the global financial architecture, just as it lacks a permanent seat on the Security Council.   

The world has changed – and so, global governance must change with it. It must represent today’s power and economic relations and not the power and economic relations of 1945.

That is why I have been advocating deep reforms to make global frameworks truly universal and representative of today’s realities, and more responsive to the needs of developing economies.

We need more inclusive institutions at every level, including through greater representation of women and young people.

But all this in a context in which, I believe, two areas require a particularly important reform effort.  One is the Security Council; the second, the Bretton Woods system.  If we are not able to reform our institutions to make sure they reassume a truly universal character, we risk fragmentation, and fragmentation can be one day a factor of confrontation.

And we also need in each society a new social contract based on respect for all human rights – social, cultural, economic, civil, and political.

And finally, we need to act in solidarity – and with greater urgency in several future-defining areas. I will refer to some of them:

First, we need action to save our planet.

Developed countries have a particular responsibility and so they must lead and they must deliver.

On the $100 billion promise to developing countries.

On the loss and damage fund.

On doubling adaptation finance. 

On replenishing the Green Climate Fund.

And on plans for early warning systems to protect every person in the world – including the 6 in 10 Africans who still lack those systems.

As a matter of justice, Africa must be considered a priority in all these crucial commitments.

Every country has a role to play.

That is why I have proposed a Climate Solidarity Pact – in which all big emitters make extra efforts to cut emissions; and wealthier countries support emerging economies to do so.

And I have put forward an Acceleration Agenda to supercharge these efforts in order to guarantee that we maintain the 1.5 degree limit as a reality.

So, it’s time to break our addiction to fossil fuels and invest in a just and equitable transition.
 
And we must bring affordable electricity to everyone on earth – and particularly in Africa – while simultaneously reaching net-zero electricity by 2035 in developed countries and 2040 elsewhere.

I commend South Africa for stepping up as pioneers of the Just Transition Energy Partnership – a crucial tool to unlock emission cuts, boost renewables, and grow the green economy.

Second, we need action to save economies and reduce inequalities.

The pandemic has underscored once again how the global financial architecture is outdated, dysfunctional, and unjust. It has failed in its basic function as a global safety net. And so, it needs deep, structural reform.

But I also know that such change will not happen overnight.

And so I have proposed a number of measures we can take right now. They include:

Providing a Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Stimulus to direct investments towards the Sustainable Development Goals with a funding equivalent of US $500 million.

Overhauling the business models of Multilateral Development Banks so that they massively increase affordable financing and leverage far more private finance to the developing world, including also the need to increase their own capital.

Establishing an effective debt workout mechanism to support payment suspensions, longer lending terms, and lower rates.  The debt situation in many African countries as well as in many other parts of the developing world is today absolutely intolerable. The majority of African countries pay more of their budget in interest for debt than in education or in health.

And so, we need to make sure that there is an effective debt reduction mechanism in place. Until now, what we had is too little, and too late.

We also need to make international tax cooperation more inclusive and more effective so countries can support each other in generating financing for sustainable development.

And working together to stop illicit financial flows that are draining vital resources from the African continent.

Taken together, these steps would go a long way in equipping developing economies in Africa and beyond with the means to invest in key transitions across energy, education, digital, health, and more.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The months ahead will be vital.

From the Africa Climate Summit, where I will be in Nairobi in two weeks times, the G20 Summit, to the SDG and Climate Ambition Summits at the United Nations in September, to COP28 in December – we have important opportunities to set a path to a better, more peaceful and more just world.

We have no time to lose, and I thank you for your patience.

Q: [On the Secretary-General’s calls reforms of the financial institutions globally and the UN Security Council. Are the falling on deaf ears?

Secretary-General:  I don't think that they are only being listened by dead ears.  

I remember when I became Secretary-General that the discussion of the reform of the Bretton Woods system was taboo within the UN system. Today, this is in the centre of our debates. And we have presented recently a Policy Brief with a concrete proposal for the reform of the Bretton Woods system.

And I think that more and more countries understand that this needs to be done. And there are two reasons for that. First, because the system became too small, the paid-in capital of the World Bank is US $22 billion. The volume of operations of the World Bank today as a percentage of global GDP is less than one fifth of what it was in 1960. And it is clear that as a lender of last resort, the IMF has today enormous difficulty to take into account the global dimension of the crisis we are facing.

So, the system became small, it needs to grow. And as it needs to grow, there is an opportunity to make it really diverse to make sure that it reflects in its capital structure, and in its work, the reality of today's world.

And I think that these will be sooner or later inevitable. Because if it doesn't happen, we will inevitably see parallel systems emerging and the risks of fragmentation of the global economy and the financial structures are, in my opinion, extremely dangerous for the global economy. And also, if those risks of fragmentation deepen, they can become victims of confrontation in the future.

So, I think it's in the interest of everybody, not only developing countries but developed countries, it's in the interest of everybody to adapt the Bretton Woods system as well as the Security Council and as other international institutions, to the reality of today's world.

Question: [On inclusion of certain new countries to the BRICS; including countries that have serious human rights violations.]

Secretary-General:  Well, I was very clear today, saying that one of the basic principles of multilateralism must be the full respect by everybody of all human rights: economic, social and cultural, political and civil. And it is not acceptable to say that if economic and social rights are respected, we don't need to respect civil and political rights. No. And it is also not right to say as we respect civil and political rights, we don't need to take care of economic and social rights.  

So, I think there is a new synthesis of human rights that is necessary.  And I hope, and again, many things come, according to some, into deaf ears.  I hope that the ears will also not be deaf in relation to this appeal that I make. There is no international order that works, if that order if that not based in the UN Charter, in international law, and in human rights.

Question: [On reform of international institutions, including Security Council that SG and his predecessors have been calling for, but is there a political will for this?]

Secretary-General:  I can't make promises of things that don’t depend on me; they depend on Member States. 

But some things have changed.

First, as you know, the General Assembly has decided that whenever a country uses the veto, that country needs to go to the General Assembly to explain the reasons of the veto. It is a small step. But in any case, this would be unconceivable a few years ago.

There was every year a working group on the reform of the Security Council. That working group was never based on written texts and there was never any readout of its work. That has changed.

And I believe that we're talking and we’re listening because I am referring to what was said by President Biden, by [Foreign Minister] Lavrov, by the other members of the Security Council, I see that all five Permanent Members today agree that at least there must be one seat for African countries in the Security Council. I can’t see any opposition in the P-5 in relation to this, that is probably the most obvious injustice in the Security Council’s composition.

So, I mean, we’re not yet there, but things are starting to move in a different way, and I hope that reform of the Security Council will become a strong element in the agenda of our discussions next year.

Question: [On climate change; is it real or is at a hoax perpetrated by global elites?]

Secretary-General: Well, look at how Greenland is losing ice at record levels.

Look how the Antarctic is losing ice at record levels.

Look how glaciers are receding everywhere [inaudible].

Look at how fires are becoming more intense and much more devastating.

Look at heatwaves in many countries in the world, even very far from the equator.

Look at the multiplication and the intensification of hurricanes, cyclones and other devastating weather incidents.

It is clear for the whole of the scientific community that all these things do not happen by chance. All these things happen in a trend and that trend accompanies what has been the global warming and all the impacts of global warming.

So, if there is something I am absolutely sure about, in my political action as an international public servant, is that climate action is a decisive priority in our actions and climate change became the defining issue of our planet.