Ladies and gentlemen of the media,

I thank President Lula and the people of Brazil for their warm welcome, and for hosting the G20 Summit.

I am arriving here from COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. 

From Baku to Brazil and beyond, I am seeing and hearing common themes and concerns.

Our times are tumultuous, and we need to race much faster to tackle fundamental common challenges.

The climate crisis has burned through another record, with 2024 likely to be the hottest year in history.

We see the impacts everywhere.  Look no further than the drought in the Amazon and horrible floods in southern Brazil. 

Meanwhile, conflicts are raging. 

Impunity is spreading, with repeated violations of international law and the UN Charter.
 
Inequality is growing, and progress on poverty and hunger has stalled.

The Sustainable Development Goals are off-track.

New technologies have unprecedented potential for good — and bad.

And our inability to tackle these challenges and more is eroding peoples’ faith in governments and institutions.

The threats we face today are interconnected and international.

But global problem-solving institutions desperately need an upgrade — not least the Security Council, which reflects the world of 80 years ago.

In September, UN Member States adopted the Pact for the Future, to help strengthen multilateralism and advance the Sustainable Development Goals.

I have come to Rio with a simple message:

G20 leaders must lead.

G20 countries – by definition – have tremendous economic clout.  They wield massive diplomatic leverage.

They must use it to tackle key global problems.

First — on peace.

As wars grind on, people are paying a horrible price.

We must step up for peace.

Peace in Gaza – with an immediate ceasefire, the immediate release of all hostages, and the beginning of an irreversible process towards a two-State solution.

Peace in Lebanon -- with a ceasefire and meaningful steps towards implementing Security Council resolutions in full.

Peace in Ukraine -- by following the UN Charter, UN resolutions and international law.
 
Peace in Sudan -- by leaders leaning on the warring parties to end the horrific violence and desperate humanitarian crisis being unleashed on civilians.

Everywhere, peace requires actions grounded in the values of the UN Charter, the rule of law, and the principles of sovereignty, political independence and the territorial integrity of States. 

Second — finance.

Vulnerable countries face tremendous headwinds and obstacles that are not of their making.

They aren’t getting the level of support that they need from an international financial architecture that is outdated, ineffective and unfair.

The Pact for the Future calls for ambitious reforms to make the system more representative of today’s global economy and the needs of developing and vulnerable countries.

This includes expanding the voice and representation of developing countries in international financial institutions.

The Pact also calls for substantially increasing the lending capacity of Multilateral Development Banks to make them bigger, bolder and better... 

For effective action on debt relief, and reviewing the debt architecture to enable countries to borrow with confidence...

Strengthening the global financial safety net to ensure all countries are protected when shocks hit...

And promoting more inclusive tax cooperation… and expanding all forms of innovative finance – putting a price on carbon and levies on different forms that will eliminate pollution. 

The global community is looking to the G20 to deliver on these agreements.

Third — climate.

I am concerned about the pace of the negotiations at COP29 in Baku.

Countries must agree to an ambitious climate finance goal that meets the scale of the challenge faced by developing countries.

An ambitious and credible goal is crucial for building trust between developed and developing countries and incentivizing the preparation of high ambition national climate plans next year.

Finance fuels ambition.

I will appeal to the sense of responsibility of all G20 countries.

Now is the time for leadership by example from the world’s largest economies and emitters.

Failure is not an option. 

A successful outcome at COP 29 is still within reach, but it will require leadership and compromise, namely from the G20 countries.

And it cannot come soon enough. 

Countries’ current climate policies are pushing us to a disastrous 3.1 degree temperature rise by the end of the century.

To avoid the very worst of future climate catastrophe – we must limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

And so emissions must be cut by 9 per cent a year to 2030 – but yet they are still rising.
 
The spotlight is naturally on the G20.  They account for 80 percent of global emissions.

They must lead with national climate plans that follow the guidance they agreed to last year - 1.5 degrees aligned, whole of the economy and all greenhouse gases. 

The recent announcements from two G20 members -Brazil and the UK – represent an important start.
 
The principle of common but differentiated responsibilities must be respected -- but all G20 countries must make an extra effort.

And developed countries must support emerging economies and developing countries – with technology and finance.

Developed countries must keep their promises to double adaptation finance. And we need significant contributions to the new Loss and Damage Fund.

As Brazil prepares to host next year’s COP30, I am working closely with President Lula on a global mobilization effort to secure the highest levels of ambition from all countries, and especially the G20.

I am pleased we will discuss these issues in detail with G20 leaders on Tuesday.

We must also fight the coordinated disinformation campaigns impeding global progress on climate change, ranging from outright denial to greenwashing to harassment of climate scientists.

The Global Digital Compact adopted at the UN Summit of the Future includes the first universal agreement on artificial intelligence governance that brings every country to the table.

It calls for an independent international Scientific Panel on AI and initiating a global dialogue on its governance within the United Nations.

And it requests options for innovative voluntary financing for AI capacity-building in developing countries within the next year.

So, Ladies and gentlemen of the media,

Many challenges, but also many possible solutions. The G20 must lead by example.

This is fundamental to restoring trust, credibility, and legitimacy of every government and our global system in these turbulent times.

We need to seize every opportunity to lead transformative action for a safer, more peaceful and sustainable world. 

I am at your disposal for a few questions.   Question: É um prazer estar aqui. Marina Araújo, da Globo. Uma das prioridades do presidente Lula nesse G20 é discutir, trazer para a mesa a discussão de mais espaço e poder para o Sul Global na ONU, e principalmente, no Conselho de Segurança da ONU, que não tem conseguido parar a guerra - as guerras, no plural. O senhor acredita e concorda que é preciso mais espaço para o Sul Global, para países como o Brasil?  Que eles devem ter mais poder e espaço, inclusive de veto?
 
Secretary-General: O Conselho de Segurança corresponde ao mundo de 1945. Para dar um exemplo, há três países europeus que são membros permanentes do Conselho de Segurança. Não há nenhum país africano. Não há nenhum país latino americano. Portanto, o Conselho de Segurança não corresponde ao mundo de hoje, e tem revelado uma grande ineficácia por causa das divisões geopolíticas e tem um problema de legitimidade porque não representa a realidade dos nossos tempos.
 
Por isso, nas discussões da Cimeira do Futuro, um dos aspectos centrais foi a necessidade da reforma do Conselho de Segurança. Um dos aspectos dessa reforma tem a ver com a adesão ao Conselho de Segurança de novos países, nomeadamente do Sul Global, permanentes ou não permanentes e, ao mesmo tempo, com uma revisão dos métodos de trabalho do Conselho de Segurança para que ele possa ser mais eficaz.
 
Nós vemos, no entanto, em larga medida, paralisado pelas divisões geopolíticas e não tenho a esperança de que essas divisões desapareçam de um dia para o outro. Mas a reforma do Conselho de Segurança é um pilar essencial das reformas que consideramos indispensáveis para que o mundo seja mais justo.
 
O mesmo é verdade para o sistema de Bretton Woods, que foi criado a seguir à Primeira Guerra Mundial e corresponde à economia desse tempo. Hoje, economias emergentes têm um papel muito mais reduzido do que aquele que corresponde à sua realidade. E o mesmo é verdade para várias outras áreas do sistema, daquilo que os ingleses chamam governance global. A palavra portuguesa eu nunca consegui saber exatamente se aplica ou não governança. Mas é evidente que a reforma do sistema multilateral é absolutamente indispensável para fazer face
aos desafios do nosso tempo. E essa reforma tem que ser em nome da justiça. E em nome da justiça implica que a presença dos países do sul seja muito maior em todas estas instituições.
 
Question: Você acredita que vai ter essa reforma durante a sua gestão?
 
Secretary-General: Eu gostava de acreditar nisso e tudo farei para que seja possível, embora a decisão seja dos Estados-membros.
 
Question: James Bays, from Al Jazeera. Secretary-General, in all recent G20 events, you have been calling for a reform of the international financial system and action on the global climate crisis. How are these things possible without US leadership? Because you know that you are not going to get that with President Trump. And if I may ask, you say that the G20 must lead, and you specifically mentioned Lebanon and Gaza. What do you want the G20 to do?
 
Secretary-General: First of all, this time I came to the G20 with the Pact of the Future, that got approval in the Summit of the Future, and with the Global Digital Compact, that got an approval at the Summit of the Future, which means all countries in the world committed for the first time to seriously move in the direction of reform of the global government system.
 
Second, it is obvious that the US has a very important role, and namely in relation to climate. But it is also obvious that the US is a federal country and it's a market economy, and all the signals given by the markets today are in the sense that demonstrates that renewables are not only the greenest, but also the cheapest way to produce energy. And so I'm pretty confident that the dynamism of the American economy and the American society will move in the direction of climate action as I recognize that the influence of governments today is much more limited than it was in the past.
 
Question: And on the Middle East?
 
Secretary-General: On the Middle East, I do believe that we cannot have double standards. We need to apply the same principles everywhere. We need to apply the Charter, International Law, and International Humanitarian Law. And on the Middle East we need peace, but we need peace on the way to a two-state solution. We need peace that guarantees the right of the Palestinian people, as the right of the Israeli people, to have a State, and for the two States to live in peace and security. And at the same time we need to address the immediate crises. Condemning, as we have condemned, the Hamas attacks, but recognizing that they do not justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people. So we need immediately a ceasefire, the immediate release of the hostages, and effective humanitarian aid to Gaza.
 
Question: Boa tarde secretário, Natália Garcia da Folha de São Paulo. Eu queria saber qual é a sua avaliação sobre a oposição de um país do G20, no caso a Argentina, à Agenda 2030 da ONU, e a sua opinião de quais são os possíveis impactos desse tipo de oposição sobre o futuro do G20  e também sobre o multilateralismo, por favor.
 
Secretary-General: A Agenda 2030 é um instrumento que recebeu o consenso de todos os países do mundo e é o caminho claro para enfrentar as tremendas desigualdades e as tremendas injustiças que existem no mundo. E por isso eu faço esse apelo a todos os países, e nomeadamente agora que estão em curso as negociações do G20, faço um apelo a todos os países para que tenham espírito de consenso, para que exibam bom senso e para que encontrem as possibilidades de transformar esta reunião do G20 num êxito, com decisões que sejam decisões relevantes para a ordem internacional.
 
Se o G20 se divide, o G20 perde a relevância a nível global, e isso, do meu ponto de vista,
é altamente indesejável no mundo que já tem tantas divisões geopolíticas.
 
Question: [AFP] I'll do my question in English so everybody can understand it. I would like to know if you expect any advancement [on the global financial goal during the G20].

Secretary-General:  The debate about the new global financial goal is not in the G20, it is in the COP. But we are still far in the COP to reach a consensus. For what we need is a very ambitious global financial goal to reestablish trust and to allow developing countries to have the resources necessary for the mitigation and adaptation that is required to accelerate climate action.
 
Now it is true that the negotiation is in Baku, but it is true that 80 per cent of the emitters are the G20 countries. So I'll make a strong appeal, a strong appeal to the leaders here in [Rio de Janeiro], to give instructions to the negotiators in Baku to make sure that we reach an agreement. And an agreement is essential. If there is no agreement, if we have a failure in COP29, that will leave inevitably negative consequences on the ambitions of Member States to reduce emissions, to their capacity to protect their populations, and that will also have a very negative impact on COP30 in Brazil.
 
So, my appeal to G20 leaders is to give clear instructions to negotiators in Baku to reach an absolutely essential agreement on the new global financial goal in Baku until the end of the week.
 
Question: Boa tarde, Sr secretário-geral, António Guterres, Pedro Sá Guerra da RTP de Portugal. Eu gostava de colocar duas questões. Uma delas tem a ver com a notícia recente que dá conta que Joe Biden suspendeu a proibição de uso de armas americanas na Rússia pela Ucrânia. A outra questão tem a ver com o que se está a passar em Moçambique. Uma situação de estarmos praticamente perante uma guerra civil. Muito obrigado.
 
Secretary-General: Em primeiro lugar, a nossa posição tem sido muito clara em relação à necessidade de evitar uma escalada permanente da guerra da Ucrânia. Nós queremos paz, nós queremos uma paz justa. Uma paz justa em linha com as resoluções da Assembleia Geral, com a Carta das Nações Unidas e com a Lei Internacional.
 
Em relação à Moçambique, o meu apelo é naturalmente um apelo à calma, um apelo àquilo que é a expressão das diversas opiniões, das diversas posições e que se façam pacificamente, e que as autoridades tenham também a contenção necessária para garantir que os problemas de Moçambique sejam resolvidos, como disse, em paz e respeito pelo funcionamento das instituições.
 
Question: E essa nova posição por parte dos Estados Unidos, não preocupa as Nações Unidas?
 
Secretary-General: Já lhe dei a minha opinião sobre isso.
 
Question: Eu sou a Bianca Fernandez e eu sou da Imprensa Jovem, e eu queria saber como a ONU vê o papel da G20 na promoção de uma governança global mais eficaz, especialmente em relação a questões críticas como a desigualdade econômica.
 
Secretary-General: Se tomou atenção àquilo que eu disse, eu referi à necessidade de reformas da arquitetura financeira internacional para tornar mais justa, mais eficaz e mais atenta às necessidades dos países do sul. A necessidade de uma efetiva ação em matéria de dívida, com alívio da dívida dos países em circunstâncias mais difíceis e mecanismos eficazes para o conseguir. E um conjunto de medidas para que os países em desenvolvimento tenham uma voz e uma presença mais forte nas instituições financeiras internacionais e para que os bancos multilaterais de desenvolvimento vejam multiplicados os seus recursos para poderem apoiar muito melhor os países em desenvolvimento, e fazê-lo tendo em conta não apenas o nível de desenvolvimento, mas também a vulnerabilidade. Estou particularmente preocupado com as pequenas ilhas. As pequenas ilhas são países de renda media, mas são países dramaticamente impactados. Foram pelo COVID, e agora pelas alterações climáticas. E é fundamental que tenham um tratamento preferencial, que o sistema financeiro internacional lhes dever dar.
 
Question: Good afternoon, James Landale from the BBC. Secretary-General, what advice do you give to the world leaders arriving here for the G20? How should they respond to the arrival of Donald Trump? What should they be doing now to prepare and get ready for that moment? You called their leadership for these other issues, but how should they organize to prepare for something that could set all of those agendas in an entirely different context, because of decisions that could be coming down the road?
 
Secretary-General: The most important is to recognize the importance of multilateralism and to trust the multilateralism institutions. If you do that at the level of the United Nations, at the level of the international financial architecture, if you adopt a meaningful dialogue in relation to the governance of AI and if you are able in all these areas to make a strong battle on multilateralism, that is the best possible response.