Europe

Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
 
Thank you very much for inviting me to address all of you today.
 
Since the end of the Second World War, nations have relied on a system of multilateral institutions and agreements to promote peace and equitable social and economic progress.
 
The World Trade Organization, along with its predecessor, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, is an indispensable component of that system.
 
Trade is at the heart of international relations, and the WTO is at the heart of trade.
 

Ladies and gentlemen of the press,

Thank you very much for your presence.

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

I am honoured and pleased to chair this conference and to welcome all of you today to Geneva. And if you don’t mind I will give the floor to myself for an opening statement.

Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

I am indeed pleased to be here with you today to demonstrate our common commitment to the suffering people of Yemen.

And I want to thank the Governments of Sweden and Switzerland for co-hosting this conference for the third year running, and for your continued solidarity and support.

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Distinguished President of the Human Rights Council,

Madame High Commissioner, this is my first time before this Council in your new capacity.  I know you will bring enormous added value to the advancement of human rights around the world.

Excellencies, Colleagues, Friends

The Human Rights Council is the epicentre for international dialogue and cooperation on the protections of all human rights -- civil, political, economic, social and cultural.

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.
 
It is good to be back in this room after almost two years.
 
Thank you very much for being here as President Peter Maurer and I, together with Madame Julienne Lusenge, launch an urgent joint appeal for global action to prevent and end sexual and gender-based violence in and around conflict. 
 

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It is indeed a privilege to take the floor here in this Council Chamber, a space that was created to nurture the agreements that make our world a safer place.

The words inscribed outside these doors are as urgent as ever: “Nations must disarm or perish.”

I will be blunt. Key components of the international arms control architecture are collapsing.

Thank you very much for being here.

We are living the beginning of the end of one of the biggest tragedies of the 21st century -- the conflict in Yemen, the worst humanitarian situation that we face.

We need, first of all, to pay tribute to the courage and determination of the two delegations that were able to overcome many difficulties, many different positions, many obstacles, and to really start a serious process to build a common future.

Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Dear Friends,   
             
I would like to thank Foreign Minister Margot Wallström and the Swedish government for hosting this event and for your warm welcome. I would also like to thank my Special Envoy Martin Griffiths and his team for their tireless efforts in this endeavour.  

Honourable Ministers,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
 
In my opening statement to this conference one week ago, I told you that this was the most important COP since the adoption of the Paris Agreement.
 
I warned that climate change is running faster than we are and that Katowice must—in no uncertain terms—be a success, as a necessary platform to reverse this trend.
 
To achieve it, I said that ambition and compromises were both needed. Never have the stakes been higher.
 
I left Katowice hopeful, but uncertain.

Thank you very much, Mr. President, and allow me first of all to express my deep gratitude for Poland’s hospitality and Katowice’s hospitality in relation to the COP, and your commitment, your personal commitment, for Poland to generously accept to lead once more the COP process.
 
As you said, Mr. President, we cannot afford to fail in Katowice.
 
Climate change is still running faster than what we are. We need to reverse this trend and Katowice is an essential platform for this reversal to take place.