Peace and Security

It is not by chance that this event started with music.  Music is a universal language, and music is the best tool we have to promote peace. 
 
I am deeply grateful for the fantastic work that our two Messengers for Peace do, because what they represent is extremely important for us. 
 
Of course we are use to seeing them receiving standing ovations in fantastic performances in great music rooms around the world. 
 

I am pleased to be with you for the closing of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly.
 
Here, in this prestigious chamber, and in the building’s many conference rooms, you discuss, daily, humanity’s most pressing issues.
 
In our fast-changing world, these issues are increasingly interlinked. 
 
From the climate crisis to migration flows and rising inequality, from waves of intolerance to harnessing technology for good, one thing is certain: global issues require global solutions. 
 

Today we remember my predecessor, Dag Hammarskjöld, and pay tribute to his life and his supreme sacrifice.

Around the world, Dag Hammarskjöld is rightly revered for his achievements, his dedication and his values.

He shaped the United Nations into an active force in making and keeping peace. He skillfully created and seized opportunities.

He bravely put himself forward for the most difficult challenges.  

And he died while he was deeply involved in peace negotiations in the present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo.

[Deliverd in French, scroll down for French version]

Good afternoon. 
 
First August. It is the middle of summer in the northern hemisphere.
 
We are witnessing not only record global warming but global political tensions are also heating up.
 
Both are dangerous and both are avoidable. 
 
Let me begin with the climate emergency.  
 
We have always lived through hot summers.  But this is not the summer of our youth. 
 
This is not your grandfather’s summer.