Guterres warns of widening global fault lines at UN General Assembly
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UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned Tuesday that global divisions are deepening as he delivered his final address to the UN General Assembly in his current role.
“The fault lines in our world are widening,” Guterres said, pointing to conflicts, climate change, and rapid advances in artificial intelligence.
“These are not separate crises,” he said. “These are chapters of the same story. The story of power. Who has it? Who is denied it?”
Guterres highlights Gaza, West Bank
Guterres said the world must not lose sight of the situation in Gaza, describing the scale of killing and destruction following the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attacks as unprecedented in his years as secretary-general.
He called for the United Nations to be allowed to carry out its mandate in Gaza and for UN and humanitarian personnel to be protected in accordance with international law.
Addressing the occupied West Bank, Guterres warned that violence, displacement, and settlement expansion by 'Israel' were threatening the prospects for a two-state solution and raising concerns over ethnic cleansing.
Calls for Security Council reform
Guterres also called for permanent African representation on the UN Security Council, saying the current structure does not reflect changes in the world since World War II.
“A 21st Century security council with no permanent African seats is unjust and indefensible. This must change,” he said.
On Ukraine, Guterres condemned Russia’s full-scale invasion, describing the conflict as a “brutal war” and saying civilians continue to be killed away from the front lines.
He also warned against relying on military, technological, or economic power alone to secure peace, saying power must be governed by law.
Climate, AI among global challenges
Guterres said power is increasingly shifting among states, private corporations and individuals, while technological advances are transferring some power from humans to machines, including through autonomous weapons.
He warned that global institutions are not yet equipped to manage these transformations.
He separately criticized major oil companies, accusing them of treating the atmosphere as an “open sewer” while profiting from the consequences of climate change.
