The UNGA High Level Week is an occasion for leaders from all over the world to meet in New York and discuss the most pressing global issues, in the General Assembly itself but also in many side-events and bilateral meetings. I will participate alongside the Presidents of the Council and of the Commission, as well as several of my fellow Commissioners and EU Foreign Affairs Ministers.

The EU attaches great importance to the United Nations

The high level of the European delegation reflects the importance we attach to the UN in a difficult time for the multilateral system. Everywhere you look, rifts are widening and global leadership is absent, insufficient or fractured. Paradoxically, the world is becoming more and more multipolar but also less and less multilateral. Confrontation is everywhere on the rise and cooperation is becoming increasingly rare. We must reverse this trend.

The EU wants to not only preserve the UN and the multilateral system but also modernise and strengthen a rules-based world order, rooted in the values of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. At a time when others are attempting to redefine the world order based on illiberal values, the need for the EU and the UN to come together has never been higher.

At a time when others are attempting to redefine the world order based on illiberal values, the need for the EU and the UN to come together has never been higher.

This week comes indeed at a crucial moment for the world and the multilateral system. With its war of aggression against Ukraine, Russia, a nuclear power and permanent member of the UN Security Council, trampled on the UN Charter. Despite repeated calls by the UN General Assembly to comply with its responsibility, Russia is preventing the Security Council from fulfilling its role, not only in Ukraine but also elsewhere, thus threatening the credibility of the whole United Nations system. In order to restore the unique legitimacy of the UN, it is urgent to make the Security Council more representative to reflect the changes that have taken place in the world and in particular give Africa a voice.

We will again use this year’s High Level Week to explain our unwavering support for Ukraine and rally countries from every corner of the world to team up with us in defence of the UN charter and refusal of Russia’s neoimperialism. We cannot go back to a world where “might makes right”. This would imperil the security of all nations, big and small, particularly of developing and emerging ones.

We cannot go back to a world where “might makes right”. This would imperil the security of all nations and particularly of developing and emerging ones.

Coming on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia’s war against one of the world's main breadbaskets threatens global food security and is aggravating the global cost-of-living crisis. This affects all countries but particularly the weakest and poorest ones. In August 2022, the UN played a decisive role to alleviate this pain with the Black Sea Grain Initiative (BSGI). However, last July Russia decided to abandon this deal. We will discuss with UN Secretary General Guterres the ways and means to revive it.

The Sustainable Development Goals at the centre of UNGA

As a result, even some well-managed countries are now in serious debt distress and the fiscal space for investments in social welfare, green transition, health or education is shrinking. This dimension will be at the centre of this year’s High-Level Week with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Summit on Monday and Tuesday. We are at the halfway point of the 2030 Agenda set in 2015 and only 12 % of the SDGs are on target. The Summit will aim to get the SDGs back on track.

Profound reforms in the global financial system are necessary to release the capital required to accelerate the 2030 agenda and the green transition. Many countries consider this system as unjust because fiscal space is available for the richer countries whereas developing countries are increasingly submerged in debt traps. There is an urgent need to help countries escape from this debt trap, allow more Special Drawing Rights (SDR) to flow to developing economies, and discuss serious reform of the global financial architecture. We must offer legitimate and credible global solutions, if we want to avoid that more and more of our developing partners look to China or Russia in search for alternative ones.

Global boiling rather than global warming

All this takes place also at a moment of “global boiling rather than global warming”, as UN SG Guterres put it a few days ago. Ahead of COP 28 in the United Arab Emirates next December, the Climate Ambition Summit will be on Wednesday a decisive moment to prepare the bold and swift decisions necessary to keep the promises of the Paris Agreement. Unless there is a strong reversal of current trends, and in particular unless the biggest global emitters raise significantly their ambitions, likely irreversible damage will be done to future generations. In this regard, the EU has made ambitious commitments with the Fit for 55 package. We have now to implement them swiftly.

Unless there is a strong reversal of current trends, and in particular unless the biggest global emitters raise significantly their ambitions, likely irreversible damage will be done to future generations.

As ever, I will use also this opportunity to meet bilaterally with many colleagues from all over the world and participate in a Ministerial meeting to prepare next year’s Summit of the Future, co-chair with Egypt the Global Counter-Terrorist Forum and participate in multiple other meetings with global partners.

Focus on the Middle East Peace Process

This year, I will focus on the Middle East Peace Process with in particular a “Peace Day Effort For Middle East Peace” meeting on Monday that I will co-chair with the League of Arab States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan to help revive the Arab Peace Initiative from 2002. The EU has welcomed the rapprochement between several Arab countries and Israel but a peace agreement between Israel and Palestinians is still missing.

The EU has welcomed the rapprochement between several Arab countries and Israel but a peace agreement between Israel and Palestinians is still missing.

A few days ago, it was the thirtieth anniversary of the Oslo agreements. However, this anniversary passed almost unnoticed due to the total stalemate in negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. We are increasingly worried by the situation in the occupied territories due to the extension of Israeli colonisation: settlers have risen from 280,000 in 1993 to 700,000 today. The international community continues to promote a two-state solution, but the situation on the ground is making it increasingly impracticable. We must find ways to uphold international law and UN resolutions and reopen negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. During the High Level Week, we will explore ways to move ahead in that direction.

The world needs urgently a functioning multilateral system. Throughout this week, EU representatives will be working hard to push in this direction.