Humanity is speeding past the limit to avoid climate catastrophe. [...] Every fraction of a degree will cost lives, destroy livelihoods, deepen inequality, and push ecosystems closer to irreversible damage. [...] Now is the time to raise ambition and accelerate action. The fight for 1.5 degrees is the fight for humanity.
We can finally turn the page on fossil fuels – and write a future powered by renewables and rooted in climate justice. This is our moment of choice. Our moment of truth. Our moment of opportunity. Let’s seize it.
Disarmament is not the reward for peace. Disarmament is the foundation of peace. So before it’s too late: Let’s break the collective amnesia around nuclear weapons. [...] Let’s act with urgency to lift this cloud hanging over humanity.
If leaders get serious about gender equality and commit to [eight solutions] now, we will change the world – for women and girls, and for us all.
I leave you with this appeal: Do not let the erosion of human rights become the accepted price of political expediency or geopolitical competition. Do not let power write a new rulebook in which the vulnerable have no rights and the powerful have no limits. [...] Because a world that protects human rights protects itself.
Let’s never forget who we are and what we represent.
The United Nations is a living promise – a promise that despite our differences, we will solve problems together.
Let’s keep that promise.
Let’s never give up.
Our future depends on our collective courage to act.
This new year, let’s rise together:
For justice. For humanity. For peace.
SG leads the drive for global AI governance, peacekeeping transitions, humanitarian aid reform, and preparations for the Summit of the Future (2024) and Pact for the Future.
SG champions climate justice and calls for a windfall tax on fossil fuel companies; supports creation of Loss & Damage Fund.
SG calls for immediate cessation of hostilities and engages in Black Sea Grain Initiative diplomacy.
