THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
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PRESS REMARKS BEFORE THE UN-EU HIGH-LEVEL DIALOGUE
La Hulpe, Belgium, 13 July 2023
Dear Ursula,
Thank you so very much for your warm welcome.
I am indeed very happy to be back in Brussels, and I thank President Ursula von der Leyen and the European Commission for hosting this second UN-EU High-Level Dialogue.
This will be the second but it will be one of many, that will happen every single year.
We are meeting at a time when international cooperation is challenged at its core.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has shaken the region and the world.
Climate change is crippling countries that contributed least to causing it.
Countless people escaping conflict, persecution and poverty are left to die.
And an uneven economic recovery from COVID-19 is exacerbating inequalities and feeding mistrust between the global West and the global South – which finds itself blocked from access to crucial development finance.
This is when multilateralism is more vital than ever:
To bring peace.
To protect the planet.
To end hunger.
To build guardrails for new technologies.
And I know that our two organizations share these priorities.
I am grateful for your contributions to our efforts – from climate action to sustainable development, from peace and security to human rights and gender equality.
This – now yearly – dialogue is testament to the importance of our partnership.
We live in an ever more multipolar world.
This calls for enhanced forms of cooperation and multilateral governance – anchored in international law.
And the European Union must be an essential pillar of this new global order.
I remember my times in another capacity more than 20 years ago when I was deeply committed to strengthen and to make stronger the integration of the European Union, and it was my deep conviction that the fundamental pillar of a multilateral order is a strong and united European Union.
Together, we must help bridge geopolitical divides and address these global challenges.
It starts with rebuilding trust particularly with developing countries… and we do not have a moment to lose.
To rescue the Sustainable Development Goals, we need a transformation of the global financial system – so that it works for everyone and fulfils its role as a global safety net and I see the European Union as a potential engine for that transformation based on equity and solidarity.
On climate, we need international cooperation for increased ambition on mitigation and climate justice.
I have appealed for a Climate Solidarity Pact in which all big emitters make extra efforts to cut emissions and wealthier countries mobilize financial and technical resources to support emerging economies in a common effort to keep the goal of 1.5°C alive.
And once again, I welcome what has been the EU’s ongoing commitment in this regard.
And, finally, we desperately need international action on new technologies – including Artificial Intelligence.
Governments, regional organizations, the private sector and civil society must come together to build common monitoring and governance tools.
So that technology serves human rights and the common good. On all these matters, the world looks to the European Union that has always been a pioneer in promoting a digital world for good and I know, dear Ursula, that I can count on your full support.
I look forward to our discussions, and I thank you again for your warm welcome, and as you can witness after these two interventions, we, I believe, were close to Dupond and Dupont.