UN chief Guterres warns superpowers alone cannot solve world's problems in farewell address
Outgoing UN Secretary-General António Guterres used his final address to the General Assembly to warn that global divisions have deepened as superpowers prove unable to guarantee security alone. He called for reform of the multilateral system and the Security Council.
António Guterres, who has led the United Nations for a decade, delivered a stark assessment of the past ten years in his final speech to the General Assembly. He said the period saw devastating wars, civilians targeted, hunger used as a weapon, humanitarian workers killed, and international law disregarded.
The 77-year-old Portuguese diplomat said geopolitical divides and inequality have deepened, trust between nations has eroded, the climate crisis has shifted from a distant warning to daily reality, and artificial intelligence has advanced faster than even its creators anticipated.
Criticism of superpowers and oil companies
Without naming Donald Trump, Guterres said superpowers must recognise that their power has limits — military strength alone cannot secure peace, economic power alone cannot ensure stability, and technological dominance alone cannot guarantee security. He warned of the world splitting into two rival blocs with separate economic and security systems, describing this as a dangerous fracture.
He also criticised major oil companies, noting that five Western oil firms have earned nearly half a trillion dollars in profits since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, while international public financing for climate adaptation in developing countries totalled only $34bn in the latest reported year.
Ukraine, the Middle East and UN reform
On Ukraine, Guterres said Russia's full-scale invasion was a blatant violation of the UN Charter, but also warned that attacks within Russia on homes, energy and water infrastructure are threatening global food and energy supply chains.
On Gaza, without directly naming Israel, he said the destruction and death toll following Hamas's October 2023 attack were unlike anything he had witnessed during his tenure. He warned that violence and settlement expansion in the West Bank are endangering the two-state solution.
Guterres called Africa's lack of permanent Security Council representation stunning and unjust, and urged a new global agreement to regulate artificial intelligence. He also announced that the UN has achieved gender parity for the first time across all senior leadership positions and its professional staff.
