GENEVA, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Wednesday the world is plagued by “a perfect storm on a number of fronts.” In his address to the 53rd World Economic Forum Annual Meeting (Davos 2023), he said, “Your theme (Cooperation in a Fragmented World) perfectly sets out the dilemma of today’s world.” “We can’t confront problems unless we look them squarely in the eye. And we are looking into the eye of a Category 5 hurricane,” he noted.
Outlining the challenges facing the world, Guterres said, “Start with the short-term, a global economic crisis. The outlook, as we all know, is bleak. Many parts of the world face recession and the entire world faces a slowdown.” “We see deepening inequalities and a rapidly unfolding cost-of-living crisis – affecting women and girls the most. Supply chain disruptions and an energy crunch. Soaring prices. Rising interest rates along with inflation. And debt levels pounding vulnerable countries. Add to all of that the lingering effects of the pandemic.
“COVID-19 is still straining economies – with the world’s failure to prepare for future pandemics, that failure is straining our credulity,” he explained. “Somehow – after all we have endured – we have not learned the global public health lessons of the pandemic. We are nowhere near ready for the pandemics to come.
“Add to all that another major and, indeed, existential challenge. We are flirting with climate disaster. “Every week brings a new climate horror story. Greenhouse gas emissions are at record levels and growing. “The commitment to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees is nearly going up in smoke. “Without further action, we are headed to a 2.8-degree increase. “The consequences, as we all know, would be devastating. Several parts of our planet would be uninhabitable. And for many, it would mean a death sentence,” he warned> Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, he said it led to “untold suffering” for the Ukrainian people and had “profound global implications.” “All these challenges are inter-linked. They are piling up like cars in a chain reaction crash.– “It would be difficult to find solutions to these global inter-linked problems in the best of times, and in a world that would be united.
“But these are far from the best of times – and the world is far from being united. Instead, we face the gravest levels of geopolitical division and mistrust in generations – and it is undermining everything.
“First, the East-West divide. We risk what I have called the Great Fracture – the decoupling of the world’s two largest economies.
“A tectonic rift that would create two different sets of trade rules, two dominant currencies, two internets and two conflicting strategies on artificial intelligence,” he cautioned adding, “This is the last thing we need.” The IMF reported that dividing the global economy into two blocs could cut global GDP by a whopping USD 1.4 trillion, the Secretary-General recalled.
“Now, there are many aspects in which US-China relations will inevitably diverge – particularly on questions of human rights and on some areas of regional security.
“But despite that, it is possible – and I would say it is essential – for the two countries to have meaningful engagement on climate, trade and technology to avoid the decoupling of economies or even the possibility of future confrontation,” he added. Opened on Monday, January 16, Davos 2023 lasts until January 20.
Source: Kuwait News Agency