While the Universal Declaration of Human Rights inspires him, from his student days to his premiership, because it speaks of equal rights and peace, he said this idea “seems like a distant hope today” amid a landscape of war, poverty, climate change or pandemics.
“My message today is this: we are taking Britain back to responsible global leadership because I believe the international system can be better,” he said. “Now is the time to reaffirm fundamental principles… to recommit ourselves to the UN… to work together for peace, progress and equality.”
He outlined a path to those goals, first pointing to the ongoing wars, expressing London’s support for Ukraine. He called on Israel to “step back from the brink” to allow room for a diplomatic settlement and said an immediate ceasefire is needed in Gaza, where suffering continues to grow. Diplomacy is the only way to break the cycle of violence, he said.
“We have to face some hard truths,” he said. “The peace institutions are struggling, underfunded, under pressure and over-politicized.”
The entire framework of arms control is beginning to break down, and artificial intelligence is beginning to be deployed for military use without regulation.
“That is why the new Pact for the Future is so important” to, among other things, make institutions for peace fit for purpose, at a time when the world also needs to receive the necessary support Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) back on track, he continued.
At the same time, the existential threat of climate change is happening “in the here and now,” he warned, noting that Britain is doing its bit by having lifted and ended a de facto ban on onshore wind power to new oil and gas extraction. licenses and created great British energy “as we become the first major economy to transition to clean energy by 2030”.
“We will meet our net zero target,” he announced, “and we will support others to do the same,” including by contributing to climate change adaptation, because “those who did not cause this crisis should not left to the effects of climate change. implications.”
Certain steps are needed now, including a bolder approach to tackling unsustainable debt, barriers to investment and putting a price on the cost of emissions, he continued. Moreover, a crucial milestone in the fight against poverty represents a time for ambitious plans to seize the moment. In the meantime, reforms are also needed, including from the UN Security Council.
“We are ready to work with all UN members because the scale of the challenges we face require it, and our prosperity and security depend on it,” he said. “Together, for all our sakes, we can change the direction of the dangerous, destructive path we are on and turn instead towards the rule of law, towards cooperation, responsibility and progress, towards peace.”
