For most of my professional life, I have been a winegrower. Winemaking has taught me patience, perseverance and confidence. A vine takes years to grow and produce. Improving grape varieties to produce the best wines is a subtle science. One must respect nature and work in harmony with it.
Why am I speaking about this here in the sanctuary of the United Nations? The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is a bit like hail or frost that can suddenly ravage vines — unexpected and destabilizing. Good winegrowers live with that risk and know how to recover from such twists of fate.
The pandemic is a human, social and economic catastrophe that is also affecting international peace and security. Our thoughts are with all the victims, direct and indirect. Recent events have made us realize that we must anticipate future crises, be prepared to deal with them and show solidarity in order to build a resilient world. Too often we get carried away by short-term thinking and the prospect of rapid gain. We need to rediscover a sense of anticipation and the awareness that fate may strike at any moment. What will happen next? Scientists work to identify future threats and alert us to them. They also provide us with information and data as elements of the solution. The proper management of that data is critical.
That is why Switzerland is proud to host the next United Nations World Data Forum in Bern in October. We know the risks; we must prepare for them and invest in prevention. We must give ourselves the means do so. Research, education and vocational training, especially for girls and women, must be at the heart in order to develop access to knowledge, promote innovation and enable action. More broadly, access to knowledge and skills gives us the tools to anticipate and prepare for the future. When hail or frost strikes, Swiss winegrowers help one another, and they reach out to the insurance companies they have paid into. When a crisis affects entire regions or even the planet, there must be global solidarity and joint solutions.
The United Nations is the place where knowledge and resources are pooled. The organization itself arose from lessons learned from past crises. Let us continue to defend rules-based multilateralism. Switzerland is committed to an effective and efficient United Nations and supports reforms aimed at improving conflict prevention, strengthening the United Nations development system and modernizing management methods. Switzerland has much to contribute to the challenges facing the world. Twenty years after joining the United Nations, we are ready to contribute to the work of the Security Council for the term from 2023 to 2024.
The COVID-19 pandemic has accentuated existing protectionist tendencies and highlighted the lack of resilience in global production and supply chains. Policies to promote reshoring and investment controls are gaining momentum. With the continuous acceleration of our economic processes, made possible by technological change and digitalization, our societies have become complex. As the adverse weather and fires of recent months around the world painfully reminded us, it is clear that human activity is disrupting the climate and is threatening the biodiversity of our planet. Power rivalries are intensifying and armed conflicts are raging on almost every continent. International humanitarian law and human rights are violated on a daily basis, sowing the seeds of future conflicts.
It is our responsibility to find answers before we crash. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development already provides the framework we need to achieve that
goal. In view of these challenges, Switzerland would like to emphasize five points.
First, in order to defeat the pandemic, we must ensure that vaccines are accessible to everyone worldwide. Switzerland is committed to ensuring fair and affordable access to vaccines, treatments and diagnostics. Our country contributes $155 million to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the Gavi COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility Advance Market Commitment initiative for low- and middle-income countries. As the host country of several international health organizations, including the World Health Organization, Switzerland provides resources and promotes reforms that enable effective action in this area.
Secondly, the crisis revealed the interdependence of our modern societies and the importance of global value chains, particularly with regard to the provision of essential goods. We need to strengthen their resilience without resorting to protectionist measures that threaten the global economic recovery. The legal framework for international trade must work to enhance legal certainty and predictability even in times of crisis. The World Trade Organization has a key role to play in that regard.
Thirdly, technological progress and digitalization offer solutions to many of the challenges we collectively face. Switzerland works closely with universities and the private sector to find innovative technological approaches for development and poverty-reduction projects. Yet there are risks involved. The virtual world is not a lawless zone. In the General Assembly, Switzerland works to promote responsible State behaviour and the application of international law in cyberspace. It also participates in efforts to combat cybercrime. Geneva serves as a global centre for digital policy and networking for the actors involved.
Fourthly, let us take climate change seriously. Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis, the latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, shows that human activity can still determine the future course of climate. I will personally be present in Glasgow at the twenty-sixth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to reaffirm Switzerland’s commitment to the effective and consistent implementation of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. At the national level, Switzerland is committed to reaching climate neutrality by 2050. It is implementing concrete initiatives, such as infrastructure projects that promote the modal shift from road to rail transport. I call on all countries to aim for climate neutrality by 2050 at the latest and to submit ambitious climate targets for 2030. Switzerland is also committed to the preservation of biodiversity.
Fifthly, in a polarized world, it is more important than ever to return to dialogue. True to its tradition, Switzerland’s International Geneva provides a neutral platform for discussion. Earlier this year, one of the events it hosted was the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum, which resulted in the appointment of a unified executive authority — a first for the country since 2014 — tasked with organizing national elections. Switzerland is very concerned about the plight of the Afghan population. It welcomes the humanitarian conference on Afghanistan convened by the Secretary-General last week in Geneva. Switzerland is also working hard to promote international law, including humanitarian law, in order to prevent conflicts or mitigate their effects. Switzerland is proud to have prepared its report on the implementation of international humanitarian law. I call on all States Members of the United Nations to do the same. Such reports enable States to assess their good practices and the challenges to be faced.
Hail and frost will continue to ravage the vines in my country from time to time. Our world will continue to face crises in future. Let us create the means to face them together in a spirit of cooperation and solidarity. Let us work to make the world more educated, innovative, resilient and just. Let us be inspired by Saype’s land art painting, “World in Progress II”, currently on display on the North Lawn. Let us take a cue from the two children building the world as they imagine it. And let us cultivate this world of ours just as I have learned to tend my vines.