Let me say how pleased I am to be here now after more than two years since the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
This unprecedented health crisis exposed our shortcomings in multilateral coordination and cooperation. It forced us to take extraordinary economic and social measures — both to protect our populations and to mobilize the international monetary system. Our frantic pace of daily life makes us forget that each year in the northern hemisphere the overshoot day, which arrives earlier and earlier, alerts us to our imposition on the planet, whose resources we are inexorably exhausting.
The theme the President has chosen for this general debate is therefore a reminder that we are at a decisive turning point that requires transformative solutions in order to face the interdependent challenges before us.
Allow me to express my sincere congratulations to the President of the General Assembly at its seventy-seventh session and to thank his predecessor for demonstrating the leadership of a small island developing State. We share his belief in the need to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which we collectively defined in 2015, and thus preserve our environment and ensure the survival of humankind. This seventy-seventh session of the General Assembly marks a decisive year for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Peace. I pledge the full support of the Principality of Monaco in the preparation of the important deadlines to come. I am thinking, in particular, of the United Nations Conference on the Midterm Comprehensive Review of the Implementation of the Objectives of the International Decade for Action, the SDG Summit and the Summit of the Future in 2024.
Exactly 100 years ago, Prince Albert I, my great- great-grandfather, passed away. This humanist and visionary monarch was a tireless advocate of the fundamental role of science in advancing our societies, especially in the context of political decision-making. A century later, we commemorate his legacy, which continues to inspire my action and the policy of my Government. Monaco assumes its full share in the collective effort to preserve our planet at a time when the world is going through a pivotal period that is disrupting our way of life and international relations.
The globalization we are experiencing has accentuated our interdependence but also the relationship between man and nature. Ecosystems are now unable to regenerate themselves because of our production methods, which are based mainly on the use of natural resources, and because our frantic pace of consumption.
The fact that the year 2020 marked the only pause in the degradation of ecosystems at the global level speaks volumes about what we are collectively capable of accomplishing, for better or for worse, in a well- thought-out manner or in an emergency.
Indeed, during this emergency, research and innovation enabled the rapid production of vaccines, which we welcome. Public health issues and preparedness for future pandemics remain a priority, as does equitable access to prevention and care. I attach particular importance to the fact that my country is mobilizing within the framework of its international cooperation policy, alongside its partners, first and foremost the World Health Organization, in order to strengthen the global health architecture. We will therefore carefully examine any new crisis management mechanism that could facilitate a coordinated response based on proven scientific facts in order to avoid repeating the difficulties encountered at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
For more than three decades, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has been warning us about the disastrous and often irreversible effects of climate change. In June 2022, at the Stockholm and Lisbon Conferences, we once again saw the intrinsic link between the well-being of human civilization and respect for the planet, of which the ocean is one of the fundamental components.
The protection of our seas and oceans is part of a family tradition, a cause to which Prince Albert
I dedicated his life. His commitment set an example for me — an example that continues to live on in my country’s commitments and which I myself have chosen to follow since my accession to the throne in 2005.
Beyond our rhetoric, it is time for action, which is nothing less than seizing the last opportunity we have to build a future for humankind. As extreme climate events multiply, affecting all nations indiscriminately but particularly penalizing the most vulnerable, strengthening adaptation measures must be at the heart of our priorities. My heart goes out to the people of Pakistan who are suffering the consequences of terrible floods. These urgent and necessary efforts must be carried out in concert with policies to drastically reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. Each country, according to its own circumstances and needs, must transform its economy in depth to decarbonize it and contain the rise in temperatures.
Monaco remains resolutely committed to environmental protection and sustainable development. In this respect, the Principality is pursuing its energy transition to achieve a 55 per cent reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2050. In this respect, the latest assessment report of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services is very clear: the tools and solutions to build a sustainable and fairer future for future generations already exist.
We are the actors. We have a duty of solidarity to succeed collectively in this energy transition. The upcoming deadlines in 2022, both within the Climate Convention and the Convention on Biological Diversity, must allow us to truly lay the foundations for a sustainable society. Faced with such challenges, our common failure would simply be unacceptable.
Prince Albert I was, in my eyes, an example of openness to others, a man eager to learn and listen to the most avant-garde minds. By giving the Principality a constitution, he made it a State governed by the rule of law. As the First World War approached, he tried to convince the future belligerents to find a peaceful solution to their differences.
Today, while many conflicts continue to spread terror, misery and helplessness in the world without our being able to put an end to them, war has unfortunately returned to the European continent. The military aggression against Ukraine blatantly disregards international law and the principles of the United Nations Charter, undermining the security and stability of Europe and the world. It is also inflicting untold suffering on the Ukrainian people, taking us back to the darkest hours of our history. I therefore welcome the conclusion of an agreement, under the auspices of the United Nations, that allows the export of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea, and I urge all stakeholders to respect the terms of the agreement. Global food security, already precarious, depends on it.
Nor should we forget that women and children remain the first victims of food shortages, exacerbating the vicious and intergenerational circle of poverty. Monaco has made this issue one of its cooperation priorities and devotes nearly one third of its official development assistance to it. We are resolutely committed in the long term to fighting against malnutrition, supporting small local producers and school canteens and developing sustainable agricultural sectors.
The extreme tensions that continue to grow — and we all know the quite appalling number of conflicts and civil wars taking place around the world — force us to overhaul our agenda for peace. In his address, President Macron also mentioned the very high number of these civil wars (see A/77/PV.4).
The profound change marked by globalization is now followed by the digitalization of our societies. If there is one area in which the private sector has the lead, it is that of information and communication technologies. In this respect, we must reconcile the development of these technologies with the protection of human rights and personal data.
The summit that brought us together at the beginning of the week demonstrated that new technologies are the basis for the transformation of education. We must make good use of them to adapt education systems to the world of today and tomorrow. I thank the Secretary- General for this initiative, which saw the participation of many young people. Cyberspace must not become a place of confrontation but rather an additional opportunity for cooperation.
The proliferation of hate speech and disinformation is simply intolerable. Artificial intelligence must serve humans and not manipulate their behaviour and thoughts. It is high time that we manage to set common rules so that cyberspace does not get out of hand, destroy our democracies and further separate us from each other.
By the end of the general debate of this seventy- seventh session, more than two thirds of the members of the General Assembly will have been represented by their Head of State or Government. I wish to see this as an affirmation of the indispensable role of the United Nations, the Charter and multilateral diplomacy. We must redouble our efforts and restore confidence so that, as the Preamble of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaims:
“recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world...”.
A strengthened and effective multilateralism, in which youth and women play a prominent role, is the most effective way to address global crises. For women are essential agents of change: gender equality and women’s economic autonomy are the foundation of a more sustainable world. What are we waiting for to promote their place in global leadership?
Monaco intends to pursue its commitment within UN-Women and through its development-cooperation policy. My delegation intends to contribute fully to the work of our United Nations, to build together a more efficient and inclusive multilateralism, working for the well-being of humankind and the planet.