In the past year, our world experienced great upheaval: a growing crisis in food insecurity; record heat, floods and droughts; the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic; inflation; and a brutal, needless war — a war chosen by one man, to be very blunt.
Let me speak plainly. A permanent member of the Security Council invaded its neighbour and attempted to erase a sovereign State from the map. Russia shamelessly violated the core tenets of the Charter of the United Nations, none more important than the clear prohibition against countries taking the territory of their neighbour by force. Just today, President Putin once again made overt nuclear threats against Europe, in reckless disregard for the responsibilities of the non-proliferation regime. Now Russia is calling up more soldiers to join the fight, and the Kremlin is organizing sham referendums to try to annex parts of Ukraine, an extremely significant violation of the Charter. The world should see those outrageous acts for what they are.
Putin claims that he had to act because Russia was threatened. But no one threatened Russia, and no one other than Russia sought conflict. In fact, we warned it was coming, and we worked with many who are here today to try to avert it. Putin’s own words make his true purpose unmistakable. Just before he invaded, he asserted that Ukraine was “created by Russia” and had never had “real statehood”. And now we see attacks on schools, railway stations, hospitals and centres of Ukrainian history and culture.
We have just seen even more horrifying evidence of Russia’s atrocity crimes and war crimes; mass graves have been uncovered in Izyum. The bodies, according to those who excavated them, show signs of torture.
This war, plain and simple, is about extinguishing Ukraine’s right to exist as a State and as a people. Anyone, anywhere, regardless of what they believe — that should make their blood run cold. That is why 141 nations in the General Assembly came together to unequivocally condemn Russia’s war against Ukraine. The United States has marshalled massive amounts of security assistance, humanitarian aid and direct economic support for Ukraine — more than $25 billion to date.
Our allies and partners around the world have stepped up as well. More than 40 countries represented here have contributed billions of their own money and equipment to help Ukraine defend itself. The United States is also working closely with its allies and partners to impose costs on Russia, deter attacks against NATO territory and hold Russia accountable for the atrocities and war crimes. Because if nations can pursue their imperial ambitions without consequences, then we put at risk everything this very institution stands for — everything.
Every victory won on the battlefield belongs to the courageous Ukrainian soldiers. But this past year, the world was tested as well, and we did not hesitate. We chose liberty. We chose sovereignty. We chose principles to which every party to the Charter of the United Nations is beholding. We stood with Ukraine.
Like everyone here, the United States wants this war to end on just terms — terms we all signed up for — that a nation cannot seize the territory of another by force. The only country standing in the way of that is Russia. Therefore, we — all the members of the General Assembly who are determined to uphold the principles and beliefs we pledge to defend as States Members of the United Nations — must be clear, firm and unwavering in our resolve. Ukraine has the same rights that belong to every sovereign nation. We will stand in solidarity with Ukraine. We will stand in solidarity against Russia’s aggression — period.
It is no secret that, in the contest between democracy and autocracy, the United States — and I
as President — champion a vision for our world that is grounded in the values of democracy. The United States is determined to defend and strengthen democracy at home and around the world, because I believe that democracy remains humankind’s greatest instrument to address the challenges of our time. We are working with the Group of Seven and like-minded countries to prove that democracies can deliver both for their citizens and for the rest of the world.
But as we meet today, the Charter’s very basis of a stable and just rules-based order is under attack by those who wish to tear it down or distort it for their own political advantage. The United Nations Charter was not only signed by democracies of the world, but it was also negotiated among citizens of dozens of nations with vastly different histories and ideologies, united in their commitment to working for peace.
As President Truman said in 1945, the Charter of the United Nations is
“proof that nations, like men, can state their
differences, can face them, and then can find
common ground on which to stand”.
That common ground was so straightforward and basic that today 193 Member States have willingly embraced its principles. And standing up for those principles — for the Charter — is the job of every responsible Member State.
I reject the use of violence and war to conquer nations or expand borders through bloodshed. To stand against global politics of fear and coercion, to defend the sovereign rights of smaller nations as equal to those of larger ones and to embrace basic principles such as freedom of navigation, respect for international law and arms control — no matter what else we may disagree on, that is the common ground on which we must stand. The United States wants to work with all who are still committed to a strong foundation for the good of every nation around the world.
I also believe the time has come for this institution to become more inclusive so that it can better respond to the needs of today’s world. Members of the Security Council, including the United States, should consistently uphold and defend the Charter and refrain — I repeat — refrain from the use of the veto, except in rare, extraordinary situations, in order to ensure that the Council remains credible and effective. That is also why the United States supports increasing the number of both permanent and non-permanent representatives of the Council. That includes granting permanent seats to those nations we have long supported to receive them, as well as to countries in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.
The United States is committed to that vital work. In every region, we have pursued new, constructive ways to work with partners to advance shared interests — from elevating the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue in the Indo-Pacific and signing the Los Angeles Declaration of Migration and Protection at the Summit of the Americas, to joining a historic meeting of nine Arab leaders to work towards a more peaceful and integrated Middle East and hosting the United States- Africa Leaders Summit scheduled for December.
As I said last year (see A/76/PV.3), the United States is opening an era of relentless diplomacy to address the challenges that matter most to people’s lives — all people’s lives — including tackling the climate crisis, as the previous speaker spoke to; strengthening global health security; and feeding the world — I repeat — feeding the world. We made that our priority, and one year later we are keeping that promise.
From the day I came to office, we have led with a bold climate agenda. We rejoined the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, convened major climate summits, helped deliver critical agreements on the twenty- sixth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and helped get two thirds of the world’s gross domestic product on track in order to limit global warming to 1.5°C.
And now I have signed a historic piece of legislation here in the United States that includes the biggest, most important climate commitment we have ever made in the history of our country: $369 billion allocated to climate change. That includes allocating tens of billions of dollars for new investments in offshore wind and solar energy, doubling down on zero-emission vehicles, increasing energy efficiency and supporting clean manufacturing.
Our Department of Energy estimates that this new law will reduce United States emissions by one gigaton a year by 2030, while unleashing a new era of clean- energy-powered economic growth. Our investments will also help reduce the cost of developing clean- energy technologies worldwide, not just in the United States. That is a global game changer — and none too soon. We do not have much time.
We all know that we are already living in a climate crisis. No one seems to doubt it after this past year. As we meet, much of Pakistan is still under water. It needs help. Meanwhile, the Horn of Africa faces unprecedented drought. Families are facing impossible choices, choosing which child to feed and wondering whether they will survive. That is the human cost of climate change — and it is growing, not lessening.
Therefore, as I announced last year, in order to meet our global responsibility, my Administration is working with our Congress to deliver more than $11 billion a year to international climate financing to help lower- income countries implement their climate goals and ensure a just energy transition. The key part of that will be the President’s Emergency Plan for Adaptation and Resilience plan, which will help half a billion people, especially vulnerable countries, to adapt to the impacts of climate change and build resilience. That need is enormous. Let this therefore be the moment when we find within ourselves the will to turn back the tide of climate devastation and unlock a resilient, sustainable and clean energy economy to preserve our planet.
With regard to global health, we delivered more than 620 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to 116 countries around the world, with more available to help meet countries’ needs, all of it free of charge with no strings attached. We are also working closely with the Group of 20 and other countries. And the United States has helped take the lead in establishing the ground-breaking new financial intermediary fund for pandemic prevention, preparedness and response at the World Bank.
At the same time, we have continued to advance the ball on enduring global health challenges. Later today, I will host the seventh Replenishment Conference of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. With bipartisan support in our Congress, I have pledged to contribute up to $6 billion to that effort. I therefore look forward to welcoming a historic round of pledges at the Conference, resulting in one of the largest global health fundraisers ever held in all of history. We are also confronting the food crisis head-on. With as many as 193 million people around the world experiencing acute food insecurity — a jump of 40 million in one year — lam announcing today another $2.9 billion in United States support for life-saving humanitarian and food security assistance for this year alone.
Russia in the meantime is pumping out lies, trying to pin the blame for the food crisis on the sanctions imposed by many countries in the world in response to the aggression against Ukraine. Let me be perfectly clear: our sanctions explicitly allow Russia the ability to export food and fertilizer. There is no limitation. It is Russia’s war that is worsening food insecurity, and only Russia can end it. I am grateful for the work being done here at the United Nations, including the leadership of the Secretary-General, in establishing a mechanism to export grain from Black Sea ports in Ukraine that Russia had blocked for months. We need to make sure that it is extended.
We believe strongly in the need to feed the world. That is why the United States is the world’s largest supporter of the World Food Programme, with more than 40 per cent of its budget. We are leading support of UNICEF’s efforts to feed children around the world. In order to take on the larger challenge of food insecurity, the United States introduced the Roadmap for Global Food Security — Call to Action to eliminate global food insecurity, which more than 100 Member States have already supported.
In June, the Group of Seven announced more than $4.5 billion to strengthen food security around the world. Through the Feed the Future initiative of the United States Agency for International Development, the United States is scaling up innovative ways to get drought- and heat-resistant seeds into the hands of farmers who need them, while distributing fertilizer and improving fertilizer efficiency so that farmers can grow more while using less. We are also calling on all countries to refrain from banning food exports or hoarding grain while so many people are suffering. In every country in the world, no matter what else divides us, if parents cannot feed their children, nothing else matters.
As we look to the future, we are working with our partners to update and create the rules of the road for the new challenges we face in the twenty-first century. We launched the European Union-United States Trade and Technology Council with the European Union in order to ensure that key technologies are developed and governed in a way that benefits everyone. With our partner countries and through the United Nations, we are supporting and strengthening the norms of responsibility for responsible State behaviour in cyberspace and working to hold accountable those
who use cyberattacks to threaten international peace and security.
With partners in the Americas, Africa, Europe, the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific region, we are working to build a new economic ecosystem in which every nation gets a fair shot and economic growth is resilient, sustainable and shared. That is why the United States has championed a global minimum tax, and we will work to see it implemented so that major corporations pay their fair share everywhere.
That was also the idea behind the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity, which the United States launched this year with 13 other Indo-Pacific economies. We are working with our partners in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Pacific island States to support a vision for a critical Indo- Pacific region that is free, open, connected, prosperous, secure and resilient. Together with partners around the world, we are working to secure resilient supply chains that protect everyone from coercion or domination and ensure that no country can use energy as a weapon.
As Russia’s war roils the global economy, we are also calling on major global creditors, including the non-Paris Club countries, to transparently negotiate debt forgiveness for lower-income countries in order to forestall broader economic and political crises around the world. Instead of infrastructure projects that generate huge and large debt without delivering on the promised advantages, let us meet the enormous infrastructure needs around the world with transparent investments and high-standard projects that protect the rights of workers and the environment and that are keyed to the needs of the communities they serve and not to the contributor.
That is why the United States, together with fellow Group of Seven partners, launched the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment. We intend to collectively mobilize $600 billion in investment through that partnership by 2027. Dozens of projects are already under way — industrial-scale vaccine manufacturing in Senegal, transformative solar projects in Angola and a first-of-its-kind small modular nuclear power plant in Romania. Those are investments that will deliver returns, not just for those countries but for everyone. The United States will work with every nation, including its competitors, to solve global problems like climate change. Climate diplomacy is not a favour to the United States or any other nation, and walking away from it hurts the entire world.
Let me be direct about the competition between the United States and China. As we manage shifting geopolitical trends, the United States will conduct itself as a reasonable leader. We do not seek conflict. We do not seek a cold war. We do not ask any nation to choose between the United States or any other partner. But the United States will be unabashed in promoting our vision of a free, open, secure and prosperous world and what we have to offer communities of nations — investments that are designed not to foster dependency but to alleviate burdens and help nations become self-sufficient, as well as partnerships that are not intended to create political obligations but are based on the conviction that our own success and the success of each one of us is increased when other nations succeed as well.
When individuals have the chance to live in dignity and develop their talents, everyone benefits. Critical to that is living up to the highest goals of this institution, increasing peace and security for everyone, everywhere. The United States will not waver in its unrelenting determination to counter and thwart the continuing terrorist threats to our world. And we will lead with our diplomacy to strive for the peaceful resolution of conflicts.
We seek to uphold peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. We remain committed to our One China Policy, which has helped prevent conflict for four decades. And we continue to oppose unilateral changes in the status quo by either side. We support an African Union-led peace process to end the fight in Ethiopia and restore security for all its people. In Venezuela, where years of political oppression have driven more than 6 million people from that country, we urge for a Venezuelan-led dialogue and a return to free and fair elections. We continue to stand with our neighbour in Haiti as it faces politically fuelled gang violence and an enormous humanitarian crisis. And we call on the world to do the same. We have more to do. We will continue to back the United Nations-mediated truce in Yemen, which has delivered precious months of peace to people who have suffered years of war.
We will also continue to advocate for a lasting negotiated peace between the Jewish and democratic State of Israel and the Palestinian people. The United States is committed to Israel’s security — period. And a
negotiated two-State solution remains, in our view, the best way to ensure Israel’s security and prosperity for the future and give the Palestinians the State which to which they are entitled, with both sides fully respecting the equal rights of their citizens and both peoples enjoying an equal measure of freedom and dignity.
Let me also urge every nation to recommit to strengthening the nuclear non-proliferation regime through diplomacy. No matter what else is happening in the world, the United States is ready to pursue critical arms control measures. A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought. The five permanent members of the Security Council just reaffirmed that commitment in January.
But today we are seeing disturbing trends. Russia shunned the non-proliferation ideals embraced by every other nation at the tenth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. And as I said earlier, today they are making irresponsible threats to use nuclear weapons. China is conducting an unprecedented and concerning nuclear build-up without any transparency. Despite our efforts to begin serious and sustained diplomacy, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea continues to blatantly violate United Nations sanctions. While the United States is prepared for a mutual return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action if Iran steps up to its obligations, the United States is clear: we will not allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon.
I continue to believe that diplomacy is the best way to achieve that outcome. The non-proliferation regime is one of the greatest successes of this institution. We cannot let the world now slide backwards, and neither can we turn a blind eye to the erosion of human rights. Perhaps singular among this organ’s achievements stands the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the standard by which our forebears challenged us to measure ourselves. They made clear in 1948 that human rights are the basis for all that we seek to achieve.
Yet today in 2022, fundamental freedoms are at risk in every part of our world, from the violations in Xinjiang detailed in recent reports of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to the horrible abuses against pro-democracy activists and ethnic minorities by the military regime in Burma and the increased repression of women and girls by the Taliban in Afghanistan. And today we stand with the brave citizens and the brave women of Iran, who right now are demonstrating to secure their basic rights.
But here is what I know: the future will be won by those countries that unleash the full potential of their populations, in which women and girls can exercise equal rights, including basic reproductive rights, and can contribute fully to building stronger economies and more resilient societies; religious and ethnic minorities can live their lives without harassment and contribute to the fabric of their communities; the LGBTQ+ community and individuals can live and love freely without being targeted with violence; and citizens can question and criticize their leaders without fear of reprisal. The United States will always promote human rights and the values enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations in our own country and around the world.
Let me end with this: this institution, guided by the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is at its core an act of dauntless hope. Let me say that once again: it is an act of dauntless hope. I ask everyone to think about the vision of those first delegates who undertook a seemingly impossible task while the world was still smouldering, and to think about how divided the people of the world must have felt, with their fresh grief for the millions dead and the genocidal horrors of the Holocaust exposed. They had every right to believe only the worst of humankind. Instead, they reached for what was best in all of us, and they strove to build something better — enduring peace, comity among nations, equal rights for every member of the human family and cooperation for the advancement of all humankind.
The challenges we face today are great indeed, but our capacity is greater. Our commitment must be greater still. Let us therefore stand together to once again declare the unmistakable resolve that nations of the world are united still, that we stand for the values of the Charter and that we still believe that by working together we can bend the arc of history towards a freer and more just world for all our children, although none of us have fully achieved it. We are not passive witnesses to history. We are the authors of history. We can do this — we have to do it — for ourselves, for our future and for humankind.