The universal premise of multilateralism, enshrined in our Organization since its very creation, has never been so seriously undermined as it is today, before our very eyes.
We are witnessing an unprecedented intensification of crises throughout the world. We are witnessing the proliferation of conflicts and an increase in their complexity. We are witnessing unprecedented food insecurity and dangerous threats to biodiversity. We are even witnessing attempts to call into question the commitments made collectively and ratified here, in this very Hall, on environmental protection and the preservation of the planet, our shared home.
As though that were not enough, we are witnessing an exacerbation of dissent and enmity between the permanent members of the Security Council, whose main task is to maintain international peace and security by working together.
Faced with such a situation, whereby our common fragilities are aggravated and our collective vulnerabilities highlighted, only a consensus-based, supportive, calm and coordinated approach can help us to find the true answers to those problems. I believe that the theme under which our general debate is being held provides us with a real opportunity to do just that. Indeed, by calling for transformative solutions, this year’s theme appeals to our collective conscience with regard to the increasing number of challenges that besiege us on a daily basis and that can sometimes take a dramatic turn.
Indeed, one has only to think of the current war in Ukraine and the apocalyptic projections — which are not baseless — that strategists and other military experts are now making about a possible tragic downturn in those terrible events.
Given the enormous risk of nuclear disaster that such events pose to the entire planet, it is the responsibility not just of the conflict’s participants, but also the foreign Powers that can influence the course of events towards peace, if they seek to temper their passions, stop fanning the flames and turn their backs on the vanity of the powerful that has hitherto kept the door to dialogue closed.
Under the auspices of the United Nations, we must all commit ourselves, without delay, to peace negotiations that are just, sincere and equitable. Ever since the Congress of Vienna, after the battle of Waterloo, it has been clear that wars must always end around the negotiating table. The world urgently needs negotiations to prevent the current conflicts, which are already so devastating, from reaching a crescendo and tipping humankind into what could be a cataclysm without remedy, namely, a generalized nuclear war beyond the control of the great Powers themselves. Albert Einstein, the great theoretician of the atom, said gravely that such a war, if it were to take place, would be the last battle to ever be fought on Earth.
Nelson Mandela, a man of eternal forgiveness, said that peace is a long road, but it has no alternative. It has no price. Indeed, Russians and Ukrainians have no other choice but to take that path — the path of peace. Moreover, we should accompany them, throughout the world, in great numbers, working together in solidarity, tenaciously and fully capable of imposing unconditional peace on the war lobby.
I want to be direct and address my dear Russian and Ukrainian friends, in particular. Too much blood has been spilled — the sacred blood of their sweet children. It is time to stop this mass destruction. It is time to stop the war. The entire world is watching. The time has come to fight for life, just as they courageously and selflessly fought together against the Nazis during the Second World War, in particular in Leningrad, Stalingrad, Kursk and Berlin. It is important to consider the young people of both countries and the fate of future generations. It is time to fight for peace. It is time to fight for them. It is important to give peace a real chance now, before it is too late for us all. I humbly ask that of them.
What I just said, in my basic Russian, about the events in Ukraine can allow us to draw a parallel, although perhaps at a completely different level, with the tragic situation Libya has been facing since 2011. It is a situation to which, for many years, the President of the Republic of the Congo, Denis Sassou Nguesso, has been fully committed to resolving on behalf of the African Union. He continued his peace efforts on the controversial issue on 14 and 15 July in Brazzaville, during consultations that brought together several stakeholders who represent the core of Libyan social and political views. The objective was to encourage the stakeholders to talk to each other and bridge the gaps between their views on the challenges their country has faced since the failed elections of 24 December 2021.
The inter-Libyan reconciliation conference, which is the goal of the African mediation efforts, will make sense only if it is inclusive, constructive and consensus- based. It must enable our Libyan brothers and sisters to stop eyeing each other with mistrust, forgive each other, resume dialogue and prioritize justice, which is the foundation of a new Libya, from which they are to rewrite history. I would like to commend the appointment of Mr. Abdoulaye Bathily as the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Libya. I can already assure him of the unconditional support of President Denis Sassou Nguesso, who chairs the African Union Ad Hoc High-level Committee on Libya.
The forests of the Congo basin are the second largest environmental reservoir on the planet, and we have preserved those forests for years, as they are dear to our hearts. We still await strong support that is commensurate with the existential challenges that those forests represent.
We should always remember the promises that were made, from Copenhagen to Glasgow and under the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Those promises were made with enthusiasm but, to date, they remain unfulfilled by the rich countries — the same countries responsible for 80 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions. However, in spite of that, as we prepare for the twenty- seventh session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which Africa will host next November, we hope that this time, at least, instead of the statements of commiseration to which we are accustomed and the usual formulas and hollow promises, considerable resources will finally be mobilized for poor countries that have become even more vulnerable owing to climate disruptions.
In any event, with the lowest deforestation rate in the world — only 0.06 per cent — my country, the Republic of the Congo, is playing its full role and will continue to do so to protect the environment and ensure the survival of humankind. The establishment of the Blue Fund for the Congo Basin is part of the regional plan for that commitment. Together with the Government of the United Kingdom, the host of COP 26, my country’s Government plans to launch, over the next few weeks, a political forum entitled “Forests and climate leaders’ partnership”.
I cannot conclude my statement and leave this rostrum without mentioning two situations, which should unceasingly appeal to our conscience. Morally, we cannot give up on those two situations.
The first concerns Security Council reform, which has become a hackneyed topic. It is a reform that everyone glosses over at will and the outcome of which seems to every day draw farther away from its noble goals, although the need for Africa’s inclusion in the management of world affairs is self-evident. Africa must indeed assume its rightful role in the community of nations. To believe otherwise is simply a show of selfishness, and goes against the current of history. Similarly, continuing to prevaricate over the idea of admitting two African countries as full permanent members of the Security Council is nothing more than willingly choosing to discredit our prestigious Organization. We, the representatives of allied countries meeting here at the United Nations, must make the honourable choice, here and now, and go down in history by ridding ourselves, once and for all, of the medieval and obscure prejudices against Africa, which, for too long, have humiliated that part of the world.
The second situation concerns the never-ending embargo on Cuba, which has been in place since the middle of the last century and continues to cause indescribable suffering to the people of that country. The embargo, which is totally anachronistic and obsolete, should have been abolished long ago. On behalf of my country, I again call on the wisdom of the American people and its leaders, who, as we know, for the most part, have nothing to do with that outdated embodiment of the Cold War.
On that subject, and I wish to conclude here, I would very respectfully like to address President Biden, who has long promoted the ideal of peace, as he did in this very Hall last week (see A/77.PV.6). I urge him to be bold and to close, without further delay, the dark chapter of relations with Cuba, which belongs in the past. By doing so, he will undeniably create new possibilities in the glorious history of his beautiful country, and I am convinced that posterity will thank him.