A little more than a year ago, we witnessed
with great concern the collapse of some of the largest
financial institutions of the world’s wealthiest
countries. That financial fissure precipitated a global
economic crisis which, despite the emerging signs of
recovery, all of us continue to experience. We faced the
stark reality that we lacked the necessary guidelines
and rules to prevent what was occurring in the global
financial system, even though it already was a global
system. Now, following the G-20 summits in
Washington and London, where we laid the
foundations to resolve the problems, it is up to the
Pittsburgh conference to finish the work.
Despite what has been said, this is not the first
globalization crisis. Instead, it is the first crisis of
global governance, that is to say, a crisis of an
insufficiently governed globalization. We have an
obligation to learn from this experience — certainly to
learn a lesson with regard to the financial and
economic crisis, but also about the other global
challenges that require both collective determination
and coordinated multilateral political efforts. For those
challenges are interrelated. We cannot aspire to
economic and social development unless countries and
peoples enjoy adequate peace and security. Conversely,
it will not be possible to build lasting peace and
security unless there is sustainable development.
That same willingness to take responsibility for
both problems and solutions, which has re-emerged
strongly in recent months, should ensure that we do not
fail in responding to the conflicts and threats
confronting world peace and security. That willingness
should also ensure that we do not fail in dealing with
extreme hunger and poverty; in effectively committing
ourselves to combating the effects of climate change;
or in tackling organized crime, terrorism and piracy.
We therefore have a great opportunity before us.
Here at the general debate, one year after the
beginning of the financial crisis that nearly engulfed
the well-being of developed countries and dashed the
hopes of many others, I would like to reiterate that
Spain is a country committed to multilateralism and the
need to continue to develop a system of global
governance — and that applies to every one of the
challenges to which I have just referred. But before
turning to those challenges, I should like to begin by
saying that multilateralism is not just a process for
taking decisions and resolving conflicts at the
international level. It is indeed that; but in order for
multilateralism to be effective and lasting, it must
above all include two fundamental elements.
First of all, multilateralism is intrinsically linked
with the faithful observance of democratic values,
human rights and effective equality between women
and men throughout the world. In that regard, I very
much welcome the last resolution adopted by the
General Assembly at the previous session, which will
make a single body responsible for all gender issues.
Today, however, standing firmly for democracy
elicits a single name: Honduras. Our Latin American
brothers in that country have in recent years seen the
strengthening of both democracy and the prospects for
the future. With the support of Spain and the
international community, they have now decided that
they are going to overcome the challenge before
Honduras. We will not accept an anti-democratic coup.
We will not accept it, and democracy must return to
Honduras.
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Secondly, but no less important, multilateralism
requires, if not a culture, an atmosphere of dialogue,
respect and acceptance between countries, regions and,
more broadly, civilizations. Five years ago, I addressed
the General Assembly for the first time to propose the
establishment of an alliance of civilizations focused on
promoting understanding and cooperation between
countries and peoples of different cultures and
religions, as well as on countering the forces that breed
extremism and endanger peace.
We cannot be satisfied solely at the fact that the
group of friends for that initiative has since grown to
over 100 members, or that there are now associated
networks of individuals and representatives of civil
society organizations who are ensuring the continued
existence of the project, or that the third forum of the
Alliance will be held next year in Rio de Janeiro. Nor
can we be satisfied at the fact that those developments
clearly illustrate the universality of the principles
underpinning the initiative. Respect for the diversity of
civilizations, cultures and traditions are crucial to the
effectiveness and sustainability of the multilateralism
that we wish to see strengthened on the basis of human
rights and the universal values that we share as
responsible members of the international community.
When I launched the Alliance of Civilizations
initiative from this very rostrum five years ago, it was
at a less favourable time than the present. Yesterday,
having heard statements by the President of the United
States of America and other international leaders, I
thought to myself that this effort has been worthwhile.
Today the Alliance is able to deploy its full potential in
order to promote the effective multilateralism we
desire. We are now able to build. The initiative was
worth it and — if I may put it this way — it was also
right that the United Nations made it its own through
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and his predecessor,
Kofi Annan.
Spain is therefore pleased that the President of
the General Assembly has proposed that the debate at
this new session focus on “Effective responses to
global crises: strengthening multilateralism and
dialogue among civilizations for international peace,
security and development”. We must now take a new
step.
The Alliance of Civilizations, which sets out and
promotes those values throughout the entire United
Nations, should be a structural component of the main
bodies and all other entities of the Organization. The
time has come for the General Assembly to adopt a
resolution conferring that structural character on the
Alliance of Civilizations through a constitutive charter.
Spain will work with Turkey and the wider
membership of the Alliance’s group of friends in order
that such a resolution can be adopted by the end of this
fall. I am convinced that it will make a very positive
contribution to the work of such bodies as the Human
Rights Council, the Economic and Social Council and
even the Security Council. The dialogue among
civilizations should be the mother tongue of the United
Nations.
The new multilateralism has been essential for
taking significant steps forward in the area of
disarmament and arms control, such as prohibiting
anti-personnel landmines and cluster bombs.
Now, the world has the opportunity to take a
great step: abolishing nuclear weapons. President
Obama has had the courage to put that on the table, and
the United States and Russia — a country that is and
will remain key to Euro-Atlantic security — are
negotiating the largest cuts ever made to these arsenals.
We encourage them. We are hopeful about the initiative
to convene a special summit of the Security Council
devoted to the fight against nuclear proliferation.
Spain, a nation that renounced the development
and possession of nuclear weapons, fully shares that
objective and will support it with every means at our
disposal. We should immediately undertake to
strengthen the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of
Nuclear Weapons (NPT), whose Review Conference in
May 2010 will coincide with Spain’s presidency of the
European Union. I pledge to do everything possible, as
far as Spain and the European Union are concerned, to
ensure that this important conference has concrete
results that will enable us to advance the perspective of
a world free from nuclear weapons.
Let us continue to act with determination and
without discouragement to build and consolidate peace
in all areas and regions. My country is proud to have
been contributing to United Nations peacekeeping
missions for 20 years. Over those 20 years, we have
taken part in 22 missions comprising a total of more
than 100,000 troops.
Currently, we share the concern over the situation
in Afghanistan. I am sure, however, that the
international community will be able to find a
27 09-52320
solution — a solution that is not and cannot be purely
military. The shared conviction as to the strategic value
of the region and the internal solidarity among the
countries present there is stronger than ever and will be
decisive in the face of the difficulties before us.
I also wish to reiterate the need to persevere in
seeking formulas for peace in the Middle East because
of that conflict’s potential to spread and affect other
regional conflicts such as those just mentioned. The
world has an unresolved task: peace in the Middle
East, with two secure States — the State of Israel, but
also the State of Palestine, which the international
community must consider and recognize within a
reasonable period of time. Peace in the Middle East has
been and continues to be the first strategic priority for
the international community.
According to the most recent estimates, more
than 1 billion people throughout the world — nearly
one sixth of its total population — suffer hunger. We
must say this as often as possible: figures such as that,
reflecting unfathomable human suffering, assault our
consciences time and again as leaders of the
international community and as citizens. It is unjust
and unacceptable to proceed further into the twenty-
first century, as we are doing, with such a radical
imbalance in the living conditions of humanity. It is
unjust, unacceptable and also unsafe — a permanent
source of instability. It is not possible to aspire to a
secure world if the current levels of inequality and
poverty persist.
That is why our commitment to international
peace and security must go hand in hand with a
renewed effort to eradicate poverty, using our
leadership responsibly and with solidarity and avoiding
the temptation, in times of economic crisis, to lessen
our commitment to the world’s poorest and most
vulnerable.
The achievement of the Millennium Development
Goals must be a central aspect of the international
agenda. Five years before 2015, the Goals can still be
achieved, with sustained collective effort. At the next
session of the General Assembly, we must reach
specific agreements that will guarantee their
achievement.
I wish to strengthen the appeal for that urgent
joint effort by citing the commitment of my country
and its citizens. I refer in particular to Africa. The
twenty-first century should belong to a continent that
has been dispossessed for too long in the history of
humanity: the African continent. Spain has become the
seventh-largest international donor and the eighth-
largest United Nations contributor, and we have made a
clear commitment in the area of food security.
Over the past few years, we have raised
humanity’s awareness about the seriousness of the
effects of climate change. There is now sufficient
awareness about the need to combat climate change
and also about the opportunities it provides us to create
a new model of economic development — sustainable
development.
With climate change, the time for awareness-
raising is over and the time for commitments has
arrived. We do not need any more words; it is time for
action. We must take everyone’s circumstances into
account, but, if we are to make collective progress, we
must not delay. Although we have been able to see the
effects of the economic crisis, we still find it difficult
to react to the effects of a phenomenon much more
devastating for entire future generations. That is
paradoxical and incomprehensible — even more so
when we consider that to emerge from the economic
crisis means ensuring the only kind of growth possible:
sustainable growth.
We have 75 days before the Copenhagen summit
begins. They can be 75 days for the future or for
failure, 75 days for responsibility or for impotence,
75 days for agreement or for the useless defence of
selfish interests. Copenhagen should give two answers
to the world, regarding what and when: an ambitious
reduction of emissions — the what — and a horizon
that is near and defined — the when.
In order to attain those objectives, we also need
to think about how. We know that technological
research, innovation and development in the area of
energy assist in the fight against climate change. That
is why Spain has proposed that every State should
devote at least 0.7 per cent of its gross domestic
product to research, development and innovation in the
area of technology and energy. That is a reference
figure that, as in the area of development cooperation
policy, will help us determine a commitment before the
international community. My country also proposes to
promote, when we assume the European Union
presidency in the first half of 2010, the agreements that
we must all adopt at Copenhagen.
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Finally, only one year ago we were struck by a
financial crisis that shook every corner of the world.
Since then, all of us have suffered the effects of that
crisis, but we have also become aware of the need to
move ahead in building global governance and have
taken resolute steps in that direction. Let us continue
on that path, not just to continue fighting against the
crisis and for employment, but to overcome it together
and successfully address the other global challenges.
Let us use this time for clarity; let us take this
opportunity. Let us build a multilateralism that is
effective and responsible — above all, a
multilateralism of solidarity. Since 1945, there have
never been such favourable circumstances for
translating the desires of the founders of the United
Nations into the reality of the international order.
Those desires were intended for succeeding
generations. And we are the first generation that has
within its reach the ability to fulfil the old and
beautiful dream of a world governed by all. Let us do
so.