United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres used his final address to the General Assembly on Tuesday to urge world leaders to regulate artificial intelligence, end wars, focus on climate change and overhaul UN institutions he warned are struggling to confront mounting global challenges.
The former Portuguese prime minister, whose second five-year term ends on December 31, reiterated his calls for global oversight of AI risks, just as the UN’s 15-member Security Council prepares to host AI leaders for a briefing on the powerful technology.
Guterres also reflected on the gridlock within the organisation, as nearly 130 world leaders gathered in New York, and Chinese President Xi Jinping and others, including leaders from South Africa, India and Germany, skipped the diplomatic meeting.
Delegates responded with sustained applause when Guterres defended a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians, demanded that “polluters must pay” for climate change and pressed for reforms to international institutions, causes he has championed throughout his decade leading the United Nations.
The address capped a decade-long tenure in which Guterres sought to position the UN as a mediator in conflicts and a forum for governing emerging technologies, even as major powers increasingly bypassed the organisation and Washington slashed its funding.
“Those countries leading this technological revolution must share information on emerging safety risks, cooperate on testing and evaluation – and work towards common safeguards that protect us all,” Guterres told the assembly.
He called on the leaders gathered in New York to “advance the conditions for the responsible pacing of AI and the additional safeguards needed to address risks” and to “work towards a multilateral AI risk management framework, supported by credible and independent oversight.”
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday that Washington had proposed a new AI safety notification mechanism for US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi to consider at their summit this week. The proposal emerged from talks on establishing a US-China AI dialogue and would cover AI-related incidents with national security implications.
Guterres has long pushed for global governance of AI. In 2023, the UN created a 39-member advisory body on AI, with members including tech company executives, government officials and academics from countries such as the US, Russia and Japan.
The Security Council, which is charged with maintaining international peace and security, met for the first time on the risks of artificial intelligence the same year, when China said the technology should not become a “runaway horse” and Washington warned against its use to censor or repress people.
On the Middle East, where the conflict has widened as Houthi gains along the Red Sea coast threaten shipping routes and tensions persist in the Strait of Hormuz, Guterres called for “de-escalation and dialogue.”
“Together, let’s send a clear message from this hall: The fighting must stop. Humanitarian aid must flow. And navigational rights and freedoms must be fully restored in accordance with international law,” Guterres said.
On the UN system, criticised by Trump and others as bloated and ineffective after Washington withdrew from several UN agencies and slashed funding, Guterres said, “our mechanisms for collective action are under growing strain” and global institutions “continue to reflect the power realities and interests of a largely bygone age.”
Guterres used the address to bid farewell to most of the global leaders he has worked with over the last 10 years.
“So, on January 1st, when I am no longer Secretary-General, be sure of this. Wherever I will be, whatever I will be doing – I will keep championing the conviction that peace is possible,” he said. “I will continue to stand up for the values of the United Nations Charter and I will never, ever give up. Thank you.”
