·
Post-1945
institutions outdated: The
UN Secretary-General said today’s economic,
demographic and geopolitical realities are fundamentally different from those
of 1945,
requiring institutional reform.
·
Rise
of multipolarity: The
world is increasingly moving toward a multipolar
system,
which can bring greater balance and equity to global institutions.
·
Reform
of global institutions: He
called for reforms of the UN
Security Council and Bretton Woods system to better reflect present-day realities.
·
Four
pillars: He
outlined four priorities for building resilience, innovation, cooperation and
sustainability:
1.
Financing
2.
Technology
3.
Climate
justice
4.
Peace
·
Developing
countries need massive
international financial support
to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
·
The
international financial architecture should give developing countries greater
participation and influence
in decision-making.
·
Multilateral
Development Banks (MDBs)
should become bigger, more effective and more capable of mobilizing private
investment.
·
Greater
concessional
financing and
effective debt
relief mechanisms are
needed.
·
Artificial
intelligence could compress decades of development into years, but its benefits are currently
concentrated among a few companies and countries.
·
An
unchecked AI
divide could
deepen inequalities in income, opportunity, security and sovereignty.
·
Developing
countries need greater access to computing
capacity, data and skills.
·
The
UN's Global
Network for AI Capacity Building
and Global
Fund for AI
should receive stronger support.
·
The
Secretary-General highlighted the importance of inclusive global governance of
AI.
·
Extreme
heat, glacier melt, wildfires and floods are intensifying, while the world is
expected to breach
the 1.5°C temperature limit.
·
Countries
must minimize the duration and extent of this overshoot by:
o Accelerating the shift from fossil fuels to renewables
o Cutting methane emissions
o Protecting nature
o Expanding renewable energy, grids and
storage
·
The
principle of Common
But Differentiated Responsibilities (CBDR) remains important, but every country must
increase its climate efforts.
·
Developed
countries must deliver on climate-finance commitments, including $300 billion annually, tripling adaptation finance and
providing greater resources for loss
and damage.
·
Early-warning
systems
should reach everyone.
·
Critical
minerals should be responsibly managed so that producing countries and
communities gain value,
jobs and development,
rather than being exploited.
·
The
Secretary-General called for peace in Gaza,
the wider Middle East, Ukraine, Sudan and other conflict zones.
·
States
must respect the UN
Charter and international law,
including:
o Sovereign equality
o Territorial integrity
o Political independence
o Freedom of international navigation
o Peaceful settlement of disputes
o International humanitarian and
human-rights law
The Secretary-General's
central message was that the emerging
multipolar world requires a reformed multilateral system, with the UN at its centre, and stronger institutions for equitable
financing, inclusive AI development, climate justice and international peace.
Following are UN Secretary-General António
Guterres’ remarks at the 18th BRICS SUMMIT, 13 September 2026, New Delhi:
Secretary-General: Today's economic, demographic and geopolitical
realities are not those of 1945.
Our
institutional structures must reflect it.
Countries
represented at this Summit speak to that changing reality.
We
are increasingly moving towards a multipolar world.
Multipolarity
helps bring balance and equity to global systems and institutions.
But
this requires reforming global multilateral institutions — including the UN Security
Council and the Bretton Woods system — to reflect the world of today.
As
your Summit’s theme rightly frames it, we must build for resilience, innovation,
cooperation and sustainability.
This
is essential for shaping inclusive global growth.
First — through financing.
Through
the Sevilla Commitment, countries pledged to mobilize greater domestic resources,
but developing countries need massive international support to be able to implement
the Sustainable Development Goals.
The
international financial architecture must be reformed giving higher participation
and influence to developing in the decision-making processes in order to guarantee
more equity and justice, and to address historical injustices.
Multilateral
Development Banks must also become bigger, better and bolder, with a new business
model to mobilize massive private investment and expand concessional funding to
developing countries.
And
we must work towards a development-oriented debt architecture and effective debt
relief mechanisms.
Second — through technology.
Artificial
intelligence could compress decades of development into years.
But
its power sits with a few companies, in a few countries.
Unchecked,
the AI divide will widen every other divide — in income, in opportunity, in security,
and in sovereignty.
Your
support was critical in establishing the Independent International Scientific Panel
and the Global Dialogue on AI Governance in the UN — with every nation at the table.
Your
countries bring talent, ideas and scale to the age of AI.
But
in many developing countries, what many still lack are the building blocks: computing
power, data, skills.
The
Global Network for AI capacity building and the Global Fund for AI aim to close
that gap — and I ask you to fully back them.
Third — through climate justice.
Scorching
heat, devastating glacier melt, raging wildfires, devastating floods are all a preview.
A
supersized El Niño will only make matters worse.
Scientists
confirm we will soon breach the 1.5 degree limit.
We
must make this overshoot as small and short as possible.
We
need an overshoot of ambition: accelerating the transition from fossil fuels to
renewables, slashing methane, protecting nature.
The
principle of Common But Differentiated Responsibilities
applies — but every country must do more.
By
over-delivering on national climate plans…
Scaling
up renewables, grids and storage...
And
driving investment towards developing countries.
Climate
justice also means protecting people from escalating impacts.
Developed
countries must keep their promises:
300
billion US dollars a year;
Adaptation
finance tripled;
Far
greater resources for loss and damage…
And
early warnings for every person.
Critical
minerals must be responsibly managed, adding value and jobs in producing countries
and communities.
Enough
plundering.
Fourth — through peace.
From
Gaza, to the broader crisis in the Middle East, to Ukraine, Sudan and beyond, our
world needs peace.
Across
the board, States must respect their obligations under the UN Charter and international
law — including the principles of sovereign equality … respect for territorial integrity
and political independence of States … international navigational rights and freedoms…
peaceful settlement of disputes … international humanitarian law and international
human rights law.
As
we move irreversibly to a multipolar world, all countries must work to strengthen
and safeguard a multilateral system that delivers for all with the United Nations
at its centre.
I
look forward to working with all of you to make that future a reality.