UN General Assembly
2024

I deeply believe that effective multilateralism has never been more necessary than it is today. It must yield results in development, in the fight against inequality—educational, health-related, climatic, and technological. On each of these pillars, we need unity. And we must also do everything to avoid deepening the divide between North and South. This is precisely the philosophy we have developed in the *Paris Pact for People and the Planet*, which more than 60 states have now joined. Firstly, we must ensure that we never push a state to choose between its goals. Why should Northern states lecture those in the South about respecting climate commitments and therefore forgoing economic opportunities—commitments Northern states themselves failed to uphold 20, 30, or 40 years ago? That is unacceptable and incoherent. We must therefore build an agenda that enables simultaneous progress in reducing inequality and advancing economic development—for education, the climate, biodiversity, and global health.