UN General Assembly
2022

The financial markets have been set up and operate on rules designed for the benefit of rich and powerful nations, and, during times of crisis, the facade of international cooperation under which they purport to operate disappears. These are the savage lessons that we have had to take in, as the world emerged from the grip of the coronavirus to face energy and food price hikes and a worldwide rise in the cost of living. The necessity for reform of the system is compelling. I am a modest student of history, yet I would say it is doubtful that any generation of inhabitants of this earth has ever witnessed such a perfect storm of global economic chaos, a war with global consequences and an unwillingness or inability to find a consensus to deal with the catastrophe. It is under such circumstances that we have gathered under the theme: “A watershed moment: transformative solutions to interlocking challenges”.