白宫
华盛顿哥伦比亚特区
2021年9月21日
 
拜登总统在第76届联合国大会上的讲话
 
联合国总部
纽约州纽约市
 
美东夏令时间上午10 时零1分
 
总统：主席先生、秘书长先生、各位代表以及所有献身于本机构的崇高使命的人士：我荣幸地作为美国总统首次对你们发表讲话。
我们今年集会之际，正值一个深重的痛苦与巨大的机遇交织的时刻。这场惨重的——这场惨重的疫情已给我们造成如此重大的损失，它仍在全世界各地夺去生命并对我们的生存产生巨大影响。
我们在哀悼逝去的450多万人——他们来自各个国家和各种背景。每个人的去世都令人心碎。但我们共同的悲伤深刻地提醒我们，我们的共同未来将有赖于我们认识到我们共同的人性并共同采取行动的能力。
女士们、先生们，这是一个我们在对于我们的世界必将具有决定意义的10年的开端所面临的明确、迫切的抉择——这个10年将会，毫不夸张地说，决定我们的未来。
作为一个全球社区，我们受到迫在眉睫的种种危机的挑战，其中也存在着巨大的机会，如果——如果——我们能够拿出意愿并决心抓住这些机会。
我们是否将共同努力在各个地方拯救生命并战胜COVID-19疫情，而且采取必要步骤，做好准备应对下一场疫情？因为下一场疫情将会出现。还是我们在更致命、更危险的变异病毒传播之时未能利用现有的各种工具？
我们是否将应对构成挑战的气候的威胁——我们都已经感受到这种构成挑战的气候在我们世界的每个地方造成极端天气？还是我们将遭受日益严重的旱灾和水灾、更剧烈的火灾和飓风、更长久的热浪和不断上升的海平面的毫不留情的推进？
我们是否将重申并捍卫70多年前致力于共同事业的国家在组建这个机构时所遵循的人类尊严和人权？
我们是否将在寻求打造新兴技术并遏制新威胁之时应用并增强包括联合国宪章（UN Charter）和《世界人权宣言》（Universal Declaration of Human Rights）在内的国际体系的核心原则？还是我们将听任这些——那些普世原则在谋求赤裸裸的政治权力的过程中遭到践踏和歪曲？
在我看来，我们此时此刻如何回答这些问题——我们是否选择为我们共同的未来而奋斗——将对子孙后代产生影响。
简而言之，在我看来，我们正处在历史的一个转折点。我今天在这里要告诉你们，美国计划如何同合作伙伴和盟友共同努力回答这些问题，以及我们这届新政府对帮助引领世界走向一个对所有人民而言都更和平、更繁荣的世界的承诺。
我们不能再继续打过去的战争，而是要将我们的目光集中在将我们的资源全部投入于对我们的共同未来具有关键意义的种种挑战：结束这场疫情；应对气候危机；管理全球力量态势的变化；在贸易、网络和新兴技术等关键问题上塑造世界规则；以及应对今天存在的恐怖主义威胁。
我们已经结束了为期20年的在阿富汗的冲突。而且在我们结束这个无情的战争阶段时，我们正在开启一个新时代：展开持续不断的外交；利用我们发展援助的力量投入于托举全世界人民的新方式；振兴并捍卫民主；证明不论我们将要面临的问题多么具有挑战性或复杂性，民有、民治、民享的政府仍然是造福于我们所有人民的最佳途径。
当美国将我们的注意力转向全世界的优先重点和各个地区时，例如印太地区（Indo-Pacific），它们在今天和明天都有最重大的影响，我们将同我们的盟友和合作伙伴共同努力，而且要通过在像联合国这样的多边机制中的合作，以扩大我们的集体实力并加快我们在应对这些全球性挑战上的进展。
这是21世纪的一个根本事实，在我们各自国家内以及作为一个全球社区，我们各自的成功与其他人的成功紧密相连。
为了造福于我们本国人民，我们必须同全世界深切接触。
为了确保我们各自的未来，我们必须同其他合作伙伴——我们的合作伙伴共同努力向一个共同的未来迈进。
我们的安全、我们的繁荣以及我们的切身自由紧密相连，在我看来，比以往任何时候都更是如此。因此，我相信我们必须比以往任何时候都更加齐心协力。
在过去的8个月里，我将重建我们的联盟以及重振我们的伙伴关系作为首要重点，并认识到它们对于美国持久的安全和繁荣至关重要并处于核心地位。
我们重申了我们对北约（NATO）的神圣的第5条款（Article 5）承诺。我们正在同我们的盟友为一项新的战略理念而努力，这将帮助我们的联盟更好地应对今天和明天不断演变的威胁。
我们恢复了我们同欧洲联盟（European Union）的接触，这是一个着手解决我们今日世界所面临的所有重大问题时的根本的合作伙伴。
我们提升了澳大利亚、印度、日本和美国的四方（Quad）伙伴关系，以应对从健康安全到气候到新兴技术方面的种种挑战。
我们正在同地区机制接触——从东盟（ASEAN）到非洲联盟（African Union）到美洲国家组织（Organization of American States）——侧重于人民对增进健康及更好经济成果的迫切需求。
我们在国际论坛中回到了桌前，特别是在联合国，以便将注意力集中在共同的挑战上并就此激励全球性行动。
我们重新同世界卫生组织（World Health Organization）接触，并同COVID-19新冠疫苗全球获取机制（COVAX）展开密切的伙伴合作，以便在全世界发送拯救生命的疫苗。
我们重新加入了《巴黎气候协议》（Paris Climate Agreement），而且我们正在参选于明年在联合国人权理事会（Human Rights Council）重新获得席位。
在美国寻求团结全世界采取行动时，我们将不仅仅以我们的力量为榜样来引领，而是，上帝保佑，以我们的榜样为力量。
毋庸置疑：美国将继续保卫我们自己、我们的盟友以及我们的利益不受攻击，包括不遭受恐怖主义威胁，而且我们准备在任何必要情况下使用武力，但——用来保卫我们至关重要的美国国家利益，包括针对持续存在的、迫在眉睫的威胁。
但这一使命必须明确而且可以完成，在有了美国人民的知情同意，以及尽可能地同我们的盟友建立伙伴关系的情况下进行。
美国的军事力量必须成为我们最后采取的手段，而不是我们首先采取的手段，而且它不应被用来解决我们在全世界看到的每一个问题。
的确，今天，我们的很多最重大的关切，都不能通过使用武力来解决，甚至不能以此来应对。炸弹和子弹不能防范COVID-19疫情或是它今后的变异病毒。
为了抗击这场疫情，我们需要一种科学和政治意愿的集体行动。我们必须现在就采取行动尽可能快地注射疫苗，并扩大获取氧气、检测和治疗的途径，以便在全世界拯救生命。
而且在将来，我们应当建立一个新机制，建立在我们现有的发展援助的基础之上为全球健康安全提供融资，以及全球健康——全球健康威胁理事会，拥有我们监测并识别新出现的疫情所需的工具，以使我们能够立即采取行动。
美国已经为全球COVID疫情应对行动提供了超过150亿美元。我们已向其他国家发送了超过1.6亿剂COVID-19疫苗。这包括1.3亿剂来自我们本国供给的疫苗以及我们购买并通过COVID-19新冠疫苗全球获取机制捐赠的5亿剂辉瑞疫苗的第一部分。
运载着来自美国的疫苗的飞机已在100个国家着陆，正如一位美国护士对我说的，给世界各地的人民带去小小的“一剂希望”。“一剂希望”，直接来自于美国人民——而且，重要的是，没有任何附加条件。
而且明天，在美国主持的全球——COVID-19峰会上，我将宣布更多的承诺，我们在寻求推动抗击COVID-19疫情的努力，并让我们自己负起责任就三项关键挑战实现具体目标：在当下拯救生命、在全世界接种疫苗，并更好地恢复重建。
今年，不分国界的气候危机还带来了大范围的死亡和破坏。我们在世界各地所看到的极端天气事件——你们大家都知道而且都能感受到——秘书长恰如其分地称其为“对人类发出的红色警报”。而且科学家和专家们都在告诉我们，我们正在迅速接近一个名副其实的“不可逆转的节点”。
为使我们有望实现将全球升温幅度限制在1.5摄氏度的关键目标，每个国家都应当在我们于格拉斯哥（Glasgow）举行第26届联合国气候变化大会（COP26）时将他们尽可能最远大的雄心带到桌前，而且随后必须不断逐步提升我们的集体雄心。
4 月，我宣布了美国根据《巴黎协议》制定的雄心勃勃的新目标，即到 2030 年将美国的温室气体排放量在 2005 年的水平上减少 50-52%，同时我们将为在 2050 年建成净零排放的清洁能源经济而努力。
本届美国政府正在与国会密切合作，对绿色基础设施和电动汽车作出关键投资，这将有助于我们为实现国内的气候目标取得应有的进展。
最有意义的是：这些雄心勃勃的投资不仅仅是良好的气候政策，也是我们每个国家投资于自己以及我们的未来的机会。这是一个巨大的机会，它将为我们每个国家的劳动者创造高薪工作，刺激长期经济增长，从而改善各国人民的生活质量。
我们也必须支持受灾最严重、资源最少的国家和人民，帮助他们完成转型。
4 月，我宣布美国将把我们政府部门为国际社会提供的资金增加一倍，以帮助发展中国家应对气候危机。今天，我自豪地宣布，我们将与国会合作，把这个数字再翻一番，包括为转型提供支持。
这将使美国政府在为应对气候变化提供资金方面处于领先地位，加上我们的额外支持以及来自私营部门和捐助者的更多支持，我们将能够实现调动 1000 亿美元支持发展中国家的目标。
在我们应对这些危机的同时，我们也迎来了一个充满可能性的新技术时代，有望改变人类生存的各个方面。我们每一个国家都需要做出选择：是把这些技术用于增强人民的权能还是把它们用于进一步压制人民。
随着新技术的不断发展，我们将与我们的民主伙伴合作，确保新技术的进步——从生物技术到量子计算、从5G到人工智能——用于为人民创造更好的生活、解决问题和促进人类自由——而不是用于压制不同政见或少数族群。
美国打算在研究和创新方面大量投资，与处于各个经济发展阶段的国家合作，开发新工具和新技术，以帮助我们应对 21 世纪第二个25年以及此后的挑战。
我们正在加强我们的关键基础设施，以抵御网络攻击，破坏勒索软件网络，并努力制定与网络空间相关的用于所有国家的明确道路规则。
对威胁我们的人民、我们的盟友或我们的利益的网络攻击，我们保留作出果断回应的权利。
我们将寻求全球贸易和经济增长的新规则，使之创造公平的竞争环境，这样就不会人为地偏袒任何一个国家而牺牲其他国家的利益，从而使每个国家都享有公平竞争的权利和机会。
我们将努力确保基本劳工权利、环境保护机制和知识产权得到保护，全球化广泛造福于我们所有社会。
我们将继续维护长期存在的规则和规范。数十年来，这些规则和规范为国际交往提供了保护框架，对世界各国的发展至关重要，其中的基本承诺包括自由航行、遵守国际法和条约、支持军备控制措施以降低风险和提高透明度。
我们的方针牢牢植根于并完全符合联合国的使命和我们在起草《联合国宪章》时一致同意的价值观。这些是所有成员国做出的承诺，我们都必须遵守。
当我们努力应对所有这些紧迫的挑战时——无论是长期存在的还是新出现的挑战——我们也必须妥善处理我们之间的关系。
我认为，世界上所有大国都有义务审慎管理其国际关系，以避免将负责任的竞争转化为冲突。
美国将竞争，将有力地竞争，并凭借我们的价值观和实力领先。
我们将为我们的盟友挺身而出，反对强国通过强占领土、经济胁迫、技术剥削或散布谣言等方式压制弱国的企图。
但我们不是在寻求——我再次强调——我们不是在寻求一场新的冷战，也不是在寻求一个分裂成僵化阵营的世界。
美国随时准备与愿意通过和平解决方案应对共同挑战的任何国家合作——即使我们在其他领域中存在激烈的分歧。因为如果我们不齐心协力应对新冠病毒和气候变化等紧迫威胁或核扩散等持久威胁，我们将共同承受失败的后果。
美国仍然致力于阻止伊朗获得核武器。我们正在与 “五常加一”国家合作，与伊朗进行外交接触，寻求重返《联合全面行动计划》（JCPOA)。如果伊朗也这样做，我们准备恢复全面履约。
同样，我们寻求通过认真和持续的外交努力实现朝鲜半岛的全面去核化。
我们寻求在一项具有切实承诺的可实现计划方面取得具体进展，以加强朝鲜半岛和该地区的稳定，并改善朝鲜民主主义人民共和国人民的生活。
我们还必须对恐怖主义对我们所有国家构成的威胁保持警惕——无论它是来自遥远的地区还是来自我们的后院。
我们知道恐怖主义的刺痛——恐怖主义的刺痛——是真实的，我们几乎都曾经历过。
上个月，在喀布尔机场令人发指的恐怖袭击中，我们失去了 13 名美国英雄和近 200 名无辜的阿富汗平民。
对美国发动恐怖主义攻击的人仍将领教美国这个坚决的敌手。
但是，今天的世界已经不再是 2001 年的那个世界，今天的美国也不再是 20 年前遭受“9.11”袭击时的那个国家。
今天，我们更有能力发现和预防恐怖主义威胁，而且我们在击退和应对这些威胁方面也变得更加坚韧。
我们知道如何通过建立有效的伙伴关系来摧毁恐怖主义网络，具体做法包括：有针对性地打击恐怖主义融资和支持系统、展开反宣传、阻止恐怖分子的流动、挫败即将发生的袭击。
我们将利用一切可以利用的手段应对今天和未来的恐怖主义威胁，包括与当地伙伴合作，这样我们就不必过度依赖大规模的军事部署。
我们有效地加强安全和减少暴力的最重要的途径之一，是努力改善全球各地那些目睹政府不是在为他们的需要服务的人民的生活。
加剧不平等和掠夺国家资源的腐败行为跨越国界，为人类带来灾难。这是我们在 21 世纪面临的实实在在的国家安全威胁。
在世界各地，我们日益看到公民表达他们的不满，原因是富人和有关系的人越来越富有，他们收受贿赂，凌驾于法律之上，而绝大多数人却在为找工作、养家糊口、经营小企业、或让孩子上学而挣扎。
在每一个地区，人们纷纷走上街头，要求政府满足他们的基本需求，为每个人提供公平的机会，保护上帝赋予他们的权利。
在这些跨越语言和大陆的诉求中，我们听到了一个共同的呼声：呼唤尊严——人的基本尊严。作为领导者，我们有责任回应这一呼声，而不是以压制手段使之沉默。
美国承诺使用我们的资源和我们的国际平台来支持这些声音，倾听这些声音，与发出这些声音的人们合作，找到应对方法，在世界各地提升人类尊严。
例如，发展中国家对基础设施的需求巨大，但质量低劣、助长腐败或加剧环境退化的基础设施最终只会给各国带来更大的挑战。
然而，如果以正确的方式对满足国家需求的项目进行透明、可持续的投资，并允许当地工人参与维护高劳工和环境标准，基础设施就能够为中低收入国家的增长和繁荣提供坚实的基础。
这就是“重建更美好世界”背后的理念。
我们的目标是与私营部门和我们的七国集团合作伙伴一起，动员数千亿美元的基础设施投资。
我们还将继续作为世界上最大的人道主义援助捐助国，为千百万处于困境中的人们提供食物、水、住所、紧急医疗服务和其他至关重要的、拯救生命的援助。
当地震来袭、台风肆虐或世界任何地方发生灾难时，美国都会挺身而出。我们随时准备提供帮助。
就在去年，全球有近三分之一的人口无法获得足够的食物，为此，美国作出承诺，动员我们的合作伙伴共同努力，解决迫在眉睫的营养不良问题，并确保我们能够以可持续的方式在未来许多年里使世界上所有的人不再为饥馑所苦。
为实现这一目标，美国承诺提供 100 亿美元，以消除饥饿，并投资于国内外的食品保障系统。
自 2000 年以来，美国政府已出资 1400 多亿美元，用于促进健康和加强医疗保健系统，我们将继续发挥领导作用，推动这些至关重要的投资，让人们的生活每天都有改善，为他们减轻一分压力。
在我们努力改善人们的生活之时，我们树立新的目标，努力结束在世界各地造成巨大痛苦和伤害的冲突。
我们必须加倍外交努力，致力于政治谈判，而不是暴力，把外交作为管理世界各地紧张局势的首选工具。
我们必须为中东所有人民寻求一个更加和平与安全的未来。
美国对以色列安全的承诺毋庸置疑。我们坚定地支持一个独立的犹太国。
但是，我仍然认为，两国解决方案是确保以色列作为一个犹太人的民主国家与一个有生命力的、享有主权的、民主的巴勒斯坦国和平共处的最佳途径。
此刻，我们距离这一目标还有很长的路，但我们在任何时候都不能放弃取得进展的可能性。
我们不能放弃解决愈演愈烈的内战冲突，包括在埃塞俄比亚和也门，那里的战争——交战各方之间的战斗正在导致饥荒、可怕的暴力、践踏百姓人权，包括丧尽天良­地把强奸作为一种战争武器。
我们将继续与国际社会共同努力，推动和平，结束这一苦难。
美国在展开全面外交努力的同时，将积极倡导我们国家和我国人民最核心的民主价值观：自由，平等，机会，以及对普世人权的信念。
它印在我们国家的基因里。而且，非常重要的是，它印在这个机构——联合国——的基因里。我们有时忘记了这点。
让我引用《世界人权宣言》的开篇话语： “人类家庭所有成员平等的和不移的权利，乃是世界自由、正义与和平的基础”。
联合国的创始精神是将个人的权利置于我们体系的中心，它的明确与愿景不容无视或误解。
美国将尽自己的努力，但是，如果我们所有的国家都为响应全部使命的召唤而努力，我们将取得更大的成功，产生更大的影响。
正因为如此，100多个国家合力发表一项共同声明，安理会通过了决议，阐明我们接下来将如何为阿富汗人民提供支持，并表明我们期待塔利班尊重普世人权。
我们所有人必须积极支持妇女——妇女和女童的权利，充分运用她们的才智，为经济、政治和社会贡献力量，在从中美洲到中东、非洲、阿富汗的无论任何地方，不受暴力或恫吓地追求她们的梦想。
我们所有人必须在发生针对种族、民族和宗教少数群体的攻击和压制时——无论是发生在新疆，还是埃塞俄比亚北部，或是世界任何地方，予以揭露和谴责。
我们所有人必须捍卫男女同性恋、双性恋、跨性别者、酷儿、间性人（LGBTQI）的权利，使他们能够没有恐惧地公开生活与相爱，无论是在车臣（Chechnya）、喀麦隆或任何地方。
在我们引导我们的——引导我们的国家走向这个转折点并迎接今天的急速、交叉挑战的同时，让我明确一点：我对我们希望什么样的世界并非感到不可知。
未来将属于拥护而不是践踏人类尊严的人。
未来将属于释放而不是扼杀人民潜力的人。
未来将属于让人民能够自由呼吸而不是力图以铁掌窒息他们的人。
专制主义——世界上的专制主义也许想宣告民主时代结束，但是他们错了。
事实是：民主世界无所不在。它的活力展现在反贪腐的活动人士那里，在维权人士那里，在新闻工作者那里，在白俄罗斯、缅甸、叙利亚、古巴、委内瑞拉以及其他一切地方位于这场斗争第一线的和平示威者那里。
它的活力展现在抵抗暴力和压迫，把大屠杀独裁者赶下台并且为捍卫民主进步而每天奋斗不止的勇敢的苏丹妇女那里。
它的活力展现在帮助民主势力赢得压倒性胜利、从而为打击贪腐、建设更加共融的经济授权的骄傲的摩尔多瓦人那里。
它的活力展现在第一次运用投票权的力量，以创纪录的投票人数，痛斥腐败并为自己的国家规划崭新道路的赞比亚年轻人那里。
虽然没有任何民主制度是完美的，包括美国在内——美国将继续为实现自己的最高理想而奋斗，以愈合分裂，并且将严正对待暴力和暴乱——但是，民主制度仍然是我们拥有的能够释放人类全部潜力的最佳手段。
各位元首同仁，这是我们必须证明我们能不愧与前辈齐名的时刻，是他们的远见和价值观以及对我们共同未来的坚定信念缔造了联合国，打破了战争与毁灭的循坏，为70多年的相对和平与全球繁荣发展奠定了基础。
如今，我们必须再来共同确定，把我们连接在一起的内在的人性比任何外表的分裂或分歧都强大得多。
我们必须选择做比我们自认为的单独能力大得多的努力，从而让我们完成必须共同完成的成就：结束这场疫情，并确保作好应对下次疫情的准备；制止极度气候变化，并增强我们抵御已经开始看到的种种影响的能力；确保在未来让技术成为解决人类难题和加强人的能力的重要工具，而不是成为更大纠纷和压制的来源。
这些挑战是我们——将决定我们的子孙会有一个什么样的世界，他们将继承的是什么。我们只有面向未来才能战胜这些挑战。
我今天站在这里，这是20年来美国第一次没有在作战。我们翻过了一个篇章。
我们国家举世无双的一切实力、能源、承诺、意志和资源现在将完完全全被集中在我们的未来，而不是过去。
我知道这样一点：向前看，我们将发挥带头作用。我们将在所有当代最大的挑战中发挥带头作用——从冠状病毒到气候、和平与安全、人的尊严与人权。但我们不会孤军奋战。
我们将与我们的盟友和伙伴一起带头，并与和我们具有同样信念的所有各方合作——这个信念就是，我们有内在的能力迎接挑战，并建设一个托举起所有人和使地球受到保护的未来。
然而，这一切并非必然，而是一种选择。我可以告诉各位美国的立场：我们将选择建设更好的未来。我们——你们和我——我们有意愿和能力让未来更美好。
女士们，先生们，我们不能再浪费更多时间。让我们开始努力。让我们现在就来建设更美好的未来。
我们能够做到。它是我们的力量和能力所及。
感谢各位，愿主保佑你们所有人。
美东夏令时间10时34分
欲查看原稿内容: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/09/21/remarks-by-president-biden-before-the-76th-session-of-the-united-nations-general-assembly/

SEPTEMBER 21, 2021
United Nations HeadquartersNew York, New York
10:01 A.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT:  Mr. President, Mr. Secretary-General, my fellow delegates, to all those who dedicate themselves to this noble mission of this institution: It’s my honor to speak to you for the first time as President of the United States.
We meet this year in a moment of — intermingled with great pain and extraordinary possibility.  We’ve lost so much to this devastating — this devastating pandemic that continues to claim lives around the world and impact so much on our existence.
We’re mourning more than 4.5 million people — people of every nation from every background.  Each death is an individual heartbreak.  But our shared grief is a poignant reminder that our collective future will hinge on our ability to recognize our common humanity and to act together.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is the clear and urgent choice that we face here at the dawning of what must be a decisive decade for our world — a decade that will quite literally determine our futures.
As a global community, we’re challenged by urgent and looming crises wherein lie enormous opportunities if — if — we can summon the will and resolve to seize these opportunities.
Will we work together to save lives, defeat COVID-19 everywhere, and take the necessary steps to prepare ourselves for the next pandemic?  For there will be another one.  Or will we fail to harness the tools at our disposal as the more virulent and dangerous variants take hold?
Will we meet the threat of challenging climate — the challenging climate we’re all feeling already ravaging every part of our world with extreme weather?  Or will we suffer the merciless march of ever-worsening droughts and floods, more intense fires and hurricanes, longer heatwaves and rising seas?
Will we affirm and uphold the human dignity and human rights under which nations in common cause, more than seven decades ago, formed this institution?
Will we apply and strengthen the core tenets of inter- — of the international system, including the U.N. Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as we seek to shape the emergence of new technologies and deter new threats?  Or will we allow these universal — those universal principles to be trampled and twisted in the pursuit of naked political power?
In my view, how we answer these questions in this moment — whether we choose to fight for our shared future or not — will reverberate for generations yet to come.
Simply put: We stand, in my view, at an inflection point in history.  And I’m here today to share with you how the United States intends to work with partners and allies to answer these questions and the commitment of my new administration to help lead the world toward a more peaceful, prosperous future for all people.
Instead of continuing to fight the wars of the past, we are fixing our eyes on devoting our resources to the challenges that hold the keys to our collective future: ending this pandemic; addressing the climate crisis; managing the shifts in global power dynamics; shaping the rules of the world on vital issues like trade, cyber, and emerging technologies; and facing the threat of terrorism as it stands today.
We’ve ended 20 years of conflict in Afghanistan.  And as we close this period of relentless war, we’re opening a new era of relentless diplomacy; of using the power of our development aid to invest in new ways of lifting people up around the world; of renewing and defending democracy; of proving that no matter how challenging or how complex the problems we’re going to face, government by and for the people is still the best way to deliver for all of our people.
And as the United States turns our focus to the priorities and the regions of the world, like the Indo-Pacific, that are most consequential today and tomorrow, we’ll do so with our allies and partners, through cooperation at multilateral institutions like the United Nations, to amplify our collective strength and speed, our progress toward dealing with these global challenges.
There’s a fundamental truth of the 21st century within each of our own countries and as a global community that our own success is bound up with others succeeding as well.
To deliver for our own people, we must also engage deeply with the rest of the world.
To ensure that our own future, we must work together with other partners — our partners — toward a shared future.
Our security, our prosperity, and our very freedoms are interconnected, in my view, as never before.  And so, I believe we must work together as never before.
Over the last eight months, I have prioritized rebuilding our alliances, revitalizing our partnerships, and recognizing they’re essential and central to America’s enduring security and prosperity.
We have reaffirmed our sacred NATO Alliance to Article 5 commitment.  We’re working with our Allies toward a new strategic concept that will help our Alliance better take on evolving threats of today and tomorrow.
We renewed our engagement with the European Union, a fundamental partner in tackling the full range of significant issues facing our world today.
We elevated the Quad partnership among Australia, India, Japan, and the United States to take on challenges ranging from health security to climate to emerging technologies.
We’re engaging with regional institutions — from ASEAN to the African Union to the Organization of American States — to focus on people’s urgent needs for better health and better economic outcomes.
We’re back at the table in international forums, especially the United Nations, to focus attention and to spur global action on shared challenges.
We are reengaged at the World Health Organization and working in close partnership with COVAX to deliver lifesaving vaccines around the world.
We rejoined the Paris Climate Agreement, and we’re running to retake a seat on the Human Rights Council next year at the U.N.
And as the United States seeks to rally the world to action, we will lead not just with the example of our power but, God willing, with the power of our example.
Make no mistake: The United States will continue to defend ourselves, our Allies, and our interests against attack, including terrorist threats, as we prepare to use force if any is necessary, but — to defend our vital U.S. national interests, including against ongoing and imminent threats.
But the mission must be clear and achievable, undertaken with the informed consent of the American people and, whenever possible, in partnership with our Allies.
U.S. military power must be our tool of last resort, not our first, and it should not be used as an answer to every problem we see around the world.
Indeed, today, many of our greatest concerns cannot be solved or even addressed through the force of arms.  Bombs and bullets cannot defend against COVID-19 or its future variants.
To fight this pandemic, we need a collective act of science and political will.  We need to act now to get shots in arms as fast as possible and to expand access to oxygen, tests, treatments to save lives around the world.
And for the future, we need to create a new mechanism to finance global health security that builds on our existing development assistance, and Global Health Thr- — and a Global Health Threat Counc- — Council that is armed with the tools we need to monitor and identify emerging pandemics so that we can take immediate action.
Already, the United States has put more than $15 billion toward global COVID respon- — the global COVID response.  We’ve shipped more than 160 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to other countries.  This includes 130 million doses from our own supply and the first tranches of the half a billion doses of Pfizer vaccine we purchased to donate through COVAX.
Planes carrying vaccines from the United States have already landed in 100 countries, bringing people all over the world a little “dose of hope,” as one American nurse termed it to me.  A “dose of hope,” direct from the American people — and, importantly, no strings attached.
And tomorrow, at the U.S.-hosted Global 19 — COVID-19 Summit, I’ll be announcing additional commitments as we seek to advance the fight against COVID-19 and hold ourselves accountable around specific targets on three key challenges: saving lives now, vaccinating the world, and building back better.
This year has also brought widespread death and devastation from the borderless climate crisis.  The extreme weather events that we have seen in every part of the world — and you all know it and feel it — represent what the Secretary-General has rightly called “code red for humanity.”  And the scientists and experts are telling us that we’re fast approaching a “point of no return,” in the literal sense.
To keep within our reach the vital goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, every nation needs to bring their highest-possible ambitions to the table when we meet in Glasgow for COP26 and then to have to keep raising our collective ambition over time.
In April, I announced the United States’ ambitious new goal under the Paris Agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the United States by 50 to 52 percent below 2005 levels by 2030, as we work toward achieving a clean-energy economy with net-zero emissions by 2050.
And my administration is working closely with our Congress to make the critical investments in green infrastructure and electric vehicles that will help us lock in progress at home toward our climate goals.
And the best part is: Making these ambitious investments isn’t just good climate policy, it’s a chance for each of our countries to invest in ourselves and our own future.  It’s an enormous opportunity to create good-paying jobs for workers in each of our countries and to spur long-term economic growth that will improve the quality of life for all of our people.
We also have to support the countries and people that will be hit hardest and that have the fewest resources to help them adapt.
In April, I announced the United States will double our public international financing to help developing nations tackle the climate crisis.  And today, I’m proud to announce that we’ll work with the Congress to double that number again, including for adaptation efforts.
This will make the United States a leader in public climate finance.  And with our added support, together with increased private capital and other — from other donors, we’ll be able to meet the goal of mobilizing $100 billion to support climate action in developing nations.
As we deal with these crises, we’re also encountering a new era — an era of new technologies and possibilities that have the potential to release and reshape every aspect of human existence.  And it’s up to all of us to determine whether these technologies are a force to empower people or to deepen repression.
As new technologies continue to evolve, we’ll work together with our democratic partners to ensure that new advances in areas from biotechnology, to quantum computing, 5G, artificial intelligence, and more are used to lift people up, to solve problems, and advance human freedom — not to suppress dissent or target minority communities.
And the United States intends to make a profound investment in research and innovation, working with countries at all stages of economic development to develop new tools and technologies to help us tackle the challenges of this second quarter of the 21st century and beyond.
We’re hardening our critical infrastructure against cyberattacks, disrupting ransomware networks, and working to establish clear rules of the road for all nations as it relates to cyberspace.
We reserve the right to respond decisively to cyberattacks that threaten our people, our allies, or our interests.
We will pursue new rules of global trade and economic growth that strive to level the playing field so that it’s not artificially tipped in favor of any one country at the expense of others and every nation has a right and the opportunity to compete fairly.
We will strive to ensure that basic labor rights, environmental safeguards, and intellectual property are protected and that the benefits of globalization are shared broadly throughout all our societies.
We’ll continue to uphold the longstanding rules and norms that have formed the guardrails of international engagement for decades that have been essential to the development of nations around the world — bedrock commitments like freedom of navigation, adherence to international laws and treaties, support for arms control measures that reduce the res- — the risk and enhance transparency.
Our approach is firmly grounded and fully consistent with the United Nations’ mission and the values we’ve agreed to when we drafted this Charter.  These are commitments we all made and that we’re all bound to uphold.
And as we strive to deal with these urgent challenges, whether they’re longstanding or newly emerging, we must also deal with one another.
All the major powers of the world have a duty, in my view, to carefully manage their relationships so they do not tip
from responsible competition to conflict.
The United States will compete, and will compete vigorously, and lead with our values and our strength.
We’ll stand up for our allies and our friends
and oppose attempts by stronger countries to dominate weaker ones, whether through changes to territory by force, economic coercion, technological exploitation, or disinformation.
But we’re not seeking — I’ll say it again — we are not seeking a new Cold War or a world divided into rigid blocs.
The United States is ready to work with any nation that steps up and pursues peaceful resolution to shared challenges,
even if we have intense disagreements in other areas — because we’ll all suffer the consequences of our failure if we do not come together to address the urgent threats like COVID-19 and climate change or enduring threats like nuclear proliferation.
The United States remains committed to preventing Ira- — to preventing Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon.  We are working with the P5+1 to engage Iran diplomatically and seek a return to the JCPOA.  We’re prepared to return to full compliance if Iran does the same.
Similarly, we seek serious and sustained diplomacy to pursue the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
We seek concrete progress toward an available plan with tangible commitments that would increase stability on the Peninsula and in the region, as well as improve the lives of the people in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
We must also remain vigilant to the threat of terr- — that terrorism poses to all our nations, whether emanating from distant regions of the world or in our own backyards.
We know the bitter string [sic] of terrorism — the bitter sting of terrorism is — is real, and we’ve almost all experienced it.
Last month, we lost 13 American heroes and almost 200 innocent Afghan civilians in the heinous terrorist attack at the Kabul airport.
Those who commit acts of terrorism against us will continue to find a determined enemy in the United States.
The world today is not the world of 2001, though, and the United States is not the same country we were when we were attacked on 9/11, 20 years ago.
Today, we’re better equipped to detect and prevent terrorist threats, and we are more resilient in our ability to repel them and to respond.
We know how to build effective partnerships to dismantle terrorist networks by targeting their financing and support systems, countering their propaganda, preventing their travel, as well as disrupting imminent attacks.
We’ll meet terrorist threats that arise today and in the future with a full range of tools available to us, including working in cooperation with local partners so that we need not be so reliant on large-scale military deployments.
One of the most important ways we can effectively enhance security and reduce violence is by seeking to improve the lives of the people all over the world who see that their governments are not serving their needs.
Corruption fuels inequality, siphons off a nation’s resources, spreads across borders, and generates human suffering.  It is nothing less than a national security threat in the 21st century.
Around the world, we’re increasingly seeing citizens demonstrate their discontent seeing the wealthy and well-connected grow richer and richer, taking payoffs and bribes, operating above the law while the vast majority of the people struggle to find a job or put food on the table or to get their business off the ground or simply send their children to school.
People have taken to the streets in every region to demand that their governments address peoples’ basic needs, give everyone a fair shot to succeed, and protect their God-given rights.
And in that chorus of voices across languages and continents, we hear a common cry: a cry for dignity — simple dignity.  As leaders, it is our duty to answer that call, not to silence it.
The United States is committing to use — committed to using our resources and our international platform to support these voices, listen to them, partner with them to find ways to respond that advance human dignity around the world.
For example, there is an enormous need for infrastructure in developing countries, but infrastructure that is low-quality or that feeds corruption or exacerbates environmental degradation may only end up contributing to greater challenges for countries over time.
Done the right way, however, with transparent, sustainable investment in projects that respond to the country’s needs and engage their local workers to maintain high labor and environmental standards, infrastructure can be a strong foundation that allows societies in low- and middle-income countries to grow and to prosper.
That’s the idea behind the Build Back Better World.
And together with the private sector and our G7 partners, we aim to mobilize hundreds of billions of dollars in infrastructure investment.
We also — we’ll also continue to be the world’s largest contributor to humanitarian assistance, bringing food, water, shelter, emergency healthcare, and other vital, lifesaving aid to millions of people in need.
When the earthquake strikes, a typhoon rages, or a disaster anywhere in the world, the United States shows up.  We’ll be ready to help.
And at a time when nearly one in three people globally do not have access to adequate food — adequate food, just last year — the United States is committing to rallying our partners to address immediate malnutrition and to ensure that we can sustainably feed the world for decades to come.
To that end, the United States is making a $10 billion commitment to end hunger and invest in food systems at home and abroad.
Since 2000, the United States government has provided more than $140 billion to advance health and strengthen health systems, and we will continue our leadership to drive these vital investments to make peoples’ lives better every single day.  Just give them a little breathing room.
And as we strive to make lives better, we must work with renewed purpose to end the conflicts that are driving so much pain and hurt around the world.
We must redouble our diplomacy and commit to political negotiations, not violence, as the tool of first resort to manage tensions around the world.
We must seek a future of greater peace and security for all the people of the Middle East.
The commitment of the United States to Israel’s security is without question.  And a support — our support for an independent, Jewish state is unequivocal.
But I continue to believe that a two-state solution is the best way to ensure Israel — Israel’s future as a Jewish, democratic state living in peace alongside a viable, sovereign, and democratic Palestinian state.
We’re a long way from that goal at this moment, but we must never allow ourselves to give up on the possibility of progress.
We cannot give up on solving raging civil conflicts, including in Ethiopia and Yemen, where fighting between war- –warring parties is driving famine, horrori- — horrific violence, human rights violations against civilians, including the unconscionable use of rape as a weapon of war.
We will continue to work with the international community to press for peace and bring an end to this suffering.
As we pursue diplomacy across the board, the United States will champion the democratic values that go to the very heart of who we are as a nation and a people: freedom, equality, opportunity, and a belief in the universal rights of all people.
It’s stamped into our DNA as a nation.  And critically, it’s stamped into the DNA of this institution — the United States [Nations].  We sometimes forget.
I quote the opening words of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, quote: “The equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice, and peace in the world.”
The founding ethos of the United Nations places the rights of individuals at the center of our system, and that clarity and vision must not be ignored or misinterpreted.
The United States will do our part, but we will be more successful and more impactful if all of our nations are working toward the full mission to which we are called.
That’s why more than 100 nations united agai- — around a shared statement and the Security Council adopted a resolution outlining how we’ll support the people of Afghanistan moving forward, laying out the expectations to which we will hold the Taliban when it comes to respecting universal human rights.
We all must advocate for women — the rights of women and girls to use their full talents to contribute economically, politically, and socially and pursue their dreams free of violence and intimidation — from Central America to the Middle East, to Africa, to Afghanistan — wherever it appears in the world.
We all must call out and condemn the targeting and oppression of racial, ethnic, and religious minorities when it occurs in — whether it occurs in Xinjiang or northern Ethiopia or anywhere in the world.
We all must defend the rights of LGBTQI individuals so they can live and love openly without fear, whether it’s Chechnya or Cameroon or anywhere.
As we steer our — steer our nations toward this inflection point and work to meet today’s fast-moving, cross-cutting challenges, let me be clear: I am not agnostic about the future we want for the world.
The future will belong to those who embrace human dignity, not trample it.
The future will belong to those who unleash the potential of their people, not those who stifle it.
The future will belong to those who give their people the ability to breathe free, not those who seek to suffocate their people with an iron hand.
Authoritarianism — the authoritarianism of the world may seek to proclaim the end of the age of democracy, but they’re wrong.
The truth is: The democratic world is everywhere.  It lives in the anti-corruption activists, the human rights defenders, the journalists, the peace protestors on the frontlines of this struggle in Belarus, Burma, Syria, Cuba, Venezuela, and everywhere in between.
It lives in the brave women of Sudan who withstood violence and oppression to push a genocidal dictator from power and who keep working every day to defend their democratic progress.
It lives in the proud Moldovans who helped deliver a landslide victory for the forces of democracy, with a mandate to fight graft, to build a more inclusive economy.
It lives in the young people of Zambia who harnessed the power of their vote for the first time, turning out in record numbers to denounce corruption and chart a new path for their country.
And while no democracy is perfect, including the United States — who will continue to struggle to live up to the highest ideals to heal our divisions, and we face down violence and insurrection — democracy remains the best tool we have to unleash our full human potential.
My fellow leaders, this is a moment where we must prove ourselves the equals of those who have come before us, who with vision and values and determined faith in our collective future built our United Nations, broke the cycle of war and destruction, and laid the foundations for more than seven decades of relative peace and growing global prosperity.
Now we must again come together to affirm the inherent humanity that unites us is much greater than any outward divisions or disagreements.
We must choose to do more than we think we can do alone so that we accomplish what we must, together: ending this pandemic and making sure we’re better prepared for the next one; staving off climactic climate change and increasing our resilience to the impacts we already are seeing; ensuring a future where technologies are a vital tool to solving human challenges and empowering human potential, not a source of greater strife and repression.
These are the challenges that we — will determine what the world looks like for our children and our grandchildren, and what they’ll inherit.  We can only meet them by looking to the future.
I stand here today, for the first time in 20 years, with the United States not at war.  We’ve turned the page.
All the unmatched strength, energy, commitment, will, and resources of our nation are now fully and squarely focused on what’s ahead of us, not what was behind.
I know this: As we look ahead, we will lead.  We will lead on all the greatest challenges of our time — from COVID to climate, peace and security, human dignity and human rights.  But we will not go it alone.
We will lead together with our Allies and partners and in cooperation with all those who believe, as we do, that this is within our power to meet these challenges, to build a future that lifts all of our people and preserves this planet.
But none of this is inevitable; it’s a choice.  And I can tell you where America stands: We will choose to build a better future.  We — you and I –- we have the will and capacity to make it better.
Ladies and gentlemen, we cannot afford to waste any more time.  Let’s get to work.  Let’s make our better future now.
We can do this.  It’s within our power and capacity.
Thank you, and God bless you all.
10:34 A.M. EDT