74th Session of the UN General Assembly - In a Changing World Order?

As every year the General Assembly will have to address the multitude of problems in the world from the war in Yemen and the conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa, the turmoil in Venezuela to the challenges of development. But this year it must in addition focus on trends that threaten the very basis of world order. None is as important as the problem of climate change, the subject of a UN Climate Summit convened parallel to the Assembly. Whereas war can destroy life and living conditions in large regions or even entire countries, climate change threatens the very existence of humanity as a whole by destroying the global environment. Such a challenge has never existed before. Of course, all out nuclear war could do the same but only if such a deliberate decision of self-harm is made by governments, whereas the destruction by climate change is inevitable unless the trend is reversed now and in the next years.

War can be avoided by non-action, climate induced destruction only by action, and here lies the problem: the growing impact of climate induced destruction, though visible now and predicted by science, will only become truly catastrophic and widespread in the future.  Shortsighted desire to avoid the cost of countermeasures and the denial of scientific proof accelerate the destructive impact by shifting action to the next generation when it will be even more difficult -if not too late – to stop a self-feeding process. Regrettably the second largest emitter of greenhouse gas on the globe is pursuing just such a policy under the leadership of President Trump and his supporting Republican Party, withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord after the preceding Administration had led the world in creating it.

The Climate Summit will hopefully help to galvanize relevant actors all over the world, governments, political parties, local entities, business and individuals, to undertake concrete measures against climate change or work to reverse opposing policies such as those of the US. Effective policies not only require substantial change in domestic approaches, regulations and individual behavior but also a paradigm change in the development policies of wealthier countries. For without a dramatic increase in aid aimed at reducing emissions in the developing world, any measures by industrialized countries to reverse climate change would be counteracted if not neutralized. Moreover, unless sustainable development is more substantially supported by the North, the growing pressure of migration from the South will dramatically increase as a result of climate deterioration.

Although the spread of nuclear weapons will not necessarily lead to a catastrophe as would be the case for an unresisted climate change, nuclear proliferation remains the second most important threat to world order. An increase in the number of nuclear powers and weapons in a world of growing turmoil inevitably increases the likelihood of nuclear war. The forthcoming General Assembly must therefore continue to do its best to uphold an effective global non-proliferation policy, notably by maintaining pressure on North Korea to denuclearize and by supporting all efforts to save the basic elements of the nuclear deal between the six world powers and Iran (the JCPOA).

The third threat to world order consists of the rise of nationalism and protectionism, most notably Trump’s “America First”, challenging the multilateral institutions, treaties and cooperative inter-state agreements that form the basis of the modern globalized world. It is to be hoped that the General Assembly will forcefully reaffirm its opposition to nationalism and support of multilateralism.