Mr. President, Mr. Secretary-General, my fellow leaders, in the last year, our world has experienced great upheaval: a growing crisis in food insecurity; record heat, floods, and droughts; COVID-19; inflation; and a brutal, needless war \u2014 a war chosen by one man, to be very blunt.<\/p>\n
Let us speak plainly.\u00a0 A permanent member of the United Nations Security Council invaded its neighbor, attempted to erase a sovereign state from the map.<\/p>\n
Russia has shamelessly violated the core tenets of the United Nations Charter \u2014 no more important than the clear prohibition against countries taking the territory of their neighbor by force.<\/p>\n
Again, just today, President Putin has made overt nuclear threats against Europe and a reckless disregard for the responsibilities of the non-proliferation regime.<\/p>\n
Now Russia is calling \u2014 calling up more soldiers to join the fight.\u00a0 And the Kremlin is organizing a sham referenda to try to annex parts of Ukraine, an extremely significant violation of the U.N. Charter.<\/p>\n
This world should see these outrageous acts for what they are.\u00a0 Putin claims he had to act because Russia was threatened.\u00a0 But no one threatened Russia, and no one other than Russia sought conflict.<\/p>\n
In fact, we warned it was coming.\u00a0 And with many of you, we worked to try to avert it.<\/p>\n
Putin\u2019s own words make his true purpose unmistakable.\u00a0 Just before he invaded, Putin asserted \u2014 and I quote \u2014 Ukraine was \u201ccreated by Russia\u201d and never had, quote, \u201creal statehood.\u201d<\/p>\n
And now we see attacks on schools, railway stations, hospitals, wa- \u2014 on centers of Ukrainian history and culture.<\/p>\n
In the past, even more horrifying evidence of Russia\u2019s atrocity and war crimes: mass graves uncovered in Izyum; bodies, according to those that excavated those bodies, showing signs of torture.<\/p>\n
This war is about extinguishing Ukraine\u2019s right to exist as a state, plain and simple, and Ukraine\u2019s right to exist as a people.\u00a0 Whoever you are, wherever you live, whatever you believe, that should not \u2014 that should make your blood run cold.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why 141 nations in the General Assembly came together to unequivocally condemn Russia\u2019s war against Ukraine.\u00a0 The United States has marshaled massive levels of security assistance and humanitarian aid and direct economic support for Ukraine \u2014 more than $25 billion to date.<\/p>\n
Our allies and partners around the world have stepped up as well.\u00a0 And today, more than 40 countries represented in here have contributed billions of their own money and equipment to help Ukraine defend itself.<\/p>\n
The United States is also working closely with our allies and partners to impose costs on Russia, to deter attacks against NATO territory, to hold Russia accountable for the atrocities and war crimes.<\/p>\n
Because if nations can pursue their imperial ambitions without consequences, then we put at risk everything this very institution stands for.\u00a0 Everything.<\/p>\n
Every victory won on the battlefield belongs to the courageous Ukrainian soldiers.\u00a0 But this past year, the world was tested as well, and we did not hesitate.<\/p>\n
We chose liberty.\u00a0 We chose sovereignty.\u00a0 We chose principles to which every party to the United Nations Charter is beholding.\u00a0 We stood with Ukraine.<\/p>\n
Like you, the United States wants this war to end on just terms, on terms we all signed up for: that you cannot seize a nation\u2019s territory by force.\u00a0 The only country standing in the way of that is Russia.<\/p>\n
So, we \u2014 each of us in this body who is determined to uphold the principles and beliefs we pledge to defend as members of the United Nations \u2014 must be clear, firm, and unwavering in our resolve.<\/p>\n
Ukraine has the same rights that belong to every sovereign nation.\u00a0 We will stand in solidarity with Ukraine.\u00a0 We will stand in solidarity against Russia\u2019s aggression.\u00a0 Period.<\/p>\n
Now, it\u2019s no secret that in the contest between democracy and autocracy, the United States \u2014 and I, as President \u2014 champion a vision for our world that is grounded in the values of democracy.<\/p>\n
The United States is determined to defend and strengthen democracy at home and around the world.\u00a0 Because I believe democracy remains humanity\u2019s greatest instrument to address the challenges of our time.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re working with the G7 and likeminded countries to prove democracies can deliver for their citizens but also deliver for the rest of the world as well.<\/p>\n
But as we meet today, the U.N. Charter \u2014 the U.N. Charter\u2019s very basis of a stable and just rule-based order is under attack by those who wish to tear it down or distort it for their own political advantage.<\/p>\n
And the United Nations Charter was not only signed by democracies of the world, it was negotiated among citizens of dozens of nations with vastly different histories and ideologies, united in their commitment to work for peace.<\/p>\n
As President Truman said in 1945, the U.N. Charter \u2014 and I quote \u2014 is \u201cproof that nations, like men, can state their differences, can face them, and then can find common ground on which to stand.\u201d\u00a0 End of quote.<\/p>\n
That common ground was so straightforward, so basic that, today, 193 of you \u2014 193 member states \u2014 have willingly embraced its principles.\u00a0 And standing up for those principles for the U.N. Charter is the job of every responsible member state.<\/p>\n
I reject the use of violence and war to conquer nations or expand borders through bloodshed.<\/p>\n
To stand against global politics of fear and coercion; to defend the sovereign rights of smaller nations as equal to those of larger ones; to embrace basic principles like freedom of navigation, respect for international law, and arms control \u2014 no matter what else we may disagree on, that is the common ground upon which we must stand.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re still committed to a strong foundation for the good of every nation around the world, then the United States wants to work with you.<\/p>\n
I also believe the time has come for this institution to become more inclusive so that it can better respond to the needs of today\u2019s world.<\/p>\n
Members of the U.N. Security Council, including the United States, should consistently uphold and defend the U.N. Charter and refrain \u2014 refrain from the use of the veto, except in rare, extraordinary situations, to ensure that the Council remains credible and effective.<\/p>\n
That is also why the United States supports increasing the number of both permanent and non-permanent representatives of the Council.\u00a0 This includes permanent seats for those nations we\u2019ve long supported and permanent seats for countries in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean.<\/p>\n
The United States is committed to this vital work.\u00a0 In every region, we pursued new, constructive ways to work with partners to advance shared interests, from elevating the Quad in the Indo-Pacific; to signing the Los Angeles Declaration of Migration and Protection at the Summit of the Americas; to joining a historic meeting of nine Arab leaders to work toward a more peaceful, integrated Middle East; to hosting the U.S.-Africa Leaders\u2019 Summit in \u2014 this December.<\/p>\n
As I said last year, the United States is opening an era of relentless diplomacy to address the challenges that matter most to people\u2019s lives \u2014 all people\u2019s lives: tackling the climate crisis, as the previous spoker [sic] \u2014 speaker spoke to; strengthening global health security; feeding the world \u2014 feeding the world.<\/p>\n
We made that priority.\u00a0 And one year later, we\u2019re keeping that promise.<\/p>\n
From the day I came to office, we\u2019ve led with a bold climate agenda.\u00a0 We rejoined the Paris Agreement, convened major climate summits, helped deliver critical agreements on COP26.\u00a0 And we helped get two thirds of the world GDP on track to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.<\/p>\n
And now I\u2019ve signed a historic piece of legislation here in the United States that includes the biggest, most important climate commitment we have ever made in the history of our country: $369 billion toward climate change.\u00a0 That includes tens of billions in new investments in offshore wind and solar, doubling down on zero emission vehicles, increasing energy efficiency, supporting clean manufacturing.<\/p>\n
Our Department of Energy estimates that this new law will reduce U.S. emissions by one gigaton a year by 2030 while unleashing a new era of clean-energy-powered economic growth.<\/p>\n
Our investments will also help reduce the cost of developing clean energy technologies worldwide, not just the United States.\u00a0 This is a global gamechanger \u2014 and none too soon.\u00a0 We don\u2019t have much time.<\/p>\n
We all know we\u2019re already living in a climate crisis.\u00a0 No one seems to doubt it after this past year.\u00a0 We meet \u2014 we meet \u2014 much of Pas- \u2014 as we meet, much of Pakistan is still underwater; it needs help.\u00a0 Meanwhile, the Horn of Africa faces unprecedented drought.<\/p>\n
Families are facing impossible choices, choosing which child to feed and wondering whether they\u2019ll survive.<\/p>\n
This is the human cost of climate change.\u00a0 And it\u2019s growing, not lessening.<\/p>\n
So, as I announced last year, to meet our global responsibility, my administration is working with our Congress to deliver more than $11 billion a year to international climate finance to help lower-income countries implement their climate goals and ensure a just energy transition.<\/p>\n
The key part of that will be our\u00a0PEPFAR<\/s>\u00a0[PREPARE] plan, which will help half a billion people, and especially vulnerable countries, adapt to the impacts of climate change and build resilience.<\/p>\n
This need is enormous.\u00a0 So let this be the moment we find within ourselves the will to turn back the tide of climate demastation [sic] \u2014 devastation and unlock a resilient, sustainable, clean energy economy to preserve our planet.<\/p>\n
On global health, we\u2019ve delivered more than 620 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to 116 countries around the world, with more available to help meet countries\u2019 needs \u2014 all free of charge, no strings attached.<\/p>\n
And we\u2019re working closely with the G20 and other countries.\u00a0 And the United States helped lead the change to establish a groundbreaking new Fund for Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness, and Response at the World Bank.<\/p>\n
At the same time, we\u2019ve continued to advance the ball on enduring global health challenges.<\/p>\n
Later today, I\u2019ll host the Seventh Replenishment Conference for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.\u00a0 With bipartisan support in our Congress, I have pledged to contribute up to $6 billion to that effort.<\/p>\n
So I look forward to welcoming a historic round of pledges at the conference resulting in one of the largest global health fundraisers ever held in all of history.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re also taking on the food crisis head on.\u00a0 With as many as 193 million people around the world experiencing acute \u2014 acute food insecurity \u2014 a jump of 40 million in a year \u2014 today I\u2019m announcing another $2.9 billion in U.S. support for lifesaving humanitarian and food security assistance for this year alone.<\/p>\n
Russia, in the meantime, is pumping out lies, trying to pin the blame for the crisis \u2014 the food crisis \u2014 onto sanctions imposed by many in the world for the aggression against Ukraine.<\/p>\n
So let me be perfectly clear about something: Our sanctions explicitly allow \u2014 explicitly allow Russia the ability to export food and fertilizer.\u00a0 No limitation.\u00a0 It\u2019s Russia\u2019s war that is worsening food insecurity, and only Russia can end it.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m grateful for the work here at the U.N. \u2014 including your leadership, Mr. Secretary-General \u2014 establishing a mechanism to export grain from Black Sea ports in Ukraine that Russia had blocked for months, and we need to make sure it\u2019s extended.<\/p>\n
We believe strongly in the need to feed the world.\u00a0 That\u2019s why the United States is the world\u2019s largest supporter of the World Food Programme, with more than 40 percent of its budget.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re leading support \u2014 we\u2019re leading support of the UNICEF efforts to feed children around the world.<\/p>\n
And to take on the larger challenge of food insecurity, the United States introduced a Call to Action: a roadmap eliminating global food insecurity \u2014 to eliminating global food insecurity that more than 100 nation member states have already supported.<\/p>\n
In June, the G7 announced more than $4.5 billion to strengthen food security around the world.<\/p>\n
Through USAID\u2019s Feed the Future initiative, the United States is scaling up innovative ways to get drought- and heat-resistant seeds into the hands of farmers who need them, while distributing fertilizer and improving fertilizer efficiency so that farmers can grow more while using less.<\/p>\n
And we\u2019re calling on all countries to refrain from banning food exports or hoarding grain while so many people are suffering.\u00a0 Because in every country in the world, no matter what else divides us, if parents cannot feed their children, nothing \u2014 nothing else matters if parents cannot feed their children.<\/p>\n
As we look to the future, we\u2019re working with our partners to update and create rules of the road for new challenges we face in the 21st century.<\/p>\n
We launched the Trade and Technology Council with the European Union to ensure that key technologies \u2014 key technologies are developed and governed in the way that benefits everyone.<\/p>\n
With our partner countries and through the U.N., we\u2019re supporting and strengthening the norms of responsibility \u2014 responsible state behavior in cyberspace and working to hold accountable those who use cyberattacks to threaten international peace and security.<\/p>\n
With partners in the Americas, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East, and the Indo-Pacific, we\u2019re working to build a new economic ecosystem while \u2014 where every nation \u2014 every nation gets a fair shot and economic growth is resilient, sustainable, and shared.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why the United States has championed a global minimum tax.\u00a0 And we will work to see it implemented so major corporations pay their fair share everywhere \u2014 everywhere.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also been the idea behind the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, which the United States launched this year with 13 other Indo-Pacific economies.\u00a0 We\u2019re working with our partners in ASEAN and the Pacific Islands to support a vision for a critical Indo-Pacific region that is free and open, connected and prosperous, secure and resilient.<\/p>\n
Together with partners around the world, we\u2019re working to ser- \u2014 secure resilient supply chains that protect everyone from coercion or domination and ensure that no country can use energy as a weapon.<\/p>\n
And as Russia\u2019s war rolls [sic] \u2014 riles the global economy, we\u2019re also calling on major global creditors, including the non-Paris Club countries, to transparently negotiate debt forgiveness for lower-income countries to forestall broader economic and political crises around the world.<\/p>\n
Instead of infrastructure projects that generate huge and large debt without delivering on the promised advantages, let\u2019s meet the enormous infrastructure needs around the world with transparent investments \u2014 high-standard projects that protect the rights of workers and the environment \u2014 keyed to the needs of the communities they serve, not to the contributor.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why the United States, together with fellow G7 partners, launched a Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment.\u00a0 We intend to collectively mobilize $600 billion
\nin investment through this partnership by 2027.<\/p>\n
Dozens of projects are already underway: industrial-scale vaccine manufacturing in Senegal, transformative solar projects in Angola, first-of-its-kind small modular nuclear power plant in Romania.<\/p>\n
These are investments that are going to deliver returns not just for those countries, but for everyone.\u00a0 The United States will work with every nation, including our competitors, to solve global problems like climate change.\u00a0 Climate diplomacy is not a favor to the United States or any other nation, and walking away hurts the entire world.<\/p>\n
Let me be direct about the competition between the United States and China.\u00a0 As we manage shifting geopolitical trends, the United States will conduct itself as a reasonable leader.\u00a0 We do not seek conflict.\u00a0 We do not seek a Cold War.\u00a0 We do not ask any nation to choose between the United States or any other partner.<\/p>\n
But the United States will be unabashed in promoting our vision of a free, open, secure, and prosperous world and what we have to offer communities of nations: investments that are designed not to foster dependency, but to alleviate burdens and help nations become self-sufficient; partnerships not to create political obligation, but because we know our own success \u2014 each of our success is increased when other nations succeed as well.<\/p>\n
When individuals have the chance to live in dignity and develop their talents, everyone benefits.\u00a0 Critical to that is living up to the highest goals of this institution: increasing peace and security for everyone, everywhere.<\/p>\n
The United States will not waver in our unrelenting determination to counter and thwart the continuing terrorist threats to our world.\u00a0 And we will lead with our diplomacy to strive for peaceful resolution of conflicts.<\/p>\n
We seek to uphold peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits.<\/p>\n
We remain committed to our One China policy, which has helped prevent conflict for four decades.\u00a0 And we continue to oppose unilateral changes in the status quo by either side.<\/p>\n
We support an African Union-led peace process to end the fight in Ethiopia and restore security for all its people.<\/p>\n
In Venezuela, where years of the political oppression have driven more than 6 million people from that country, we urge a Venezuelan-led dialogue and a return to free and fair elections.<\/p>\n
We continue to stand with our neighbor in Haiti as it faces political-fueled gang violence and an enormous human crisis.<\/p>\n
And we call on the world to do the same.\u00a0 We have more to do.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ll continue to back the U.N.-mediated truce in Yemen, which has delivered precious months of peace to people that have suffered years of war.<\/p>\n
And we will continue to advocate for lasting negotiating peace between the Jewish and democratic state of Israel and the Palestinian people.\u00a0 The United States is committed to Israel\u2019s security, full stop.\u00a0 And a negotiated two-state solution remains, in our view, the best way to ensure Israel\u2019s security and prosperity for the future and give the Palestinians the state which \u2014 to which they are entitled \u2014 both sides to fully respect the equal rights of their citizens; both people enjoying\u00a0equal measure of freedom and dignity.<\/p>\n
Let me also urge every nation to recommit to strengthening the nuclear non-proliferation regime through diplomacy.\u00a0 No matter what else is happening in the world, the United States is ready to pursue critical arms control measures.\u00a0 A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.<\/p>\n
The five permanent members of the Security Council just reaffirmed that commitment in January.\u00a0 But today, we\u2019re seeing disturbing trends.\u00a0 Russia shunned the Non-Proliferati- \u2014 -Proliferation ideals embraced by every other nation at the 10th NPT Review Conference.<\/p>\n
And again, today, as I said, they\u2019re making irresponsible nuclear threats to use nuclear weapons.\u00a0 China is conducting an unprecedented, concerning nuclear buildup without any transparency.<\/p>\n
Despite our efforts to begin serious and sustained diplomacy, the Democratic People\u2019s Republic of Korea continues to blatantly violate U.N. sanctions.<\/p>\n
And while the United States is prepared for a mutual return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action if Iran steps up to its obligations, the United States is clear: We will not allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon.<\/p>\n
I continue to believe that diplomacy is the best way to achieve this outcome.\u00a0 The nonproliferation regime is one of the greatest successes of this institution.\u00a0 We cannot let the world now slide backwards, nor can we turn a blind eye to the erosion of human rights.<\/p>\n
Perhaps singular among this body\u2019s achievements stands the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is the standard by which our forebears challenged us to measure ourselves.<\/p>\n
They made clear in 1948: Human rights are the basis for all that we seek to achieve.\u00a0 And yet today, in 2022, fundamental freedoms are at risk in every part of our world, from the violations of \u2014 in Xinjiang detailed in recent reports by the Office of U.N. \u2014 U.S. \u2014 reports detailing by the\u00a0U.S.<\/s>\u00a0[U.N.] High Commissioner, to the horrible abuses against pro-democracy activists and ethnic minorities by the military regime in Burma, to the increased repression of women and girls by the Taliban in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n
And today, we stand with the brave citizens and the brave women of Iran who right now are demonstrating to secure their basic rights.<\/p>\n
But here\u2019s what I know: The future will be won by those countries that unleash the full potential of their populations, where women and girls can exercise equal rights, including basic reproductive rights, and contribute fully to building a stronger economies and more resilient societies; where religious and ethnic minorities can live their lives without harassment and contribute to the fabric of their communities; where the LGBTQ+ community individuals live and love freely without being targeted with violence; where citizens can question and criticize their leaders without fear of reprisal.<\/p>\n
The United States will always promote human rights and the values enshrined in the U.N. Charter in our own country and around the world.<\/p>\n
Let me end with this: This institution, guided by the U.N. Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is at its core an act of dauntless hope.<\/p>\n
Let me say that again: It\u2019s an act of dauntless hope.<\/p>\n
Think about the vision of those first delegates who undertook a seemingly impossible task while the world was still smoldering.<\/p>\n
Think about how divided the people of the world must have felt with the fresh grief of millions dead, the genocidal horrors of the Holocaust exposed.<\/p>\n
They had every right to believe only the worst of humanity.\u00a0 Instead, they reached for what was best in all of us, and they strove to build something better: enduring peace; comity among nations; equal rights for every member of the human family; cooperation for the advancement of all humankind.<\/p>\n
My fellow leaders, the challenges we face today are great indeed, but our capacity is greater.\u00a0 Our commitment must be greater still.<\/p>\n
So let\u2019s stand together to again declare the unmistakable resolve that nations of the world are united still, that we stand for the values of the U.N. Charter, that we still believe by working together we can bend the arc of history toward a freer and more just world for all our children, although none of us have fully achieved it.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re not passive witnesses to history; we are the authors of history.<\/p>\n
We can do this \u2014 we have to do it \u2014 for ourselves and for our future, for humankind.<\/p>\n
Thank you for your tolerance, for listening to me.\u00a0 I appreciate it very much.\u00a0 God bless you all.\u00a0 (Applause.)
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