António Guterres: Read the UN Secretary-General’s Davos address in full

In an address at Davos, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warns that global challenges are becoming more integrated while responses remain fragmented. He identifies climate change as the most critical systemic risk and calls for a reformed, inclusive multilateralism that incorporates the private sector, civil society, and academia to address the interlinked crises of climate change, economic inequality, and technological disruption.

• Climate change is identified as the most significant systemic risk to the global economy, with the Secretary-General stating that the pace of environmental degradation is exceeding scientific predictions while political will is declining.
• The current global political landscape is described as a chaotic transition period where power relations are unclear and the relationship between the United States, China, and Russia is highly dysfunctional, leading to paralysis in the UN Security Council.
• Guterres advocates for a shift toward 'inclusive multilateralism,' arguing that governments alone cannot solve modern crises and must partner with the business community, civil society, and academia.
• The Fourth Industrial Revolution, led by artificial intelligence, is expected to cause massive job destruction and creation, necessitating a fundamental change in educational systems and the creation of new social safety nets.
• There is an urgent need for international legal frameworks to address the 'weaponization of artificial intelligence,' specifically regarding autonomous weapons systems that can take human lives without intervention.
• The UN's humanitarian role remains critical, having supported 100 million people across 40 countries in the previous year with 15 billion US dollars in mobilized aid.

APA

Guterres, A. (2019). António Guterres: Read the UN Secretary-General’s Davos address in full. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/these-are-the-global-priorities-and-risks-for-the-future-according-to-antonio-guterres/

Chicago

Guterres, António. António Guterres: Read the UN Secretary-General’s Davos address in full. World Economic Forum, 2019. https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/these-are-the-global-priorities-and-risks-for-the-future-according-to-antonio-guterres/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Guterres |first1=António |title=António Guterres: Read the UN Secretary-General’s Davos address in full |publisher=World Economic Forum |date=24 January 2019 |url=https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/these-are-the-global-priorities-and-risks-for-the-future-according-to-antonio-guterres/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{guterres2019antnio, author = {Guterres, António}, title = {{António Guterres: Read the UN Secretary-General’s Davos address in full}}, publisher = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2019}, month = jan, url = {https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/these-are-the-global-priorities-and-risks-for-the-future-according-to-antonio-guterres/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }