The president of the United Nations General Assembly warned that a “vicious circle” of climate shocks, conflict, and aid cuts is threatening decades of progress — making “deep reform” of the U.N. system more urgent than ever before.
“It is challenging at the current moment for the U.N., because it is not only under pressure politically, but also financially,” said Annalena Baerbock, speaking to Devex during the Second World Summit for Social Development in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday.
Those pressures — paired with a worsening climate crisis that Baerbock called the “biggest threat for social justice globally” — have made recent reforms proposed by U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres ever-more essential, she added.