IMO Secretary-General Lim was in attendance as UN Secretary-General António Guterres addressed the future of international cooperation to an audience of students, diplomats and the general public at Westminster Central Hall, London (10 May). Climate change, terrorism, human rights, UN system reform and technological advances were some of the subjects taken on at the UNA-UK event (photos).
Speaking about global challenges as a whole, Mr. Guterres emphasized that “a strong commitment to multilateralism, to putting people at the centre of our concerns, is something we all need to be involved in.”
He also addressed the need to recognize and deal with the fact that not all people had shared equally in the benefits of globalization, and that on-going effort must be made for social cohesion through respect, tolerance and rationalism.
On climate change, he said that he was optimistic that the Paris Agreement would be implemented, stating that “the green economy has become the good economy – and the profitable economy”.
All of these challenges are being addressed by the UN system, including IMO, through the strategic lens of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
Follow all the reaction to the event on twitter, via #SGLondon